The Welsh Government has published new data on the size of the Welsh tourism sector
Tourism is a key part of the Welsh economy.(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
There are few industries discussed in Wales with as much affection as tourism and that is understandable given that our coastline, countryside, historic towns, language and culture give us an enviable collection of assets and provide the foundation for an industry reaching every part of the nation.
Yet those strengths should make us more demanding about what tourism actually delivers, and a beautiful and popular destination does not automatically become a prosperous place to live.
As a result, the economic question is not how big the industry is but whether Wales converts its appeal into productive businesses, better-paid jobs, and wealth that stays in local communities.
The Welsh Government’s new Wales Visitor Economy Profile 2026 provides a useful test of that ambition and shows that tourism accounted for approximately 150,000 jobs in 2024, equivalent to 11.1% of total employment.
This is down from 156,000 jobs a year earlier, with the decline concentrated in hospitality, where employment fell from 90,000 to 83,000. In contrast, accommodation rose from 26,000 to 29,000 jobs, while other tourism employment remained at around 38,000.The report does not explain why those jobs disappeared and the fall could reflect weaker demand, business closures, changing staffing models, improved productivity or a combination of factors.
Nevertheless, losing 6,000 tourism jobs in one year is a warning sign, especially given that tourism plays such a large role in areas with limited economic alternatives, accounting for 21% of employment on Anglesey and 20% in both Conwy and Pembrokeshire. Indeed, when one industry provides a fifth of local employment, the strength of its businesses and the quality of its jobs are central to that community’s economic future.
Unfortunately, the report reveals a familiar weakness: part-time employees make up 57% of tourism workers, compared with 35% across Welsh industries, while median hourly pay in accommodation and food services was £12.47 in 2025, against an all-industry median of £16.61.
We all know part-time employment can provide valuable flexibility and suit many people, but Wales cannot accept comparatively low pay, limited hours, and restricted progression opportunities as an inevitable consequence of a successful visitor economy.
However, a business cannot pay substantially higher wages unless it creates enough value to support them, and the low-pay problem is therefore also a productivity problem; i.e tourism businesses need to attract customers who spend more, trade more often, improve operations, and develop products competitors cannot easily imitate.
This is where entrepreneurship must become more visible in Welsh tourism policy and Wales had 12,745 registered tourism enterprises in 2025, representing 12% of all Welsh businesses. Nearly four in five employed fewer than ten people, and the official total excludes sole traders not registered for VAT or PAYE, so tourism is dominated by small firms.
Behind each of these enterprises is an owner deciding whether to invest, recruit, introduce a new service, or continue at all. For a hotel, restaurant, attraction, or activity provider, growth might mean installing new technology, developing an experience for the quieter months, or collaborating with local producers. Such decisions require finance, expertise and management capacity that many owner-managers struggle to access.
The Welsh Government should therefore establish a visitor economy productivity programme focused on practical changes inside individual companies, and support should address pricing, digital sales, customer data, staff development, succession and investment readiness, with experienced tourism entrepreneurs directly involved in its delivery. Its performance should be judged by measurable business outcomes including higher revenue per customer, more direct bookings, a longer trading season, greater investment and better-paid jobs.
Public finance must reflect the sector’s realities, and the Development Bank of Wales should offer appropriate and suitable finance for viable tourism investments, including repayment structures aligned with seasonal cash flow where justified, something it has failed to do since its inception nine years ago.
Wales also needs a deliberate approach to extending the season, and while events, conferences, and cultural programmes can create demand outside traditional peaks, public funding must be tied to economic outcomes.
Attendance figures alone tell us little, and a publicly supported event should report the additional overnight stays and local spending it generated, how much it procured from Welsh businesses and whether it created demand when spare capacity existed. That would show whether an event expanded the market or merely displaced activity from somewhere else.
The same principle applies to supply chains and accommodation providers, and destination organisations should encourage attractions and major events to buy from Welsh producers and service companies whilst helping firms develop bookable packages that encourage longer stays and let more spending circulate locally. In this context, our culture and language are economic assets that enable entrepreneurs to create experiences rooted in place and difficult for other destinations to reproduce.
Tourism-related industries generated approximately £3.5bn in gross value added in 2023, equivalent to 4.3% of the Welsh economy and so the sector’s scale is beyond dispute, but the question is what kind of economy it is creating.
Given this, the Welsh Government should investigate the fall in employment, publish a productivity and earnings plan for tourism, and adopt a scorecard covering pay, full-time employment, business investment, seasonality, local procurement, and the growth of Welsh-owned firms.
For too long, success has been measured largely through visitor numbers and expenditure, and whilst those indicators matter, they do not reveal who benefits, as Wales already possesses the scenery, heritage and culture.
The challenge is to ensure these remarkable national assets enable entrepreneurs to build stronger firms, employees to develop worthwhile careers, and communities to retain more of the wealth visitors generate because, ultimately, that is the standard against which Welsh tourism policy should be judged.
