With the Summer Bank Holiday upon us, local businesses and hospitality providers are keeping their fingers crossed for a bumper weekend to boost what many have already reported as being a better than expected summer so far.

Although there were concerns earlier in the year that the foot and mouth crisis which has gripped parts of the United Kingdom would result in a big stay away, the majority of those fears appear to have failed to materialise as campaigns promoting the fact that Pembrokeshire was 'open for business' have pulled in large numbers of tourists to the popular seaside resorts and attractions.

President of Tenby's Chamber of Trade and Tourism, John Cross, was optimistic about the summer trade to date and like many others was expecting the next few days to be bustling.

"I think it has been a pretty good summer and we are expecting the Bank Holiday to continue that trend," Mr. Cross told the Observer this week.

"We have no reason to think otherwise, especially as the weather forecast is good," he continued.

"I think business has been much better than expected in view of the threat of the foot and mouth crisis. All I hear is everyone saying how happy they are.

"I know at the beginning season that for some of the smaller guest houses trade was not going as well as they had hoped, but they seem to have been in the minority, and certainly during the height of the season I haven't heard of any complaints.

"There does seem to have been an absence of foreign visitors this year and it appears to have been mainly UK tourists who know the score on the foot and mouth crisis who have been holidaying in this area.

"The town does look busier, and I must say that I think pedestrianisation would be much better, as the conflict between vehicles and summer holidaymakers is getting worse and worse."

It was also an upbeat story along the coast in Saundersfoot.

"There have been lots of people in the area and I am confident that traders and hospitality providers will have had a good summer," said Phil Baker, a member of the village's Chamber for Tourism.

"We are now looking forward to a warm, dry spell across the Bank Holiday weekend to put the icing on the cake."

Chairman of the Pembrokeshire Hotels and Restaurants Association, Bobby King felt that whilst trade could have been busier, the summer season so far had been better than expected.

"There have been a lot of day visitors and bookings could have been better; July was not brilliant, but in general I think people have done quite well," he said.

"Some areas seem to have done better than others; I know the north of the county, especially the inland areas, have not done so well as the resorts.

"The summer has been better than anticipated, but still it could have been a little better for bookings," he opined.

"I think we are going to have a bumper weekend; the telephones have been going crazy and when I was in the Saundersfoot Tourist Information Centre on Wednesday the staff were ringing up to Clunderwen and Carmarthen trying to get bed spaces," he explained.

"September looks encouraging, as long as we don't have another petrol crisis," he added.

Also hoping for a bumper weekend was chairman of the Pembrokeshire Tourism Federation, Mrs. Virginia Lort-Phillips, who felt that overall the season had not been as 'disastrous' as members may have feared earlier on.

Although the summer had still not been as good as previous years for some operators, Mrs. Lort-Phillips was hoping that next year, concerns over the foot and mouth disease would be behind the tourist industry and it would be business as usual.

"We do feel for the areas that have been badly hit by the foot and mouth crisis and, although we have our grumbles, we don't have much to complain about compared with areas such as Cumbria and other parts of Wales," she said.

As far as this Bank Holiday weekend was concerned, Mrs. Lort Phillips was optimistic that the county would be "pretty full."

"There have been a lot people ringing up looking for accommodation and in many cases it has been too late as places are pretty well booked up," she commented.

"I certainly hope it turns out to be the bumper weekend that it promises to be," she added.