The importance of an investment programme planned for the Welsh tourism sector has been laid bare after recent figures revealed a dip in domestic visitors over 2016.

According to the Great Britain Tourism Survey, fewer British holidaymakers chose to visit Wales last year, with the official figures from the Welsh government estimating a 1.5 per cent drop year-on-year to 10m people.

Attempting to tackle the decline, Welsh tourism officials launched the new ‘EPIC’ campaign in July last year in a new effort to promote the country as the home of great adventures. The campaign included television and cinema advertising airing to the domestic market across the UK and also internationally in the Republic of Ireland and Germany.

A significant boost for 2017 will come for rural Welsh tourism, after economy secretary Ken Skates announced this month that more than £24m (US$30.7m, €28.2m) would be available for the development and marketing of tourism through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014 -2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund.

However, Wales received 856,000 overseas visitors in the first nine months of 2016 – a 12 per cent rise compared to the same period in 2015.