Tourism plays a crucial role in supporting the Welsh economy and local communities, accounting for over 150,000 Welsh jobs, and accounting for 5% of our GDP.
Regretfully, the Labour Government’s attack on tourism, with their tourism tax and 182-day occupancy rule, is having a detrimental impact on our vital tourism sector, and is forcing many hard-working local businesses to close for good.
In the Senedd tomorrow (22/05/24), the Welsh Conservatives are bringing forward a Senedd motion calling on the Labour Government to scrap their tourism tax and reduce the 182-day occupancy threshold to 105 days, along with other proactive measures to support our vital tourism sector.
Commenting ahead of the debate, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Culture, Tourism, Sport and Social Justice, Laura Anne Jones MS, said:
“Tourism is absolutely vital to the Welsh economy and local communities, accounting for over 150,000 Welsh jobs, and accounting for 5% of Wales’ GDP.
“In the Senedd tomorrow, I look forward to bringing forward a Welsh Conservative debate calling on the Labour Government to scrap their toxic tourism tax, and reduce their damaging occupancy threshold to 105 days.”
Also commenting, Chairman of the Wales Tourism Alliance, Suzy Davies, said:
“We are pleased to see that Senedd members are being given the chance to debate tourism. The opportunities and challenges the industry faces need thorough scrutiny.
“The slew of policies damaging jobs and income, without any evidence of benefit elsewhere, points to the need to amend them or scrap them altogether. A review is now overdue.”
The motion which will be debated tomorrow reads:
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Recognises the vital contribution that the tourism sector makes to Wales, accounting for over 150,000 jobs and 5 per cent of GDP.
2. Regrets that Wales’s tourism sector still hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
3. Calls on the Welsh Government to support Wales’s tourism sector by:
a) freeing Welsh tourism by making Visit Wales independent;
b) scrapping the tourism tax;
c) reducing the 182-day occupancy threshold to 105 days;
d) introducing a tourism and hospitality academy to upskill the sector for the future; and
e) proactively capitalising on major events.
