The Welsh Association of Visitor Attractions (WAVA) is the lead body for the attraction industry in Wales with over 80 members throughout Wales.
A recent survey has indicated that the ‘heady days’ of last year’s staycation are over with 46.9% of WAVA members seeing less visitors over the 2022 Easter period onwards when compared to 2019. (Due to the pandemic 2019 was the last year when all attractions were open at Easter.) The cost-of-living crisis might be one of the factors for these figures but another suggestion is that people who regularly take foreign trips abroad are reverting back to overseas holidays again. Thus, it would appear that the staycation boom of last year is well and truly over. Two questions in the survey also reflected WAVA members concerns that the Welsh Government was pursuing anti tourism policies i.e. the proposed tourism tax and the self-catering new letting days issue. The survey asked members if they would be re-investing in their attraction or be adding a new attraction for 2023 in the light of recent Welsh Governments tourism policies. 40% responded that they had no plans for re-investing or adding to their attraction for 2023. Probably the most interesting answer was to the question that if these Welsh government anti-tourism policies were to increase 18.8% of Welsh attractions would seriously consider projects outside of Wales. 43.8% of those responding to the survey also indicated that further investment in their attraction would also be put “on hold” under these circumstances. A WAVA spokesperson said – “All attractions are facing increased running costs especially for items like electricity, staffing costs and rising food prices. Many members are finding it difficult to pass on these extra costs knowing that families are struggling themselves with cost-of-living issues, therefore days out with the family must continue to be affordable. The overall picture indicated by some attractions is that the weekly footfall is down, and though the weekends are holding up these numbers are not covering the fewer visitors seen in the week.” For further information the following attractions are available for comment. Vince. Snowdon Mountain Railway. 07817 841066. Chair North Wales WAVA. Simon. Silver Mountain Experience. 07990 573972. Chair Mid Wales WAVA. Roy. Gower Heritage. 07974 243748. Chair South Wales WAVA.
0 Comments
Revision of the Package Travel Regulations has been included in the Queen’s Speech. BEIS are possibly going to enter into a wide reform of the PTRs and they are beginning to plan what this might cover to enable the necessary consultation. They are therefore asking the industry to complete a short survey to help shape the consultation. This provides an excellent opportunity to reinforce messages on how the Regulations need to be amended to support tourism growth.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=BXCsy8EC60O0l-ZJLRst2IiF1Z9Z3VBLt3NzPlwwZA5UNjRVSk9TNTlEU1pRUDZQMTJLRE9JSkNCUC4u The survey will be open until 8th June 2022 FHL Council Tax Exemptions - Extracted from queries to Welsh Government Officers (26/05/22)26/5/2022 The Council Tax (Exceptions to Higher Amounts) (Wales) Regulations 2015 provide for the existing exception from a council tax premium, for properties restricted by a planning condition preventing occupation for a continuous period of at least 28 days in any one‑year period. That’s the current extent of the planning-related exception.The current exemption for council tax premiums for properties with planning constraints is set out in legislation and applies on a pan-Wales basis. This is known as a class 6 exemption and should already be applied by local authorities.
Full guidance on the application of the exemptions and operation of council tax premiums can be found at: https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-06/council-tax-on-empty-and-second-homes.pdf#:~:text=From%201%20April%202017%2C%20local%20authorities%20will%20be,decision%20to%20be%20made%20by%20each%20local%20authority . Guidance on the Implementation of the Council Tax Premiums on Long-Term Empty Homes and Second Homes in Wales states: Class 6: Exception for Seasonal homes where year-round occupation is prohibited 40.This exception applies to the second homes premium. It is applicable to dwellings that are subject to planning conditions that prevent occupancy for a continuous period of at least 28 days in any 12-month period. 41.This exception is intended to cover purpose-built holiday homes or chalets which are subject to planning conditions restricting year-round occupancy. The exception is based on the definition of the existing discretionary discount for seasonal homes (Class A) in The Council Tax (Prescribed Classes of Dwellings) (Wales) Regulations 19981 . WG are exploring whether amendments to these regulations are necessary, to account for other types of planning condition preventing permanent occupation. WTA, PASC and UKH are writing to Ministers requesting various exceptions as raised in Industry meetings. A revised version of the guidance will be published prior to 1 April 2023 to align with changes to the maximum level of premium and provide further clarity. Any property, whether restricted by planning conditions, that does not meet the thresholds will be classified as domestic and become liable for council tax. Whether this is the standard rate only will be dependent on the individual circumstances of the property, including whether an exception applies. The changes will take effect from 1 April 2023, with the Valuation Office Agency using the new criteria to assess properties from that date onwards. Any property assessed from 1 April 2023 onwards will be required to evidence 182 days actually let within the 12 months prior to the date of assessment. Finally, the Welsh Government are considering the extent to which the current class 6 exemptions are appropriate. It should be noted that any changes in this area would be to widen the exceptions from a council tax premium, not to remove any. It is intended that any such considerations be carried out and, if required, legislation be in place for 1 April 2023. The Wales Tourism Alliance (WTA), which represents over 6,000 tourism businesses across Wales, has reacted with incredulity to the Welsh Government’s announcement on changes to self-catering rules. As part of its commitment to tackling the issue of too many second homes in some Welsh communities, Welsh Government is raising the number of days a property is available and let in order to qualify as a business. The current availability threshold rises from 140 to 252 and the current occupancy threshold rises from 70 to 182 days.
