Recently released figures show that 2017 was a great year for tourism businesses in Pembrokeshire.

A long-term goal of the Destination Pembrokeshire Partnership has been to increase the number of visitors coming to Pembrokeshire outside the peak summer months. The latest figures show great progress has been made towards achieving that.

The big winners were the self-catering sector that saw occupancy levels of over 50 per cent in January, February and December, when around 20 per cent would normally be expected.

Caravan and camping businesses saw significant increases for five out of the eight months that they are open.

Hotels, B&Bs and guesthouse accommodation were also busier than 2016 with an average room occupancy of 47.5 per cent compared to 45.9 per cent in 2016.

They also show much better levels of business in most autumn, winter and spring months.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s cabinet member for economy, tourism, leisure and culture, Paul Miller, welcomed the figures.

“Reducing the seasonal nature of tourism is essential if we want to provide quality employment opportunities and encourage investment,” he added.

Alan Turner, the authority’s tourism marketing and development manager, explained that the hard work of the Destination Partnership in encouraging the development of year-round facilities was starting to pay off.

He went on: “We have been actively promoting reasons to visit throughout the year and have seen a big increase in press coverage, web site use and social media engagement over the last five years.

“The Visit Pembrokeshire web site has seen a whopping 60 per cent growth in visits and should reach our target of one million users in 2018.”