Tourism: Covid-19

Hywel Williams Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC)]

Tourism in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Government, but it has always been a valued part of our economy and, as this pandemic has hit us, it lies at the centre of the relationship between England and Wales, particularly north Wales. There has been a trend towards tourism from other parts of the European Union, but the bulk of tourism in the north is from English tourists—tourists often visiting for the day. Tourists climb our mountains, they swim from our beaches, they ramble on our countryside and they eat and drink our wonderful Welsh produce. There will always be a welcome to those who come to experience our country responsibly. We have seen some confusion, as the media would have it—confusion over the rules in England on the one hand and the rules in the UK on the other. Responsibility for much of this confusion lies with the media themselves and with the Government in London. The UK Government must be more consistent by making it clearer when they are acting as the Government of England, and I urge the media to follow suit.

Tourism has grown over the decades and we welcome that, but covid has led to a sharp spike in numbers. The effect of a jump in the population of a seaside village from, say, 1,000 to 10,000 is as profound as hundreds of thousands of people heading for Bournemouth or for Brighton. This not only makes it more difficult for local people, but spoils the visitor experience for tourists themselves.

There has been a welcome push for quality in the tourist offering in Wales over the years. This is one of the key steps to our recovery after covid, which is why we as a party are advocating sustainable quality tourism in Wales, respecting our environments and our cultural and linguistic riches. The industry is losing half of its earning capacity this season, so while we welcome the UK Government’s decision to provide VAT relief, I urge them to introduce a permanent VAT reduction to 5% for the hospitality industry, which is something that was allowed by the European Union in 2008 and which has been studiously ignored by Chancellors of both main parties ever since. But we need to do a good deal more. Time is short today, so I will say only that devolving real power and resources to support employment is an obvious further step and that it is truly deplorable that the furlough scheme is being withdrawn much, much too early.