Tourism: Businesses face worrying winter, warns industry expert

There has been a lot of wet weather over the summer, including two named storms in August

Businesses are facing a "worrying winter" due to the wet summer and less money being spent, an industry expert has said.

Nia Rhys Jones, from the Anglesey Tourism Association, said shops, pubs and restaurants were feeling the impact.

"It's been a very soggy summer, which has impacted on day visitors to north Wales more than anything," she said.

It comes after Surf Snowdonia announced it would close with immediate effect.

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Ms Rhys Jones told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast: "North Wales relies on both staying visitors and the millions of day visitors from the northwest and beyond.

"So it's felt a little bit flat at times and not the same buzz.

"People are reporting a busy summer but I suspect when the analysis comes through the visitor spend will be lower than what we're used to seeing this time of the year."

She added that people were also spending less when they did visit.

"People are watching their purses," she said.

"The retail side of the industry is struggling.

"It's not been easy and I think there's a worrying winter ahead for lots of businesses."

She said that pubs and restaurants, as well as self-catering accommodation, could face having to close or shorten their opening hours to survive over winter, as many had not made enough profit over the past three months.

"I don't think they've made quite enough money this summer.

"You could see pubs and restaurants curtailing opening hours over the winter and maybe in the accommodation sector, self-catering will decide to do the same."

Adventure Parc Snowdonia announced it was closing with immediate effect

On Friday, the north Wales inland surf lagoon Surf Snowdonia announced its closure due to repeated mechanical failure of its wave machine.

It had previously been regarded as a major draw for visitors to north Wales and it helped to brand the area the "adventure capital" of Wales.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Saturday, James Wood from Adventure Parc Snowdonia said the site's closure was "hugely disappointing".

"I think what's worth noting as well is that most importantly we're going to have to look at redundancies across the site - colleagues and friends of mine will unfortunately be losing their jobs," he said.

Ice cream sales have fallen for business in Wales

Despite the wet weather, one chain of ice cream shops in Wales reported a positive few months.

Director of Fablas Ice Cream, Lauren Evans, said she hoped the warmer forecast for September would also give them a boost.

"It's been slightly wet for ice cream, but we've got some lovely warm days coming so we will make the most of it before the children go back to school," she said.

'Not all doom and gloom'

Ms Evans said that it had not been "all doom and gloom".

"We've had incredible sales on our coffees and our cakes," she said.

"So we've just got to diversify and keep our head above water and get through the winter and get back to April and start back again."

The Met Office said there was likely to be a heatwave for some parts of the UK during the first full week of September, due to the jet stream moving northwards and a build up of high pressure.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist, Chris Bulmer, said: "Many areas will enjoy a fine period of weather with plenty of sunshine and temperatures are likely to be the highest for many since June or early July."