8. Will the Minister make a statement on what the Welsh Government is doing to promote tourism in mid Wales? OAQ54095

Thank you for the question. Mid Wales—canolbarth Cymru—had a successful Easter period, with 40 per cent of businesses reporting more visitors than the same period last year. The Member will also be aware that we have retained, for the purposes of tourism, mid Wales as a tourism region. And I look forward to my contribution personally: I shall be staying at the Caer Beris hotel in Llanelwedd for the Royal Welsh for at least four days. 

Thank you, Deputy Minister, for your answer. You'll be aware of the work on the mid Wales growth deal, which is being supported by both the Welsh and UK Governments, and work being undertaken by both local authorities in Powys and Ceredigion through the Growing Mid Wales partnership. I wonder what conversations you've had with Government colleagues here, or indeed with either of the local authorities, in terms of developing a tourism stream for that growth deal. And also, in terms of supporting the tourism sector and industry in mid Wales, do you agree that, as part of that work, there needs to be a key attraction and pull into the area to support small businesses and local tourism businesses in the mid Wales area?

Tourism businesses of all sizes in mid Wales make a distinctive contribution to the local economy, and it is key that we should be able to support them. In relation to the growth deal, we do expect, clearly, that there will be a strong tourism element within the growth deal. Tourism is a foundational economic activity in the policy of the Government, and the importance of that is that we see the development of tourism as providing an economic stimulus to other aspects that we are supporting strongly, such as the food industry.