Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's Wrexham AFC takeover fuels £180m tourism surge and hotel booking boom

Tourism in Wrexham has experienced a substantial uplift with spending reaching nearly £180 million, following the acquisition of the city's football club by celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Newly released statistics show approximately two million visitors inundated the area last year, buoyed by the "Welcome to Wrexham" documentary and the Red Dragons' consecutive promotions.

This surge represents a 20% yearly increase for the county borough, topping the growth charts across Wales. Back in 2020, tourism revenues in Wrexham plummeted to a mere £49 million due to the impact of COVID-19.

Yet, the dynamic change in Wrexham AFC’s fortunes post-takeover by the Hollywood pair has pushed local hotels into a scramble to accommodate the influx of guests. Wrexham Council's tourism manager, Joe Bickerton, said: "When you look across social media, people might come because they've seen certain aspects of the documentary, or they might come because they're interested to see what Wrexham is all about now it's a city."

He added, "It's heartwarming to see the amount of positive feedback, compared to five or 10 years ago.

"Since we were awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO back in 2009, Wrexham has really been on an upward trajectory as a whole county", reports Wales Online.

According to him, the heightened international profile from the celebrity ownership has significantly fostered recovery from the pandemic downturn.

Speaking to local councillors about the burgeoning tourism in the area, Mr Bickerton highlighted Wrexham's capacity challenge: "One of the issues we do have is always capacity. The challenge for us over the next few years is to work with the private sector to increase that capacity and demand as well."

He noted the town's remarkable rise in online presence, revealed by Expedia's statistics showing Wrexham as the third most searched UK location outside of London last year. With the US, Canada, and Australia being the main sources of visitors in 2023, the council's goal is to encourage tourists to stay for longer.

Mr Bickerton pointed out: "Wrexham as a search term generally gets in the region of about 8,000 hits a week. Pre-pandemic, it was maybe about 500 or 600.

"There are still big challenges that remain. The crucial thing for us is making sure that on days when Wrexham aren't playing at home and coaches arrive, we're getting people into hospitality businesses to eat lunch on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday."

Several sightseeing tours have been launched, while there have been notable investments like those in Hotel Wrexham, previously known as Holt Lodge.

Sam Regan, proprietor of the Lemon Tree Hotel in the city centre, has cautioned that the industry should not become complacent because of the football club's success. He expressed his viewpoint, saying: "Moving forward into 2025, we are in a very fortunate position in Wrexham, but there's a lot of jeopardy involved as well.

"We cannot rest on our laurels in terms of the attention that Welcome to Wrexham and the football club is bringing in and say that our job is done. We need to be bolstering that attention, rather than just accepting it as a given."

He shared an impressive statistic about the hotel's performance, noting that occupancy levels surpassed 91 per cent during 2024, which was slightly higher than the previous year, and significantly above the Welsh industry standard of approximately 60 per cent.

He added: "Where we fall down is that we do have a massive lack of capacity on accommodation county-wide, not just in the city centre. This is historic and not just post-Rob and Ryan.

"I've been at the Lemon Tree for 10 years and I've consistently achieved 85 per cent-plus occupancy since I've been there. I've expanded my business, and a lot of the hotels in the area are in the same predicament."