The consultation was initially welcomed by the professional self-catering sector, keen to distinguish tourism businesses from second homes which offer casual lets. However, despite responses to its consultation favouring a more practical rise in thresholds, Welsh Government proceeded to draft legislation containing these new figures, supported by just nine respondents. This prompted 1500 replies from Welsh businesses with first hand evidence that only 16% of them would be able to achieve these new thresholds. By the closing date, 400 of them had been given as full case studies to Welsh Government, with the offer of disclosing the remainder. Suzy Davies, Chair of the WTA said: “Welsh Government says it has “limited evidence”. So why are they making policy on the back of it? The limitation is their own, not the industry’s. They have not produced a shred of evidence as to why this won’t impact local economies. “Conversely, it is rare that Welsh Government will receive this much first hand evidence of the impact of a policy by those affected. We received several reassurances that these real experiences would be taken into account. These are not the experiences of second home owners: These are the experiences of local people who have invested in micro and small businesses and have been contributing to the local economy, often for many years. “It may well stop second home owners claiming they are businesses in order to game the local taxation system. We also want that stopped. But in setting these thresholds so high, Welsh Government will be taking out local businesses too. “These are the professional businesses who, however innovative they are, cannot create summer-style demand throughout the year. “The threat is especially acute in counties which have adopted premium rates of council tax on second homes. If businesses are re-categorised as second homes because they don’t reach the new thresholds (they’d earn more if they did) they will also have to pay the higher council tax, double punishment. “Like dolphins accidentally caught in fishing nets, these businesses will die. The irony is that they will be selling their properties to wealthier outsiders who can afford high council tax. So, fewer local businesses, more second homes, zero effect on local housing stock and zero effect on house prices. “MSes supporting this policy may want to think about what they will say to constituents who can’t find professional self catering properties for a holiday, and end up paying second home owners for a casual let instead. And what they will say to constituents who will still not be able to afford a home, not least because this policy takes out local jobs too.” Wales Tourism Week Report 2022 - Many thanks to all those who held and attended any of the ten events or meetings across Wales this year. WTW22 has been an opportunity for tourism sites across Wales to invite their local politicians and others to raise awareness of the sector and showcase the quality of our tourism offer to both UK domestic and international tourists. It has also provided exposure for our local politicians, as it gives them a chance to demonstrate support for tourism in their constituency. It also enables us as an industry collective to get our opinions and messages across to elected representatives. A particularly big thank-you to all those who supported our very successful evening reception at the Senedd on the 18th May 2022. We were joined by Members of the Senedd after Plenary from across the political spectrum. Of particular concern this year has been the issues of tourism taxation, business registration and the recent consultations with 'proposed' impacts on self catering businesses - all were raised at length during the week. The industry present at the reception were without exception opposed to the 182 day-threshold and the implementation of a tourism tax. Suzy Davies, Chair of the WTA opened the formal proceedings, which was followed by an update from Sam Rowlands, MS, Chair of the Tourism Cross Party Group. Dawn Bowden MS and Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport responded on behalf of the Welsh Government. Grenville Chamberlin also gave an address on behalf of the Caravan and Motorhome Club. Dawn Bowden's response was positive, but contained no commitment to drop any of the proposed measures. She also suggested that any tourism tax is several years away from implementation and further to much more consultation. This year's theme for the week was in Support of the Tourism and Hospitality skills and recruitment campaign -#theexperiencemakers . In partnership with the industry-led Wales Tourism and Skills partnership, in 2021 Visit Wales launched #theexperiencemakers – which is a skills and recruitment campaign to support the sector by raising awareness of the high numbers of vacancies and of the variety of career opportunities available. The campaign actively targets young people – school leavers, students, those unsure about their future career; young adults who may be looking for flexible working around eg childcare and older adults looking for part-time work or a career change. The