5. Statement by the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:52 pm on 10 June 2020.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 2:52, 10 June 2020

Thank you, David. Absolutely—I would say that we are very much connected to the UK tourism industry. I know that the Deputy Minister meets very regularly with his counterparts across the United Kingdom, and a lot of the guidance that is being developed, is being developed in concert with the rest of the UK, where possible. Because it doesn't make sense for us to perhaps have a separate protocol for how you use a buffet in Wales from how you would use a buffet in Scotland. So, all of those things are being discussed in detail.

We have been working with the representatives of—it's not just on a governmental side, but also on the industry side—. So, we have Welsh representatives on the VisitBritain board. The UK Tourism Industry Council are, of course, people who become involved in the weekly discussions that Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the Minister, has with the industry. So, I think that connection with the UK is actually extremely strong.

When you're talking about a marketing strategy, our marketing strategy, of course, at the moment is 'Visit Wales. Later', and, of course, at some point, we will be switching that when we feel it is safe to do so. But I do think that a huge amount of work has already been done in this space. We have about 1 million followers on Twitter in relation to Wales.com. I think a huge amount of work has been done already in terms of the branding of Wales. I think that's in a very good place now. So, it's how we promote those platforms to a wider audience and get the UK Government to be promoting on our behalf. Certainly, one of the things that we've been trying to emphasise within that new international strategy is giving the clear information to the UK Government in terms of what we want them to say on our behalf, and I think we're in a much better place with that now.