8. What plans does the Minister have to reform Visit Wales? OQ59197

Thank you, Janet Finch-Saunders, for that question. There are no plans to reform Visit Wales. We have an exciting and ambitious strategy, 'Welcome to Wales: Priorities for the Visitor Economy 2020-2025', for the development of tourism. We're working closely with the sector to achieve those collective aims.   

Thank you. Well, speaking of the sector, it's actually the sector that has approached me and said, 'Visit Wales definitely needs some reform.' Now, the economic benefit of tourism to Conwy county is around £900 million, generated from 9.5 million visitors annually. Our local tourism and hospitality businesses have gone through so much with the pandemic and are still recovering now, but they do believe that they're losing out on potential revenue. Many are struggling with increased energy costs and a shortage of trained staff.

One thing that's been pointed out to me is, when people come to stay in Wales, or look to stay in Wales, they frequently use sites such as Booking.com—I don't; I always book, whenever I go anywhere, with the business itself, because the charges are quite high for businesses in this day and age. I just question why Visit Wales isn't doing what VisitScotland and Discover Northern Ireland are doing, in that they actually have a platform where you can book through VisitScotland or Discover Northern Ireland, and they actually promote coming to Wales—or Scotland and Northern Ireland. So, I think that's a lost opportunity.

But I would place on record how fortunate we are in north Wales to have Jim Jones and his team in Go North Wales. They do so much for north Wales tourism. Really, all I would ask, I think, is: rather than just saying, 'No plans to reform', will you look at increasing the remit, then, of Visit Wales and perhaps introduce this platform where potential visitors coming to Wales can go through that, and it is taxpayer funded, state funded, as opposed to these companies, like Booking.com, that, frankly, don't do anything to support the actual hospitality industry in Wales? Thank you.

Can I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for that supplementary, because I think she raises an important and interesting point? I've made it very clear that Visit Wales, as far as we're concerned, as part of Welsh Government, allows us much greater accountability for the work that Visit Wales undertakes. They're directly accountable to me, and, through Visit Wales, I have direct engagement with our tourist and hospitality industry in a way that VisitBritain, VisitEngland, VisitScotland, as agencies sitting outside of Government, don't have. So, I think the structure that we have is right. We have a marketing department that sits within Visit Wales, which is doing much of what you suggest that we could be looking at, in terms of trying to bring more visitors into Wales—that's clearly the overall point. But the point you've raised about a platform for accommodation is something that I'd be happy to explore, and I'd be happy to have a conversation, further conversation, with you about that, Janet, because, clearly, if there is a way in which we can attract more people into Wales at a lower cost, then that is something that we'd be happy to explore.