More cruise ship passengers are expected to visit Wales in 2018 than ever before. Most of them are heading to Holyhead.
Last weekend, a total of 2,000 mainly American travelers arrived at the Anglesey cruise port aboard Brilliance of the Seas.
Image: Port of Holyhead (Isle of Anglesey, Wales)
51,000 passengers are due to visit Wales this year on one hundred boats, up 15% on the 44,300 visitors in 2017. According to ourism minister Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the economic benefits from cruise industry were "hugely important".
A previous suggestion by travel expert Simon Calder was that the country was "standing still" in terms of attracting more tourists. Calder claimed Wales had failed in capitalising on a record-breaking 39.2 million foreign tourists visiting the United Kingdom in 2017.
According to the Welsh Government, its tourism barometer survey had been "overwhelmingly positive" overall. New figures showed that this year a growing number of people were due to arrive via cruise ships.
Passengers from such countries like the USA, Canada, Germany, France and Norway have visited Anglesey and landing at Fishguard and Cardiff.