The amount of money spent by tourists to Caerphilly County Borough is on the rise, according to figures from the council.
Around £103 million was spent in Caerphilly County Borough by visitors last year – an increase of 3% on 2012 figures.
Visitors staying overnight in the borough contributed the most to this increase with a 7% rise in visitor spending on accommodation. Visitors have also been spending more on food and drink when they visit the borough, with a 3% increase from 2012 to 2013.
To help tourists around Caerphilly town, the council has recently installed five new tourist information boards.
One of them has been installed next to the cheese sculpture in Caerphilly town and explains the history of Caerphilly Cheese.
More visitor information panels are planned for other town centres throughout the county borough, starting with Blackwood town centre.
Meanwhile, the Winding House in New Tredegar has been voted one of the top ten museums in Wales in a public poll.
The survey, run by Wales Online, asked members of the public to vote for their two favourite museums in Wales.
Topping the national museum poll was St Fagans, while in the ‘other’ museum category, the Winding House – one of the youngest museums in the list – was voted in at number four.
The museum in New Tredegar has been open for just five years and in that time has attracted 70,000 visitors.
Its current exhibition, ‘Our Duty to Bear’ – the First World War and Caerphilly County Borough has already welcomed more than 3,000 visitors since it opened in August this year.
Cllr Ken James, Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Sustainable Development, said: “The Winding House has gone from strength to strength since it opened five years ago.
“This public vote is a fantastic indication of the strength of support for the museum among the local and wider community. Congratulations to everyone at the Winding House – both staff and volunteers – who work so hard to deliver such an excellent museum service for the local community and for visitors to the County Borough.”
‘Our Duty to Bear’ – the First World War and Caerphilly county borough is open until Autumn 2015.
For more information visit www.windinghouse.co.uk
What has islwyn got then? No one goes to the pond now due to parking charges oh but then again Blackwood has two new charity shops open this week to add to the 6 already there.