Employment
Tourism Industries accounted for 11.8% of employment (159,000) in Wales in 2022, a fall from 161,000 in 2019 (12.1% of employment in Wales). 77% of tourism employment (123,000) was in hospitality.
The table below shows employment in tourism and hospitality for all industry sub sectors, as a proportion of all employment in Wales for 2022.
employment in tourism and hospitality for all industry sub sectors, as a proportion of all employment in Wales for 2022.
Enterprises
Tourism enterprises (12,625) accounted for 11.8% of registered enterprises in Wales in 2023. 80% (10,065) of tourism enterprises were in hospitality, accounting for 9.4% of enterprises registered in Wales.
Earnings
The median hourly pay in the financial year ending April 2023 was £14.85 in Wales, but within tourism-related industries it was substantially lower. Among employee jobs in Accommodation and Food Service Activities the median hourly pay was £10.99, in Arts, Entertainment and Recreation jobs it was £12.83.
Associated tourism expenditure
2023 saw £4.98 billion of associated expenditure on tourism trips within Wales: £2.48 billion on tourism day visits from GB residents, £2 billion on overnight visits from GB residents and £0.45 billion from inbound visitors.
Gross Value Added (GVA)
Combined, the seven tourism-related industries at SIC division level accounted for 5.1% of GVA in Wales in 2022 (£3.8 billion).
Further details on the definition of the Visitor Economy and underlying data sources can be found here: Wales Visitor Economy Profile: 2024
