3. What discussions is the Welsh Government having with relevant partners about visitor experiences in Wales in 2021? OQ55621

Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. The tourism sector and the future recovery of the visitor experience in Wales are discussed at regular meetings of the tourism taskforce, attended by the Minister and Deputy Minister with tourism responsibilities.

We have welcomed far more visitors than usual to tourist areas in my constituency this year. They have brought a boost of a second summer to the local economy, but the experience for the visitor and the local population hasn't always been pleasant—parking problems; travel problems; long queues, and not just on the top of Snowdon; there are also litter problems. These all have a negative impact on the visitor experience and, of course, create huge frustration for the local population. Would you agree that we must find ways of controlling too much tourism and that the Government has a prominent role in bringing all of the relevant partners together in order to forward plan for a successful season next year?

I thank Siân Gwenllian for her supplementary questions. I agree with her on the things that we are trying to keep together. The tourism industry is extremely important to north Wales, and the solution to the problems is dependent on bringing people together around the table to think about how we can give extremely good experiences to people who come to us, that are part of the local economy, and at the same time protect the things that people come to Wales to see and enjoy.

And may I just add there, Llywydd—? I had the privilege of taking part in a ceremony on Sunday evening to note the latest milestone in ensuring world heritage site status to the slate industry in north-west Wales, and welcoming Frau Friederike Hansell and others from UNESCO who were visiting the area. That shows that people throughout the world want to come to see what we have here to offer in Wales, but the important thing to do is to do it in a way that safeguards and protects the things they want to see, and to draw in the local people, and the people in the businesses, around the table with the local authorities and Welsh Government to plan together for the future.

Good afternoon, First Minister. Please forgive me if I cut across anything you've already said; unfortunately, the translation wasn't working on my computer. Many of the visitor experiences in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire are provided by microtourism businesses, whether they are eco tree lodges in the forests of Carmarthenshire or small campsites and businesses along the Pembrokeshire Coast national park. Because they are very distinct and have a particular attraction to certain groups of people, they of course have been quite badly hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

I did listen very carefully to your reply to Adam Price earlier about whether or not people should make a journey to see us, but I want to just read you something from Microtourism Wales, who say, 'Our members are now dealing with confused guests looking to cancel or change their holidays because they do not understand the local lockdown policies'. And yesterday, the economy Minister, during the Welsh Government press conference said, and I quote, 'It is vital that people consider carefully whether their journeys are required'.

Microtourism businesses in my patch are already financially under the water because of the earlier lockdown. Are you able to give them any other guidance as to what they should say when someone phones them up from either England or a different part of Wales and says, 'I'm going to cancel my two weeks in your treehouse in Carmarthenshire because I don't think I'm allowed to travel', or, even worse, they ask them whether they should travel or not, which puts the onus of making that decision on the operator?

Well, Llywydd, I have tremendous sympathy for the businesses Angela Burns has highlighted. I was able myself to spend a short while in the holiday period in her constituency and could see just how hard people who earn a living through visitors were working to try and make up for the losses that they had sustained earlier in the year. So, the reoccurrence of coronavirus across the United Kingdom is inevitably very challenging for them. We do our best to communicate as clearly as we can through the different networks that we have, through the group that I mentioned in my answer to Siân Gwenllian that meets every week with the Welsh Government, to make sure that, through the regional tourist arrangements, we're conveying those messages.

Today, Ken Skates will make a statement on the floor of the Senedd, which will include a £20 million ring-fenced budget for hospitality and tourism, over and above the £27 million that the sector has been able to draw down from the first two iterations of the economic recovery fund. So, I hope that that will be of some help to the businesses that Angela Burns has highlighted. We were working hard with the sector to try to extend the season so that people would have been able to go on working for longer, and the difficulties that we are experiencing as the virus takes hold once again are a blow, both to those plans and to the hard-working people who have done so much to try to recoup something from the season for the businesses that they have worked so hard to build up.