The tourism industry in Wales received a boost recently and hopefully Pembrokeshire will benefit from this as well. Plaid’s Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones announced that two bids for £17m of EU Convergence Funding for the tourism industry in Wales have been successful. The two projects, which will concentrate on the development of Sustainable tourism and Coastal tourism will run for 5 years.

The aim of the two projects is to identify up to seven Centres of Excellence in sustainable and coastal tourism which are linked to activities such as walking, cycling, fishing, riding, water sports, adventure tourism, historic gardens or other attractions that use the natural and built environment. This money is vital for the tourism industry in Pembrokeshire. It is extremely important that we continue to invest in the industry which of course brings so much money into the local economy. Tourism is a vital part of the Welsh economy and contributes £3billion a year to the Welsh economy and employs 8% of the Welsh workforce and at a time when domestic tourism is on the increase we need to ensure that we benefit from this locally. The two successful projects will ensure that any developments within tourism are sustainable and will also make the most of Wales’ natural assets. For us to benefit locally from tourism it is essential we safeguard and enhance our unique assets and acknowledging the potential of the environment should always be a key priority in the development of tourism.