Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:35 pm on 29 March 2023.
Diolch yn fawr iawn ichi, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank everybody who has contributed to this debate today? As the Minister, I guess, alluded to at the end of his contribution there, I think this is the start of a conversation and not the end of a conversation. I'm grateful, even though he doesn't support the motion today, that the Government are going to abstain on this as well, and I intend to continue this conversation as this develops.
In my view, an independent arm's-length body is something that is sorely needed to boost our tourism sector after a crippling set of lockdowns, an increased cost of living and other pressures facing the tourism industry more generally at the moment. I'm grateful to some of the contributors who made their arguments as well, particularly Rhun ap Iorwerth. I'm grateful for his support, even if we didn't come at it from the same way, but, like a nice walk around the Gower peninsula, it doesn't matter where you start—as long as you end up in the same place, it doesn't really matter. [Laughter.] But it's really important that not only would it be representative of the sector, but it would also work very well with communities as well, and I think that's a very important point well made there.
Jane Dodds and Sam Rowlands talked about the fragility of small businesses that are involved in the tourism economy, and bringing together the best and the brightest minds to work on it. Jane, you raised totally legitimate questions, I think, about the funding and the structure of the board. One of the downsides of these half-an-hour debates, I suppose, is that you don't get enough chance to get into the weeds of these things. My preference would be to have that industry and community-led governance model, and have it be available for funding through Government, not, as I said in my opening remarks, as a Government line in a department budget but with its own set budget, but also an openness to be able to get private sector funding and so on. So, this is something, perhaps, we can talk about as, hopefully, this develops, going forward.
Then, Janet Finch-Saunders talked about how Visit Wales can refocus a remit on enhancing tourism, over and above the competing aims of the Welsh Government. I think the Minister, in his closing remarks, spoke about a lot of good things that the Government are doing, but isn't that exactly the reason why we need an independent Visit Wales—to verify those claims? A Visit Wales that sits outside of Government could endorse all of the points you made much more effectively than, perhaps, a Minister making them as well. Perhaps evidence of that is the fact that, as you alluded to, Minister, the responsibility for tourism has shifted from one Minister to another in the last couple of months. Each time that happens, it's a natural consequence of that. Having the experts sitting on a board—sitting on a panel—responsible for tourism is crucial, going forward.
So, in a nutshell, Dirprwy Lywydd—I'm conscious of the time—the proposed Bill is a rallying cry to our tourism industry. The point is that the Government is there to listen, rather than to tell, as well as to support it out of a precarious situation through robust policy ideas, and with an independent and transparent critical friend. I think it's the least they deserve. Diolch yn fawr.