Guardian Article: ‘A huge market going untapped’: lack of visitors worries Wales

Wales is on my bucket list. Let's keep it a secret!

We've had two trips there for about 3 weeks of total time. Never even hit a bigger city. A couple of observations as to why more Americans aren't going there, perhaps.

• It's an outdoorsy sort of place very attractive to walkers/hikers, especially distance hikers. Maybe not so much to others? Those looking for cute villages and scenic drives are drawn to areas easier to access, like the Cotswolds.
• A car is almost required. We had a co-traveler who drove on our longer trip which allowed us to more-or-less efficiently get to and around in great places like Brecon Beacons. The second time, a short stay in Conwy, we had no car and so stuck close by that area using buses and a local train. It seems to me the infrastructure to support walkers/hikers without a car is a lacking especially compared to some other European destinations.

Wales could be the "next big thing" with some clever marketing. But it might fall in the category of "Be careful of what you ask for...you might get it." The Cotswold villages probably wishes the area wasn't so loved in the peak of summer.

Wales is on my bucket list. Let's keep it a secret!

You beat me to it. At least keep it a secret until I've been there.

The manageable number of visitors is one of the things that keeps us returning to Pembrokeshire in Wales every year for a week in the summer. The tourism industry is not as well developed as in Devon and Cornwall. The self catering accommodation options tend to be at the lower end of the scale (relatively, eg you’d struggle to get an cottage with an outdoor hot tub - something easily available elsewhere) and there aren’t the same range of restaurants and places to eat out.

There was great joy when the Premier Inn opened in St David’s as previously the options were a choice of pretty average B&Bs that no one loved.

The Labour Party run the Welsh Government and have done a deal of co-operation with the Welsh Nationalist Party Plaid Cymru - who would like to see Wales become a separate state outside of the UK. Plaid Cymru get the majority of their support from the 18% or so who speak Welsh and the Nationalists come third in the elections.

In the last year the Welsh Government have decreed that the English names for famous places must be scrapped in favour of the Welsh names. So Mt. Snowdon is now to be known as Yr Wyddfa whilst Snowdonia becomes Eryri. In the south the Brecon Beacons is now to be only known by the Welsh name Bannau Brycheiniog. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot. The Americans and other foreigners were just getting familiar with the English names. Don't get me started on all the announcements at stations & trains being in Welsh first despite the fact that everybody who speaks Welsh can also speak English. Welsh is now also being placed first on road signs so if you see Caerdydd you are in fact heading for Cardiff.

Mention has been made in the article about transport. The Heart of Wales Line has some clapped out old diesels which are not air conditioned and are not suitable for the 4 hour journey through the scenic heart fo Wales. No plans exist to replace these trains. If this was Switzerland, you would have electric trains with panoramic windows and air con.

The trains on the Cambrian Lines are Class 158’s that frequently have failed air con and only small hopper windows to let air in when no AC. New trains are coming but they won’t appear until 2024. The Marches Line that links south and North Wales plus the NW of England has had terrible suburban local trains running many long distance services services this last year - often with only 2 coaches thus causing over crowding. Only now are new trains beginning to appear on that route. At least in the Cardiff area they are creating a modern electric Metro service.

Wales does not have an official Transport Minister. The guy responsible for transport is Lee Waters who goes by the title of ‘Deputy Minister for Climate Change’. He and his gang have refused to build new roads in Wales because cars cause climate change - even though they are going electric. That is why when entering south Wales from southern England, the M4 frequently jams up due to a choke pint at a 2 lane each way Newport tunnel. Having spent £150 million planning a new M4 south fo Newport, Mark Drakeford - the so called First Minister of Wales cancelled it on the grounds of climate change/ better roads = more cars. Well, perhaps they have a point but not everyone can shift to using the trains and for many purposes car travel is essential.

The A470 is the main road from Cardiff to Llandudno running right through the middle of Wales. It has no proper service areas with toilets and electric car charging and parking/showers/food for truckers. The Welsh Government are responsible for this road. Need I say more! (Llangurig would be a good place for a service area as the north-south & east-west main roads cross here in the middle of Wales).

Many cottages in scenic areas have been bought up as holiday homes. This has raised prices out of reach of locals and thus caused resentment. What Wales needs is more modern hotels to be built - such as the Premier Inn at St.David’s and another at Porthmadog - both of which opened in the last year. What Wales does not need in scenic areas are massive tower type hotels like the Hilton that was recently built at Surf Snowdonia in the Conwy Valley. It needs hotels built to a scale and in keeping with the local environment - like you usually see in alpine Austria.

The Brits have been going to Wales for a long time but it doesn't seem to get the number of North American tourists yet. Snowden (or Yr Wyddfa as we are now expected to call it) is always busy (may be too busy?) and the area around there is busy. Conwy/Llandudno is also appearing on more tourist tick lists. Away from the obvious honey pots, there are many wonderful places to be found - especially if you like ruined castles and walking! Mid Wales is still the great undiscovered area for everyone. However you really do need a car to explore much of Wales.

As James mentions, the Welsh are their own worst enemies....

Be careful of what you ask for...you might get it.

We used to regularly holiday in the Llyn Peninsula at Easter. It was interesting that the locals were really pleased to see the visitors back then after the winter, but by August they were getting very fed up of them - especially their parked cars - and were very ready to see the back of them.

I have helped run national walking events for the charity WaterAid since the early 1980s. I can’t remember when we first started calling Snowdonia Yr Wyddfa but it was only a few years later. The name has been in use for a very long time, as it should be given the mountain is in a very strong Welsh speaking community.

I also have some experience working across Wales when my company took over a large outsourcing contract. We wouldn’t have got anywhere with the attitude of some of the posters above. It seems to prove to me that Wales is actually a different country to England and actively wants to take a different direction, to which I wholeheartedly agree.

Small political rant over.

No cruise ships.

I noticed that in Cardiff. I was surprised it had such a nice Wharf, park and Millennium Centre. I dragged my family there for the Doctor Who locations but the park was great and we had the best authentic Italian food outside of Italy in a restaurant complete with Italian speaking customers.

I do think that when most people in America think of the UK, they think of England and Scotland. Unless people have Welsh ancestry or are into Doctor Who(ahem), Wales is often overlooked.

Rare cruise ships- both Holyhead and Fishguard see the occasional cruise ship. Both have seen ships in this year- 43 at Holyhead (including Carnival Legend) and 33 at Fishguard. (these figures are from 'Cruise Wales')

Cardiff has had cruise ships in the past, although not for a number of years now.

And Swansea is technically capable, although such visitors are very rare beasts- 1 due next year.

Newport is also supposed to be able to handle cruise ships, as can Pembroke/Milford Haven and, apparently, Llandudno.

I think the need for a car is a problem for many, but you pretty much have to have a car in Ireland too. I prefer Wales to Scotland.

isn31c Shhh! No cruise ships = paradise.

It’s not just overseas visitors who don’t go to Wales. They get a very small slice of the domestic market for both holidays and day trips as well.

Until a couple of years ago you had pay £6 something toll to cross the bridge. We live very near the crossing and this was definitely a barrier to us doing a day trip, maybe a psychological one more than a real deal breaker, but we just tended to avoid driving that way. Recently we’ve been over there a lot more.

This year in Pembrokeshire we saw a few cars from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, which is what we usually see, but no other overseas tourists. I’m not sure why these countries in particular like to visit. Maybe something has been on TV.