Secretary of State for Wales Paul Murphy has been visiting Pembrokeshire to see how tourism in West Wales is being transformed into a year-round industry. With the traditional Welsh tourist season about to kick-off with the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend, Mr. Murphy visited two new venues aiming to extend the visitors' season to 12 months a year in Pembrokeshire. The £100 million Bluestone development, due to open later this year, will offer visitors a unique holiday experience in luxury log cabins, cottages and apartments set within 500 acres around a traditional Welsh village, providing leisure, retail, catering and other support services to guests. Onsite facilities include the Lagoon water park, the first indoor swimming pool in the UK to be heated by renewable biomass crops grown by local farmers, a sports pavillion, snow dome, cycle tracks, woodland walks and golf driving range. Speaking during a tour of the site with Bluestone chief executive William McNamara and local MP Nick Ainger, Mr. Murphy said: "I am very impressed indeed with what I have seen with all the top-end accommodation and recreation standards for visitors. Bluestone is set to be a massive draw to the area and unique in the way it actively encourages guests to explore other activities and attractions across Pembrokeshire. "Bluestone will also give a massive boost to the local economy. It is also set to become the largest private-sector employer in Pembrokeshire, employing more than 400 local people in full time, year-round jobs." Mr. Murphy went on to Saundersfoot, where he saw how the St. Brides Hotel has been transformed to become West Wales' first luxury destination spa hotel. The hotel, which reopened in 2006 following a multi-million pound transformation from a former traditional seaside hotel into a luxury spa retreat, provides fine dining and a marine therapy spa for guests all year round. Mr. Murphy said: "High-quality destinations such as St. Brides Hotel and Bluestone are set to transform tourism in Pembrokeshire, while visitors can make the most of one of the UK's most beautiful coastal counties, they can now find alternatives to the traditional bucket-and-spade holidays that will ensure Pembrokeshire appeals as a tourist destination all year round. "West Wales has a lot to offer all sorts of tourists. While it still retains the natural attractions that have always made it a seaside favourite of families, it now has even more to offer a wider audience. I hope the Easter break will see visitors flocking to Pembrokeshire and all parts of Wales, for the start of a bonanza spring and summer for Welsh tourism."
