Walkers give £84.7 million boost to Welsh coastal economy

A Welsh Government report outlines how important visits by walkers to Wales' coastal areas are to the local economy.

It says, last year, they spent £84.7 million supporting 1,00 jobs. It also found that 43.4 million day visits to the Welsh coast included walking as an activity.

This ranged from local people taking a short beach stroll to visitors completing the entire 870 mile long Wales Coast Path over 100 or more days.

A face to face survey of 1,483 groups on the Wales Coast Path found that 61 percent of respondents were visiting on day trips from home. The remaining 39 percent were staying away from home for one or more nights.

Fifty-nine percent of visits were made by people living in Wales, with 38 percent coming from England and three percent from elsewhere.

The average distance covered in one direction was nearly three miles.