Tourism now contributes £191 million per year to the economy of Wrexham county, a growth of 6.3% year on year.
The annual STEAM Data – which local authority areas across the UK commonly use to measure tourism performance – shows that in 2024 the area experienced strong growth.
Over the last decade there has been an upward growth of 90% in the tourism sector – the strongest in Wales. Wrexham Council said this demonstrated the development of the county as “a competitive leisure and business destination”.
In 2024, the total visitor numbers to attractions and places to stay in Wrexham county measured 2.07 million, a 1.1% increase. Of these,1.63 million, or 79% of all visitors, visited for the day, whilst 440,000 or 21% of all visitors stayed for one or more nights.
Overnight stays increased by just 0.5% from 2023, which the council said reflected the demand for a wider range of bedspaces and the opportunities for further growth and investment in this area.
In addition to visitor spend, the number of full-time jobs sustained by sector totalled 1,729 – a slight decline of 1.6% year on year. The council said this could reflect shorter operating hours for some hospitality businesses, more flexible working patterns and some skill shortages in hospitality.
Lead Member for the Economy at Wrexham County Borough Council, Cllr Nigel Williams praised the resilience of local hospitality businesses and thanked them for their positive work to grow the sector, saying:
“The positive 2024 tourism data is yet again a testament to the hard work and commitment of our hospitality businesses and resilience to continue providing a brilliant service, despite the challenges facing the sector.
“Naturally, Wrexham has benefitted more from overseas visitors in recent years thanks to the exposure afforded by the documentary and the success of Wrexham AFC on the pitch. Alongside this, we have been working hard with partners at Visit Wales and This is Wrecsam to grow our visitor markets by liaising closely with travel operators and taking the opportunity to showcase many of the wider attractions of Wrexham County that we possess.
“Today we have a wide range of group tours available, increasing entrepreneurship and investment into the hospitality sector, plus a diverse range of attractions and events for people to visit and stay in Wrexham for. Yet again, our key attractors such as the UNESCO 11-mile Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site, Erddig and Chirk Castle have all had a strong year for visitors and remain some of the UK’s best attractions.
“I am also pleased to see the development of Wrexham as a visitor destination with continued investment in our city centre, hosting large events, our ambassador scheme alongside private investment this last year. Some of this is addressing our shortage of overnight accommodation with projects like Boutique 33 on the High St and the forthcoming launch of the Old Registry aparthotel on Chester Street which will keep more of the tourism spend in Wrexham. Likewise, the reopening of Wrexham Museum next year alongside Stori Brymbo will further boost Wrexham’s reputation as an international destination with two new incredible attractions.
“It is important that we build on these foundations to ensure visitors have the best possible overall experience and ensure Wrexham is firmly on the map as one of the jewels in the UK tourism market.”
With a major visitor attraction launching in 2026 at Stori Brymbo, Chief Executive Nicola Sawford added:
“We’re gearing up to a big launch here at Stori Brymbo in 2026 and already, we’ve started to welcome individuals and groups on “sneaky peek” tours, Those visitors are local, regional, national and beginning to come from around the world to experience our unique 300 million year old fossil forest. That’s even before the new visitor centre, restaurant and welcome area open up next year! Being part of the community of attractions and visitor destinations via This is Wrecsam has been so rewarding as we establish ourselves and going forward, we’re so happy to be a part of this exciting chapter in Wrexham’s tourism development which we can only see continuing further for the benefit of everyone here in the county. We fully intend to do our bit to drive Wrexham as a destination for tourism, we’re expecting 30,000 visitors a year at Stori Brymbo and by linking in with other destinations in Wrexham county we can encourage overnight and weekend stays.”
Chair of the This is Wrexham Tourism Partnership Sam Regan said:
“We’re thrilled to report another year of strong tourism figures for Wrexham. While the UK hospitality industry as a whole is facing an ongoing challenging economic climate, Wrexham is in the fortunate position of bucking that trend with a continued increase in visitor numbers. This positive growth is supporting our local industry, though we know it doesn’t completely mitigate the wider challenges our businesses are facing. On the ground, we’ve certainly felt the ripple effect, particularly in the city centre during match weekends, as more international visitors discover our destination.
“This year, thanks to a UK Shared Prosperity Fund award and support from our member businesses, we’re working more closely with Visit Britain and other regional partners to put Wrexham on more travel itineraries and launch stronger marketing campaigns. We’re also proud to have awarded grants of £5,000 to £15,000 to 16 local hospitality operators. These exciting tourism projects will make a real difference to the local economy and help us sustain these figures well beyond 2025.”
