Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:13 pm on 17 March 2020.
First Minister, one of the industries that is likely to be hit significantly as a result of falling visitor numbers is our tourism industry. It plays a huge role in the economy, particularly in north, mid and west Wales. And, of course, it's absolutely vital that we do what we can to protect those businesses that might be adversely affected, and indeed the many jobs in those businesses, on which so many families' livelihoods depend.
Some of the businesses in the tourism industry may be slightly larger than some of the exemptions that have already been announced in the business rates regime. For example, there are unique businesses like piers, whereby the business rate support that has thus far been announced, will not be eligible for them, even though there are many smaller businesses that, perhaps, are located on those piers. I wonder whether you will be able to accommodate what are sometimes unusual arrangements within the tourism industry, given the importance of it to the Welsh economy, in order that additional support can perhaps be made available to businesses with those sorts of unusual arrangements.