The continued fallout from the Budget may mean that the fate of Oakwoods Theme Park will foreshadow similar closures of other attractions throughout Wales, according to a duo of high-profile Welsh operators.

Two prominent Welsh attractions operators have spoken to the BBC citing their concern for the welfare of the leisure industry in Wales, following the closure of Oakwoods Theme Park. 

Oakwoods in Pembrokeshire, which for decades boasted the UK’s only purely wood-built rollercoaster, announced it was to close immediately on March 3, due to low visitor numbers. 

But operators in other parts of Wales have told the national broadcaster that Oakwoods might merely be the first of many closures throughout the country, as business-owners struggle to keep afloat in wake of the costing headwinds instituted by the Chancellor. 

Oakwoods neighbour Charles Davies, who heads up Heatherton World of Activities, said that his wages bill was set to rise by an eye-watering £250,000 this year due to National Insurance increases and the hike in the minimum wage, and described the status quo as “the most worrying time” he could remember in his 32 years in the industry, adding that others “are not going to last.” 

It was a sentiment echoed in Anglesey by Frankie Hobro, who owns and run the Anglesey Sea Zoo, who told the Beeb that visitor numbers to tourist attractions across Wales have yet to recover since Covid. 

“On top of that, we’ve got a cost of living crisis so people are earning less so we’ve got less visitors spending less,” she remarked. “All these things are stacking up and there’s a breaking point with everybody and particularly with small business owners.”