EMBARGOED Thurs 13th Jan: Wales beats London in tourist attraction poll
Welsh castles have topped a wishlist poll for overseas visitors to Britain.
Conway Castle
VisitBritain asked more than 10,000 foreign tourists what they want to see most when they come to Britain.
The tourists were given a list of 18 things that can only be done in Britain and asked to pick the ones they’d like to do most.
In order of precedence the top activities were:
Going on a tour of the castles of Wales. (34%)
Going on a tour around Buckingham Palace (32%).
Spending a night in a Scottish castle (29.1%)
Watching the sunrise at Stonehenge (28.9%)
Watching an English Premier League football match was equal 5th (19%) along with shopping in Harrods’ (also 19%).
The survey found a difference in appeal according to age. It found:
– Watching the sunrise at Stonehenge was almost equally appealing to all age groups but the over-65s were especially taken by the idea.
– The appeal of touring a Scottish whisky distillery increased with age, chosen by 12% of 18-24s increasing to 22% of over 65s.
– The 18-24s were more likely than over 65s to choose watching an English Premier League football match (22% versus 9%), visiting locations associated with the Harry Potter films (15% versus 2%), skating on the Christmas Ice rink outside the Natural History Museum (14% versus 0%), and watching the latest bands play at the Glastonbury Music Festival (11% versus 3%).
– Going on a Beatles tour in Liverpool had most appeal for 45-54s (15%) and 55-64s (16%) than other ages.
It also found a difference in appeal according to nationality. It found that:
– South Koreans most wanted to visit locations connected to the Harry Potter films (18% said so, their second choice behind touring Buckingham Palace (25%).
– Touring the castles of Wales had strong appeal in almost all markets, with Poland (49%), Russia (48%), Italy (46%), and Germany (44%) scoring this highest.
– Russians were keenest to tour Buckingham Palace, with over half (54%) choosing it. The Japanese (45%), Chinese (42%), Poles (42%) and Indians (38%) also had a high aspiration.
– Swedes were particularly keen on spending a night in a Scottish castle (40%), as were Italians (39%), Americans (35%), Mexicans (34%), French (34%) and Canadians (33%).
– Watching an English Premier League game most appealed to visitors from Egypt (32%), Turkey (30%), South Africa (31%), India (24%), China (24%), Argentina (22%), Brazil (20%), Mexico (20%), Sweden (22%) and Poland (22%).
Patricia Yates, director of strategy and communications, said: “It is striking that touring Welsh castles was so popular – and the top four choices were right across Britain, in Wales, London, Scotland, and England.”
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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