Wales Tourism Business Barometer

The Wales Tourism Business Barometer provides a ‘snapshot’ of industry performance after important points in the tourism calendar. Findings for the summer period 2021 are now available which show: About half (48%) of operators have had more customers compared to a normal (pre-COVID) summer, about a third (31%) have had the same, and 21% have had fewer. All four regions of Wales have been busier than normal (pre-COVID) this summer, but South West Wales particularly so. 56% of businesses in this region have had more customers this summer compared to normal. Nearly all (97%) businesses are choosing to maintain some safety measures voluntarily that they are no longer required to maintain by law. There are many types […]

Return to Quality Grading Assessments

After a suspension in grading visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Visit Wales Quality Assurance team will be resuming their duties over the coming weeks. Much thought has been given to how they can return to assessing properties as safely as possible not only for the Quality Grading team but also for the tourism business. The Quality Advisors will have a considerable backlog of telephone calls to make, and because of this, it is felt that the best way to move forward and re start the grading process is, on an initial ‘trial basis’, to contact those businesses who have applied for quality grading for the very first time. […]

New plan to keep Wales open and safe during “challenging” winter ahead

The latest version of the Coronavirus Control Plan sets out two planning scenarios for the pandemic over the winter – in the first, called Covid Stable, Wales remains at alert level zero through the autumn and winter, with all businesses able to open. This is thought to be the most likely scenario for the future, as we become used to living with coronavirus and we gradually move out of the pandemic to a position where the virus becomes a seasonal illness. Under this scenario, if case rates fall, measures could be relaxed further in response, and if they rise, some existing measures could be strengthened to protect people’s health. The […]