Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:39 pm on 20 September 2022.
I'm grateful to you, Minister. Members will be pleased to hear that I'll just make a short intervention this afternoon. I'm fully in support of a consultation, and fully in support of the levy that you are proposing. I believe that we do need to have a real debate about the nature of tourism and the impact of tourism on our communities. All too often in this Chamber, we make assumptions and we work on the basis of assumptions, and one of those assumptions is that mass tourism is only for the good. But we know that there are very negative impacts from mass tourism on many communities, and we've had that debate about the place of housing, homelessness and the ability of people to live in their own communities. So, I think we do need a real debate about how tourism impacts Wales in a positive way, as well as some of the more negative issues.
I pay a visitor levy, or a tourism tax—whatever you want to call it—when I travel, in many places, and it doesn't affect me at all. In fact, I think I have a very real duty to pay for the services that I use when I'm visiting another place, and I think I have a responsibility to do that as well. I want the tourism that I embark upon as an individual or as a family, whatever, to benefit other places, and if that means contributing towards infrastructure, I'm very pleased to be able to do that, and I think we should argue for that.
I would say to you, Minister: I hope that you will explore the options that will be available to local government in terms of delivering this tourism levy. I hope also that you will look at examples elsewhere in the world. I have, for example, paid a toll, if you like, to drive into a national park in the United States, as well as paying a room tax, or a city tax, in places across Europe. I think there's a whole range of different options available to us. And I hope, Minister, you will not listen to the siren voices behind you, but you will look at the hard facts from different parts of the world, where a tourism levy helps contribute to the integrity of the community that is being served, and we should ensure that the community, that people, come first. I know that the Tories always prioritise profit—they'll be doing it on Friday again in London, they're doing it today. But I want this Government to prioritise communities, people and people's livelihoods, because I think that's what the people of Wales expect us to do.