TOURISM in Wales had a record-breaking year in 2014 reveal figures published by the Welsh Government.

The number of overnight visits to Wales by GB residents hit an impressive 10 million for the first time since the Great Britain Tourism Survey as set up in its present form in 2006.

The number of trips to Wales in 2014 is up 0.7 per cent on 2013. In comparison, the total for GB as a whole fell by 7.0 per cent.

The amount spent by GB visitors in Wales is also the highest on record at £1.735 billion. This shows an increase of 2.3 per cent while the total expenditure on overnight trips in GB as a whole fell by 2.6 per cent compared with 2013.

Holiday visits – the mainstay of tourism in Wales – has shown even more increases over 2013, up 4.4 per cent in terms of trips, and up 7.7 per cent on related expenditure.

Overseas visitor figures for Wales are also positive with the International Passenger Survey figures for the first nine months of 2014 showing that Wales had an increase of 14 per cent in the volume of visitors (795,000) compared with the same period in 2013.

Expenditure figures were six per cent up (to £303 million).