It's been a bumper Easter Bank Holiday for South Pembrokeshire's tourism industry. Hordes of holidaymakers poured into the county's popular beauty spots and packed attractions over the weekend to kick-start the summer season with a bang.
And like elsewhere around the country, visitors and locals, enjoying an extended weekend, basked in 11 and 12 hours of sunshine and temperatures of 16 and 17 degrees. "There has been quite a marked difference in the weather this year compared to the same time last year," said Tenby's weather recorder, Trish Putwain. On Good Friday, Mrs. Putwain recorded temperatures of 17.1 degrees at the monitoring station at the entrance to the Golf Club, while around the same date last year, only 10 and 11 degrees were measured. "We have only had 0.1 mm of rain so far this month, which is practically nothing at all," she said. "Sunshine which I measure up on Castle Hill has been plus 10 hours every day, with Tuesday having 12.4 hours, which is as much as you can possibly get at this time of year," she added.
"The Easter holidays have been exceptionally busy throughout the county," said Clr. Rob Lewis, cabinet member for sport, leisure, tourism, and cultural services. "Some of the usually quieter spots, such as Ceibwr and Watwick, seem to have been busy as well. "Tenby, Pembroke and Newport all appear to have seen the numbers of visitors usually only experienced in the height of summer and this is probably the case throughout the county.
"The warm sunny weather leading up to Easter seems to have put everyone into a holiday mood, which boosted bookings - but the whole week prior to Easter was busy too." Alan Turner, tourism marketing manager, said: "People also seem to be taking the message to reduce air travel to heart as well and to holiday at home instead. "Bookings for the coming summer appear to be very positive as well."
The county's Tourist Information Centres were busy, with 1,711 visitors at Tenby, 1,663 people passing through the doors at Saundersfoot, and 507 at Pembroke.
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park visitor sites also reported a very busy Easter weekend. "Carew Castle and Tidal Mill enjoyed excellent visitor figures, while Castell Henllys Iron Age Fort welcomed over 10 per cent more visitors than last Easter," said a National Park Authority spokesperson. "For its first Easter since opening, the National Park Interpretation Centre in Tenby had a bumper weekend. Tenby was one of the 'hot spots' this weekend, with people enjoying the great weather and all the National Park has to offer." Vice-chairman of Pembrokeshire Tourism, Chris Osborne, proprietor of Tenby's Fourcroft Hotel, hailed Easter as 'a great weekend to welcome the 2007 holiday season'.
"Superb, sunny weather throughout the weekend brought in what at times appeared to be unending streams of visitor-packed cars," he said.
"And as weekenders joined the homeward queues, it seemed as many were travelling the opposite way to enjoy a traditional Bank Holiday Monday. "If the long range weather forecasts are correct, it seems we could be in for another sunny main season," added Mr. Osborne, who is also vice- president of Tenby Chamber of Trade and Tourism. Tim Brace, of FBM Holidays, said it had been one of the busiest ever Easters. "Everyone is feeling good and our holidaymakers have been able to see Tenby in its full colours, which is great," he told the Observer. "The weather pattern has helped and there have been more people coming into the county than ever. Forward bookings for the rest of April and May are superb as well, so it all looks good for a very healthy season."
It was also an upbeat story from Matthew Evans, CEO of Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire, Activity Wales and Goscar Rock Internet. "This year has certainly seen record numbers, not only for Easter, but for the entire year," he said. "We conducted quite an intensive marketing campaign at the start of the year that included a comprehensive television campaign that seemed to have filled quite a lot of the shoulder periods. We have also hosted over 70 journalists in the past 12 months, all with unique and interesting angles on the county and the product on offer.
"The cumulative factors of great weather, continuous problems at airports and the greener issues of not flying are also having an effect. "Without question, the quality of product continues to rise within the county. In the self-catering sector at least, we do have some world class products in what is fast becoming a world class destination. "As a company that invests over 500k per year marketing the county all over the world, we are eternally grateful for the restaurants, pubs, shops, attractions and activity centres that do offer an all- year-round Pembrokeshire experience, that is now aiding the marketing effort and allowing us to target many different sectors within our campaigns." Folly Farm, Begelly, has reported visitor numbers up by over 42 per cent on last year for the same period. Chris Ebsworth, director, commented: "We have experienced the busiest ever Easter week in our 19- year history, surpassing both our expectations and even our planning. We have put this down to the great weather we are all enjoying, the huge investment in developing the facilities at the park and our increased marketing activity." "We never relax at Folly Farm, we are continually striving to develop the visitor's experience, with new and exciting attractions. This has resulted in us winning two prestigious awards, Top Day Out in Wales 2005 and the Quality Assured Visitor Attraction by Wales Tourist Board. He concluded: "Tourism is vital to Pembrokeshire, so let's hope that this great start is indicative for 2007 and the region as a whole." It was a similar story, too, at Heatherton, St. Florence, where an excellent Easter was reported; in fact, the busiest Easter ever! "The excellent weather was one of the factors as well as some promotional work up in Swansea the week before the Easter break," said spokeswoman Gemma Harland, marketing manager.
Meanwhile, Mark Lewis, of Tenby Museum and Art Gallery, said: "Despite the building work and fine weather (usually the kiss of death for museums and other indoor heritage attractions), the museum was actually quite busy over the Easter period. Let's hope it continues!"