message of the campaign is to join the experience makers. The campaign is being delivered in partnership with Working Wales Work in hospitality and tourism | Working Wales (gov.wales) – which provides one simple route for young people aged 16-24 in Wales to access the Young Person’s Guarantee offer. Six Case study films have been developed as part of the campaign and can be viewed on the campaign page, highlighting real people working in the sector, as well as how-to films which have been shared through social media, including Working Wales’s platforms, Tik Tok and Instagram using #theexperiencemakers. The campaign will continue into 2022 with targeted TV and cinema advertising. If you are a business that is able to share best practice on changes to recruitment and working practices and information and support to help train and develop staff, using the Flexible Skills Programme, please follow the link here: Skills & Recruitment | Business Wales (gov.wales). Suzy Davies, WTA chair, said: “An excellent Wales Tourism Week 2022 and Reception last night - great to see so many familiar and new faces at the Senedd. A big thanks to all those in support". The Wales Tourism Alliance annual reception held on the 18th of May in the Neuadd concourse on the Senedd Campus was very kindly sponsored by the Caravan and Motorhome Club alongside Visit Wales. #walestourismweek Immediate Release May 17th 2022 Developing a resilient tourism and hospitality skilled workforce in Wales is vital following 2 years of COVID-19 restrictions. In 2018, the visitor economy provided £6.3 billion of visitor spending which generated £3 billion (6%) in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the Welsh economy. Before the pandemic hit the news, Dr Sheena Carlisle secured a 4 million Euro Erasmus + project, The Next Tourism Generation (NTG) Alliance, with a Consortia of 14 partners including 7 tourism trade associations, 6 tourism education universities, and 1 major tourism lecturer and student network to respond to digital and sustainability skills gaps. The project published its desk research in 2019 and its primary research findings on Sustainability Skills Gaps in Wales in 2021. When writing the bid in 2017 the pan-European NTG partners were unaware their project outputs would help support the recovery of the tourism and hospitality sector after a global pandemic. In the event, COVID-19 helped maximise the delivery and use of the NTG website - which hosts case studies, blogs, and research developed to engage employees, employers, and trainers in tourism sub-sectors (including Tour Operators and Travel Agents, Visitor Attractions, Destination Management, Accommodation Providers, and F&B Operations), teachers and students within FE and HE. Whereas the Quality Skills Standards Frameworks help government and quality assurance agencies map the education landscape for updating skills. The NTG Wales team delivered quality management and innovation on all NTG outputs to improve collaborative and productive partnerships between tourism education providers and the industry. The NTG Wales team worked closely with Visit Wales, Regional Skills Partnerships (RSPs), FE colleges and universities, the Wales Tourism Alliance (WTA), and other tourism trade associations across Wales to gather key insight and knowledge of tourism skills challenges as well as test and pilot the NTG projects outputs. A key output from NTG is the NTG Tourism Sector Toolkit, which provides a comprehensive set of resources including: green, social, and digital training content, lesson plans, skills mapping templates and occupational profiles for education and training providers. The NTG skills mapping templates, a key element of the NTG toolkit and NTG Skills Matrix have already been put into practice by Qualifications Wales (QW), the qualifications assurance agency and regulator in Wales for schools, colleges and private training providers. The QW Tourism and Hospitality Qualifications Audit 2019-2022 utilised the NTG mapping templates so that future skills were mapped against the content of the current qualifications to better understand how these qualifications were preparing learners for future work and employment in this sector. QW will continue to refer to the future skills mapping templates as they synthesise their audit’s findings and recommendations due to be published in early 2023 after a draft report in August 2022. The NTG Alliance will host the final NTG conference on June 9th - Sectoral skills development in digital, green and social skills sets– to register The Next Tourism Generation: the transition of green, digital and social skills development - NTG The NTG Alliance has secured another 4 years of Erasmus + funding to support the new European Pact 4 Skills Strategy for Tourism. Due to Brexit, Cardiff Metropolitan University was unable to be part of this bid. Dr Sheena Carlisle is currently identifying opportunities with pan-Wales stakeholders to build on the NTG outputs and maximise the use of the tools developed on the NTG project, which align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Well Being