Staycations

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:57 pm on 21 September 2021.

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Photo of Tom Giffard Tom Giffard Conservative 1:57, 21 September 2021

Can I thank the First Minister for his previous answer? I agree with him. I think Wales does have a lot to offer, and whether it's the wonderful beaches of Gower in my region or a zip wire in Cynon Valley, I think the more people come to Wales the more they experience and enjoy it and want to come back. But it was this time last year the Welsh Government had already started introducing local lockdowns around Wales, and, as a result, tourism businesses and local economies in those areas really suffered, and some businesses are very fearful that they simply couldn't survive another lockdown. So, whilst the need to protect public health and people's lives played a part in that decision last year, thankfully, this year, due to the tremendous success of the UK-wide vaccination scheme, the link between cases and hospitalisations has broken. Therefore, given this success, as well as the imminent start of the booster programme, will the First Minister give these tourism businesses an assurance that local lockdowns won't follow later this year?