Tourism Strategy

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 2:13 pm on 1 December 2021.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:13, 1 December 2021

Well, I think there's an inaccuracy—I'll put it that politely—in the way the Member has presented this. The proposals to consult on a tourism levy are part of the manifesto that saw 30 Welsh Labour Members elected by the people of Wales to the Senedd. They already form part of the programme for government, and it's no surprise that they're there within the co-operation agreement that has been signed today.

We've been really clear on several occasions in the past, when the Member and others have asked about this, that we're looking to consult on this during the next year or so. That will be led by the finance Minister, as a potential new addition to taxation policy, and it would be on a permissive basis to give local authorities the ability to use the powers that we're looking to give them.

Now, some local authorities may decide not to proceed with that, and that would be a matter for them. It's a permissive power that we're looking to consult on, rather than requiring people to have a tourism levy. I do think that it's worth considering how people in the sector may see that as being positive, but also how it supports sustainable tourism, with the additional pressure that tourism causes to some communities around Wales and the services that exist for local people who live there year round as well as visitors. We want to have a proper balance in the way that the visitor economy functions, with good jobs year round, improving seasonality and making sure that local facilities and services aren't compromised.

It's worth, of course, noting that every time a Conservative stands up and says that a tourism levy would destroy jobs and be dreadful, actually, tourism levies are entirely normal in many parts of the world, including our near neighbours. Anyone who's holidayed in Spain has almost certainly paid a tourism levy; lots of people who go to France have almost certainly paid a tourism levy at some point. This is really quite mainstream in permitting local authorities to determine if they want to use it and, if so, at what level and for what purpose. It certainly hasn’t deterred Brits from going and travelling to different parts of world to contribute to the visitor economy in other parts of the world. I think this is a very sensible contribution, and it’s one we committed to consult on in our manifesto. It should be no surprise that it appears in the a co-operation agreement signed today.