6. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism: Priorities for the Visitor Economy 2020-2025

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:47 pm on 22 October 2019.

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Photo of Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas Independent 4:47, 22 October 2019

I thought we were getting on very well, David, until the end of your contribution, so I will come to that briefly. Thank you for your welcome for the themed approach and the understanding of that. I do pay tribute here to the thoughtful people who dream up these approaches. When I first saw the word 'epic' on the top of Pen y Gwryd I thought, 'This is a step too far', partly because it was in what used to be my own constituency, and I still live there, and I thought, 'Well, this is over the top.' But the reality is that to be able to present a countryside in a dramatic way, you require some overstatement, and this is where I think it is possible to attract people to go to areas they hadn't intended to go to, or would like to go to as well, and that's part of taking the pressure off Snowdonia, or off Pen y Fan, which I witness very often, of course, as being seriously under pressure.

Thank you for the tribute to the red dragon. I also think it's rather a good flag, but I'm also a bit of a fan of the cross of St David, if you want a bit of variation.

I will now come to your final point. I'm not responsible for transport policy, but I do believe it's essential to have a safe motorway system, and a safe road system, and that that can be an attraction to tourists in itself. But what I also want to see is a much more effective integrated transport system within Wales and across Wales. I'm blessed where I live by through trains, all the way from my—. I can sit at a train in Pwllheli and I can be in Birmingham International before I finish my sandwiches. That is possible. Similarly, obviously, across south Wales, but also across the north and into Manchester Airport—we have these really effective connections. And when there’s a further development on Great Western, there will be a new connection coming westwards out of Heathrow, which I discussed when I was there involved with a marketing event last week. So, we must focus on Wales as a country that has more effective public transport when we have that.