Wrexham Tourism Grows By £120m – For all those interested, a recent article on nation.cymru sheds some light on how Wrexham has been performing as a tourist destination since the North American takeover of our local football club.
£120 Million
According to the latest Destination Management Plan for Wrexham County Borough, tourism revenue in Wrexham has surged by £120 million in the past three years, reaching over £179 million in 2023. This marks a dramatic recovery from the pandemic collapse in 2020, when tourism revenue dropped to around £49 million. Just as importantly, the county’s tourism sector has seen consistent growth over the longer term, with revenue now £90 million higher than in 2012.
Visitor numbers also show a positive trend, with a 21% increase last year, bringing two million day-visitors to the county borough. The tourism economy now supports 1,758 full-time hospitality jobs. However, Sam Regan, owner of the Lemon Tree restaurant and chair of the hospitality group This Is Wrexham, warns that economic pressures on the sector and the city’s limited hotel capacity could hinder future growth.
Key Challenges
“The hospitality industry in Wrexham needs a huge amount of support,” said Regan. “That is why This is Wrexham is formally becoming a CIC – so we can better help our members access support. Things are getting more difficult in hospitality. It’s not a particularly frothy industry in terms of profitability, and it’s only getting worse. I think in April 2025, with decisions around budgets, it’s going to be a really difficult year.”
One of the key challenges facing Wrexham is its accommodation capacity. “We are in a very fortunate position in Wrexham,” Regan noted. “Our occupancy at the Lemon Tree is around 91% this year, and we see that across the region – but there’s a lot of jeopardy involved as well. We cannot rest on our laurels in terms of the attention that Welcome to Wrexham and the football club bring in. We need to move forward and bolster that attention rather than just accepting it as a given.”
Old Registry
Joe Bickerton, Destination Project Manager for Wrexham, agrees that accommodation is a key focus for the county’s tourism strategy. “We’ve got eight hotels around the city centre, and if you speak to operators, accommodation is at a premium at the moment,” he said. “Matchday weekends and midweek business tourism demand are very high. We are a seven-day-a-week destination. Going forward, there are plans for new accommodation, such as the Old Registry aparthotel on Chester Street.
Most operators agree we do need more accommodation, and I think that’s probably an area where we’ll see investment over the next five years.”
In spite of the general optimism surrounding the recent figures, the article did include that note of caution that despite the growth in tourism, the sector’s sustainability is at risk if the city does not address the economic challenges and accommodation shortfalls currently facing the hospitality industry.
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