Park attractions bring in record numbers (From Western Telegraph)

Park attractions bring in record numbers

10:00am Sunday 6th May 2012 in News

Pembrokeshire's National Park sites are attracting a right royal number of visitors – as many as Kensington Palace in London.

In 2011, a record-breaking quarter of a million people went through the doors of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority’s attractions.

These include Carew Castle and tidal mill, Castell Henllys iron age fort, Oriel y Parc Gallery and visitor centre at St Davids and Tenby and Newport visitor centres.

Despite a slight drop in the number of visitors to Wales, the national park attractions bucked the trend.

The authority’s director of delivery and discovery, James Parkin, said: “The steady increase in visitor numbers is a clear demonstration that the park authority has continued to build on the success of its visitor services over the last three years.”

He added that the authority is adding value to tourism in Pembrokeshire by investing in facilities such as Oriel y Parc, and arranging a comprehensive and exciting activities and events programme.

New overseas visitors are being attracted to the ‘world-class’ and awardwinning national park by Ironman Wales, while international attention is also being generated by this weekend’s launch of the Wales Coast Path, which includes the Pembrokeshire Coast Path national trail.

Head of discovery, Phil Roach, added: “We now receive as many visitors through our centres as Kensington Palace in London, which demonstrates the popularity of our magnificent coastal landscape to people visiting west Wales.”