The Tourism Sector

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 24 May 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:12, 24 May 2022

Well, Llywydd, I thank Ken Skates for that question. It does take me back to the terms of the original question, asking us what we do to support the tourism sector, and one of the things that we do is to support the sector in extending the range of things that it has on offer and to extend the season over which it operates. And when Wrexham becomes, as I certainly hope it will, the city of culture, when that is announced, as we believe, on the thirty-first of this month, then it will have the support of the entire Government behind it. The Minister for culture wrote to the local authority very recently, setting out the support that the Welsh Government will offer—financial support and other forms of support—so that that could be conveyed to the committee responsible for making the decision, so that they would know that. If they choose Wrexham, as I hope they will, then they can do so knowing that the Welsh Government will be four-square behind the bid and the year of activities that would follow.

Llywydd, I don't lack advice on the fortune of Wrexham Association Football Club. A source not very far from where I am standing keeps me very well informed, and, just before First Minister's questions arrived today, we were discussing the relative merits of Grimsby and other potential opponents for Wrexham and where they lay in the league and who had played them and what their results had been. So, I'm very pleased indeed to support Wrexham Association Football Club. They've had a fantastic season, and I hope it ends with the success that the club deserves.