|
Wales is an emerging tourist destination, with 8,078,900 visitors to National Trust and Welsh Tourist Board destinations in 2002. The industry has been estimated to have an annual turnover of £3.5 billion.〔(Investment in tourism 'declines' ) BBC News Wales, 19 September 2010〕 In 2005 tourism contributed to the economy of Wales supporting over 100,000 service-sector jobs, more than 8% of the country's workforce. The most popular activities undertaken by tourists in Wales were walking, shopping, hiking in the mountains and visiting historic attractions, museums and galleries. Over 1.1 million trips were made to Wales by overseas tourists in 2006. The main countries of origin of overseas visitors were the Republic of Ireland, the United States and Germany. The majority of tourism however, is from other parts of the UK (predominantly England.〔(Welsh Assembly Government Fast Facts )〕 The capital, Cardiff is the most popular area in Wales for tourists, with 14.6 million visitors in 2009,〔Abby Alford (【引用サイトリンク】 title=Report highlights booming tourist trade in Cardiff )〕 which provides 26,300 jobs in the sector. In 2004, tourists spent the most money in Gwynedd, followed by Conwy and Cardiff.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Cardiff visitors spent £456 million )〕 ==Reasons for tourism in Wales== The varied landscape of Wales attracts tourism. There are three national parks: the Brecon Beacons National Park, the Snowdonia National Park and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Popular activities in the national parks include hill walking, hiking, canoeing, mountain biking, kayaking and climbing. Wales is also becoming increasingly popular for 'extreme' sports, such as surfing, hang gliding and downhill cycling (in which Wales hosts the 'Dragon Downhill Series'). The terrain of Wales has also attracted the World Rally Championship (WRC). The Wales Rally GB is held annually. The 2005 Wales Rally GB saw the first WRC stage to be set indoors, at the Millennium Stadium. In Cardiff, the regenerated Cardiff Bay area is one of the most popular destinations. Wales' history and culture also attract tourists. The Museum of Welsh Life, which focuses largely on the industrial past of Wales, is currently the most popular tourist attraction in Wales, attracting over 600,000 visitors annually. The scars of the industrial revolution and Wales' industrial heritage can still be seen on parts of the Welsh landscape today. Many other places of historical interest attract large numbers of tourists: for example the many castles, such as Caernarfon Castle and Caerphilly Castle — most of them built to enable or to consolidate the English conquest of Wales, during the reign of the English king Edward I. Another increasingly popular reason for visiting Wales, as with the rest of the UK — especially for those from North America — is genealogy, with many visitors coming to Wales to explore their family and ancestral roots. 1.8 million United States citizens are estimated to have Welsh ancestral roots, including former presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tourism in Wales」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|