TOURISM in Wrexham County is on the rise according to new figures.

Data submitted by local tourism operators in Wrexham County Borough has shown an encouraging 1.7 per cent growth in visitor spend in the last year, with a total of £117.7m being brought into the county in 2017.

Since 2010, this also shows a growth of almost 40 per cent making the county one of the strongest performers in Wales.

Local tourism is fronted by Wrexham County Borough Council working alongside the This Is Wrexham Partnership, a collective board of local hotels, attractions and event providers all with the common aim of increasing the visitor experience and promotion of the county.

As well as spend, visitor numbers shot up in the county, with a 3 per cent growth in day visitors with 1.48m visiting local attractions and events, and 1.89m visitors overall.

Despite this growth, overnight stays dropped by -0.3 per cent.

Commenting further on the latest figures, generated by Global Tourism Solutions and used by the majority of local authorities in the UK, Joe Bickerton, destination manager at Wrexham Council, said: “It’s once again really encouraging to see a further growth in visitor spend here in Wrexham County.

"Each year, we try and encourage and support new investment in the sector along with events which have the potential to attract new visitors into the area.

"Once visitors arrive, many comment about either how attractive, welcoming or accessible Wrexham County is – so our aim in the local authority is to use what finance we can access to keep enhancing these first impressions and visitor welcome in line with our new Destination Action Plan.”

Sam Regan, the new chair of the This Is Wrexham Tourism Partnership, said: "Each year, Wrexham County keeps raising its game, but the collective ‘togetherness’ of tourism businesses within the area is so encouraging.

"Year on year the data gathered from local operators and national surveys justifies Wrexham’s growth as a tourism destination and more visitors continue to choose this area as either a base to explore North Wales from - or for days out at our local attractions or events.

"In this last year, the Tourism Partnership and the tourism team at Wrexham County Borough Council have collaborated on a number of initiatives and events - all of which have aimed to keep us competitive and attractive to visitors.

"This summer, we also re-launched our tourism card which aims to firstly continue the marketing support for hotels, restaurants and attractions and generate funding to put back into other funding bids, marketing, business support and visitor events."