5. Will the First Minister make a statement on reopening the tourism sector in north Wales? OQ55437

Thank you for that question. Llywydd, lifting the stay local requirement allows people to travel around Wales. Outdoor visitor attractions can open, subject to strict social distancing and hygiene guidelines remaining in place. I have noted that self-contained accommodation and outdoor hospitality should prepare to reopen in the next week.

Thank you for that response. There are two things I'd like to raise. First of all, an appeal once again for extending support to tourism and hospitality businesses. Losing so much of their season will mean that they will have already lost a great deal of their annual turnover, and time is short to make up for that, of course.

But the second point is on the nature of tourism. The First Minister will know, as do I, about the very real concern that exists about the return of tourism, because the threat of the virus has not disappeared. Therefore, I support a campaign on Anglesey, for example, to remind tourists to stick to those steps to safeguard communities and to respect the people around them. But I also think that now is an opportunity to reconsider the nature of the relationship between tourism and our communities in a more fundamental way. So, would the First Minister agree with me, and tourism representatives who I've been speaking to in my constituency, that we need to use this period to lay the foundations for a new kind of tourism, that gives greater ownership and control to the local level, which makes the sector more sustainable, which responds to local concerns about the impact of too much tourism, and ensures local benefits from tourism?

Well, Llywydd, may I thank Rhun ap Iorwerth for that interesting question? And just to say in the first place that I acknowledge the fact that tourism is extremely important to the people of Ynys Môn. The reason why we have proceeded carefully, step by step, is to ensure that the sector will be ready to welcome visitors back safely, and doing that by taking the communities with us on that journey. And it's important that the industry works closely with the local people to prepare and to do it in a way where the voice of the local people impacts the nature of the industry. That's exactly what Rhun has said about the opportunity that presents itself for us to rethink all of this. It's important. And when I have had discussions with the group that we've convened—and I had the opportunity to do that recently on 18 June—one thing that struck me was the point that the people in the group raised that they are eager to use the opportunity that they have to recreate the relationship between people working in the field and people living locally. I agree with what Rhun ap Iorwerth was saying about optimising the opportunity that we have to do things together and cautiously over the ensuing weeks. Because if we do it successfully, there will be more that we can do to help the sector in the remaining season and to do more to support the sector by doing so.

First Minister, 24,000 people work in the manufacturing industry in food and drink, with around 230,000 employed in the wider supply chain. There are around 3,700 different Welsh food and drink producers on retail, and a vital stage is the hospitality sector. Will you consider reopening the hospitality sector indoors from 13 July, but more importantly, advise them of this now? If not, what do you say to the Welsh Independent Restaurant Collective, whose survey found that at least 30,000 job losses are expected in the sector and that nearly half of these have happened already? Could you explain to me how it is seen to be safe for children to be in classrooms eating their lunch but yet unsafe for adults to sit inside a restaurant? Diolch.

Well, Llywydd, I think it's very easy to explain the difference: as far as I know, alcohol isn't being served in schools in Wales, whereas it would be in the context that the Member refers to. The idea that these things are somehow comparable is clearly nonsensical as soon as you begin to consider it. No, I won't be reopening indoor hospitality from 13 July, but I'm very glad indeed that we've been able to work with the sector and that outdoor hospitality will be reopening in Wales from that date. What we will then do is work with the sector to see that they make a success of that reopening, that they deliver on the many compensating measures that they have, I think, in a very committed and imaginative way, come forward with—measures to mitigate the impact of coronavirus—and provided we can see that that is being done successfully, then we will be able to move to reopening indoor hospitality.

What I think the Member never seems to grasp is that unless you're prepared to do this in a careful way, then people won't come back to use those facilities; people won't have the confidence to come back to restaurants and cafes and public houses in Wales unless they know that we have worked together to make those places safe. The weeks ahead in which the sector will deliver, I feel confident, on the promises it has made will be an investment in making sure that when we are able to move to indoor hospitality, people in Wales will have the confidence to return to it and that will have stood that sector and those businesses in very good stead.