Pembrokeshire's holidaymakers are devoted to the county with a staggering 91 per cent of visitors saying they'd definitely return, according to recently released results from a year-long visitor survey.

In surveys conducted in 2004 and in 2008, the underlying message remains that Pembrokeshire still exceeds expectations, continuing to seduce tourists who just keep coming back again and again. Once tasted never forgotten, it seems.

Visitors rated the warmth of welcome and cleanliness of beaches as the main attractive features with the spectacular scenery being the biggest draw.

Pembrokeshire's residents and tourism businesses can give themselves a big pat on the back with results showing that a massive 92 per cent of people rated Pembrokeshire for its friendliness and warmth of welcome compared to 79 per cent in 2004.

Encouragingly, comparisons with the 2004 results also show that the proportion of younger people visiting aged 24-34 years has increased from 14 per cent to 20 per cent. So one fifth of Pembrokeshire's visitors are 'twentysomethings' indicating that Pembrokeshire's wealth of activities on offer - ranging from surfing to kayaking, climbing and walking to name but a few - is attracting the attention of a new younger crowd.

Interestingly, in light of the imminent recession, 48 per cent of Pembrokeshire's businesses reported that they are doing better or the same compared to 2007. Comparatively 38 per cent of businesses in Pembrokeshire saw a downturn compared to 2007. In comparison, 46 per cent of Carmarthenshire businesses felt there had been a downturn in the same period.

Tourism is vitally important to Pembrokeshire's economy, and the most recent research indicates that, each year, tourism in Pembrokeshire generates 4.1 million visitors, who stay for 13.5 million days, spend £500 million and support the equivalent of 6,500 full-time jobs.

The visitor survey is carried out to: measure the visitor's experience compared to their expectations; discover the likelihood of their visiting again; identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement to the county's tourism product; identify the types of visitor attracted to Pembrokeshire; understand the visitor's decision-making process used to select their holiday destination; examine visitor behaviour, including choices of transport, accommodation, length of stay, places visited and activities undertaken.

The survey was conducted over a 12 month period from July 2007 until July 2008, with 1,526 people being interviewed. The major findings were: 83 per cent had visited Pembrokeshire before and 55 per cent had visited within the past 12 months; 50 per cent of visitors come from within Wales; the vast majority of the remainder come from four English regions; London and the South East, North West, West Midlands and South West; 63 per cent of visitors fall into the more affluent ABC1 social categories, well above the UK average of 54 per cent.

Since the 2004 survey, the proportion of 19-34 year olds has risen 10 per cent to 28 per cent, while the 35-64 group has fallen 11 per cent to 52 per cent.

Sixty-nine per cent of visitors stay in overnight accommodation for an average of 6.80 nights, but there is a much higher proportion of short breaks and day visitors in autumn, winter and spring.

Sixty-one per cent of visitors rely on previous experience when deciding where to take their holiday, and another 11 per cent by word of mouth or a recommendation from family or friends.

Visitors were asked to rate Pembrokeshire compared to other UK destinations.

For 'Warmth of Welcome and Friendliness', Pembrokeshire rated 4.65 out of 5, compared to 3.95 in 2004, a considerable increase. The overall experience was rated at 4.72, and Value for Money was rated 4.39.

Visitors rated Beaches, Walking and Natural Attractions as the highlights of their holiday and the main reasons for choosing to visit Pembrokeshire.

One of the most positive findings is that nearly all aspects of Pembrokeshire were rated between 'Good' and 'Excellent', and none fell into the lower categories of 'Poor' or 'Very Poor'. Ninety-two per cent of people rated Pembrokeshire for its Friendliness and Warmth of Welcome, compared to 79 per cent in 2004.

Seventy-nine per cent said were likely to visit again within 12 months, and 91 per cent within the next five years

The county's tourism industry has already started to respond to this research. Food sector operators are currently forming a Food Circle, to give Pembrokeshire a higher culinary profile, while Pembrokeshire Tourism and tourism training body Gallu are developing courses to help businesses remain positive, focussed and able to meet rapidly-changing market demands.

The visitor survey was commissioned and funded by Pembrokeshire County Council, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and the South West Wales Tourism Partnership. Pembrokeshire Tourism is the trade association for the county's tourism industry. Gallu is the tourism training body for South West Wales.