Plenary Contributions 21/01/15
Tourism Debate
15:50
Janet Finch-Saunders
Of course, tourism is one of our biggest export industries, contributing £6.9 billion a year to the Welsh economy, which is 13.2% of GVA, supporting 206,000 jobs. As the committee report has noted, whilst this has been our fastest-growing industry since 2005, much more needs to be done.
In my own constituency, Aberconwy, tourism accounts for 10,820 full-time jobs, equating to £559 million annually. It is actually a quarter of the industry in Wales. Though already successful, many of the hospitality businesses are run by the private sector, and on many occasions are microbusinesses and sole traders. We are very diverse as a constituency: we have waterfalls, we have the rural beauty, we have fabulous beaches, Conway castle—a UNESCO world heritage site and, of course, Snowdonia national park, again, contributing £134 million to our economy in 2012. I was really pleased to visit there last week. It has fantastic facilities. We have the Ogwen walking centre, and in Betws y Coed visitor centre, for those of you who don’t want to climb Snowdon, you can actually see the 360 degree vista.
Thirty five per cent of visits to Wales are made to take part in outdoor activities, and the total estimated spend of just the outdoor activity alone is £172 million. We’ve seen good news today: passenger numbers on ferries to and from Holyhead are set to increase by 40% this year. I’m really proud to announce that TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travellers’ Choice award for the best bargain accommodation in the world was this week named as Lawton Court in Llandudno. You know, these people in this industry should be applauded for the work they do, for the quality service, excellent Welsh food and produce, and the fantastic job in just keeping up appearances—you know, the facades of many of our hotels.
But I believe that those in the tourist industry need a break themselves: a break from bureaucracy, a break from red tape and a break from rising business rates. I know of one hotelier paying £52,000, another one £38,000 and another local hotelier in my constituency paying £112,000 a year annually in business rates. It doesn’t matter if I say it quickly—it doesn’t lessen the blow to that particular business.
I am pleased to note that progress is being made towards the Welsh Government’s 2013 target to achieve a 10% real-terms growth by 2020, but we’ve a lot to do. The recommendations put forward by the committee give clear guidance to the Welsh Government as to how the potential for economic growth through tourism must be maximised, and, as highlighted by the report, the Welsh Government itself must do more to engage with the industry by involving businesses more closely with advertising campaigns. Visit Wales—fantastic. I absolutely love watching those adverts on TV, but how is there any co-ordination with any campaigns with those running their own hospitality businesses?
There also need to be steps taken to make life for those who work or want to work in the tourist industry less challenging. Now, I talk about terms of broadband and mobile phone coverage in rural tourism areas. I welcome the response to recommendation 15, stating that the UK Government have invested £150 million in mobile infrastructure to address the so-called ‘notspots’, but there is still confusion remaining, and many questions—I’m inundated—as to who’s going to have or have not in terms of business support. Dialogue with Superfast Cymru indicates it is not an exact science, so the 96% target may not even be reached. There are no guarantees.
The recent Visit Wales—oh, I’ve mentioned that, about Visit Wales, and the advertising campaign. ‘Have you packed for Wales?’ it was called. Excellent.
Now, according to Professor Annette Pritchard:
‘Brand Wales is at a tipping point. It needs greater clarity, stakeholder buy-in and consumer and media resonance.’
One area that requires significant improvement is how Wales is marketed to potential overseas tourists. Last year, a Welsh Affairs Committee report warned that Wales still has a low profile overseas compared with other parts of the UK, and despite the apparent growth in the industry, it found that the number of international tourists visiting Wales has slumped from 1.14 million in 2006 to 854,000 in 2012.
Minister, accepting the recommendations of this report to unlock further potential is one thing, but delivery is the key.