Three of Swansea's top leisure and cultural attractions saw almost 1.3m people come through their doors in a single year, a report to Swansea Council has revealed.
Between them the LC, National Waterfront Museum Swansea (NWMS) and Wales National Pool Swansea attracted 1.29m visits in 2017/18, more than 805,000 of them heading for the LC.
The LC, which is now operated on behalf of the Council by Freedom Leisure, saw the number of visitors grow by 25,700 visits in 2017/18 compared to the year before.
Owing to a short closure for essential improvement at Wales National Pool this resulted in a slight decrease in visitors in 2017/18, while the NWMS saw visitor numbers increase by almost 20,000 in 2017/18 compared to the year before.
Robert Francis-Davies, Cabinet Member for investment, regeneration and tourism, said:
“What these figures show is the vitality of the venues as brilliant attractions for the people of Swansea and visitors from further afield.
“Last year we secured the future of the LC for the next 20 years thanks to our new arrangement with Freedom Leisure. While the report to council shows the position from the preceding financial year, we're confident Freedom Leisure will be building on firm foundations.”
He added:
“Our contribution to these key attractions demonstrates a long-standing commitment by the council to the health and wellbeing of our residents and the cultural life of the city. As leisure attractions they also make an important contribution to our tourism industry which is worth £440m a year and supports more than 5,000 jobs.”
The Leisure Partnerships Annual Report to Full Council on July 25 takes a look at the performance of a key number of leisure and cultural attractions supported financially by the council.
The report also provides information on other partnerships where the council does not provide a financial subsidy, but the Council retains an interest in the assets and services provided.
Swansea Council makes a continued funding contribution to the operation of Wales National Pool Swansea as part of an ongoing commitment together with Swansea University, this following an initial capital contribution from the Sports Council for Wales. The Council provides support for the NWMS in partnership with the National Museum of Wales.