of Future Generations Act. This can strengthen the future tourism and hospitality workforce in Wales, a key stakeholder in the Foundation Economy, and support regeneration and employment across Wales. For further information, please contact: Dr Sheena Carlisle scarlisle@cardiffmet.ac.uk Wales Tourism Week is an opportunity for tourism sites across Wales to raise awareness of the sector and showcase the quality of the tourism offer to both UK domestic and international tourists. This year the theme for the week supports the Tourism and Hospitality skills and recruitment campaign #theexperiencemakers - helping shine a spotlight on careers and job opportunities in the tourism and hospitality sector in Wales. Launched in 2021 by Visit Wales with the industry-led Wales Tourism and Skills partnership, the campaign supports the sector and raises awareness of the high numbers of vacancies and of the variety of career opportunities available. The message of the campaign is to join the experience makers and is delivered in partnership with Working Wales Work in hospitality and tourism | Working Wales (gov.wales). Find out more about Wales Tourism Week, learn about the resources available to you to get involved and events taking place on the Wales Tourism Week pages on our website. Be sure to join in on social media: Look out for posts using #theexperienceemakers and #walestourismweek and share them across your platforms – let’s get more people to come and work in tourism and hospitality. CADW are seeking applications for up to three Non-Executive Members to the Cadw Board with relevant experience and expertise.
Visit the Cadw website for details. Peter Fox MS (Monmouth): What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Economy about the impact of the Welsh Government’s draft Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment of Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2022 on the tourism industry?
The Minister said she held a roundtable meeting with Ministers for Economy, Climate Change and Education and Welsh Language on 7 February to discuss the outcome of the consultation on local taxes for second homes and self-catering accommodation. Peter Fox MS said the WG’s proposed changes to raise the occupancy criteria to be classed as a business by 160% has caused quite a stir within the tourism industry. Such a change has caused concern among many accommodation providers who are currently experiencing a fragility of bookings. Analysis by the Wales Tourism Alliance, UK Hospitality Cymru and the Professional Association of Self-Caterers shows that the majority of respondents to the WG’s original consultation supported aligning the rules in Wales to those proposed by HMRC in England – a threshold of 105 days compared to the current threshold of 70. He asked about why the WG has decided to pursue proposals that a large proportion of the tourism sector in Wales don’t agree with. The Minister said around 1,000 responses were received to the WG’s recent consultation on proposals to changes to local taxes and the views which were collected did support a change to the criteria. The WG believes that self-catering properties should be let out on a frequent enough basis to make a real contribution to the local economy and that those which aren’t such be subject to council tax. She had an excellent meeting with the Wales Tourism Alliance very recently and she is currently considering the 1,500 responses that they received. Mark Isherwood MS (North Wales): What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Economy regarding the provision of financial support for the tourism sector in North Wales? The Minister said she regularly engages with the Economy Minister on a range of issues and the WG has delivered a budget allocation of over £16.9m per year to support tourism throughout Wales over the next 3 year period, including 8 projects in North Wales. Mark Isherwood MS said self-catering accommodation is key to North Wales’ tourism sector and noted that last month he highlighted concerns in the Chamber raised by actual legitimate Welsh holiday let businesses that the Welsh Government’s local taxation proposals would devastate them. He asked whether the WG can really be serious about their occupancy limits given the evidence submitted in the report produced by Wales Tourism Alliance, UK Hospitality Cymru and the Professional Association of Self-Caterers which found that only less than 1% of the respondents to the WG’s consultation (just 9 people) supported the occupancy threshold supported by Welsh Government. The Minister said over 1,000 responses were received to the 12-week consultation, many of which supported the increase in the number of nights which a property must be offered for or actually let. She has also met with the Wales Tourism Alliance and discussed specific points regarding planning conditions on certain properties. She has committed to explore this further and is currently taking advice on the matter. Letter from Welsh Government: Response to WTA Questions in relation to Tourism Tax Proposals29/4/2022 Responses from Welsh Government - April 2022
|