The Assembly Finance Committee is undertaking an inquiry into preparations for replacing EU funding streams in Wales, after the UK leaves the EU and how any replacement funding might be administered. The terms of reference for the inquiry are:
The consultation notification can be found here: http://senedd.assembly.wales/documents/s73134/Consultation%20letter.pdf The consultation closes the 11th May 2018 .
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Although there are some steep drops in the IPS figures for Dec 2017, the preliminary results for 2017 show a 3% rise in visitor numbers and 8% increase in spend overall. However, please note that monthly figures are provisional and can fluctuate; it is more robust to use the provisional figure for the three-month period.
• Visits: The UK welcomed 2.6 million overseas visits in December, down by 11% compared to December 2016. Between October and December 2017 there were 8.8 million inbound visits to the UK, down 7% on the same period in 2016. However, overseas visits in 2017 overall set a new record. There were 38.9 million visits to the UK in 2017 overall (up 3% on 2016). • Spending: In December 2017 visitor spending fell 13% compared to December 2016 to reach £1.6 billion. Between October and December 2017 inbound visitors spent a total of £5.3 billion, down 3% on the last quarter of 2016. But with record results in each of the first nine months of the year and in November, inbound visitors’ spending still shows record results for 2017 overall: international visitors spent £24.3 billion in 2017 (up 8% on 2016). • Holiday visits fell by 7% year-on-year in December 2017 to 880,000 visits. However there were a record 15.2 million holiday visits in 2017 overall. Visits to friends and relatives (VFR) were down 8% in December 2017 to 960,000 visits, but VFR still reached a new record for the year, with 11.9 million visits overall in 2017 for this purpose (+3% on 2016). During December 2017 business visits continued to be weaker than in 2016, down 10% year-on-year and are tracking below previous levels for 2017 overall (-5% on 2016). Moreover visits to the UK for miscellaneous purposes fell by 37% to 200,000 visits during December 2017, compared to December 2016, making up to 3.0 million miscellaneous visits in 2017 overall, up 2% on 2016 (not a record though). • Global regions: Visits from both EU15 markets and Other EU markets in December 2017 were down, -11% to 1.4 million visits, and -25% to 320,000 visits respectively, compared to the same month in 2016. Visits from the Rest of Europe rose 26% year-on-year in December 2017 to 170,000 visits. Visits to the UK from North America fell by 17% in December 2017 to 240,000 visits. Finally Rest of World markets reported an 8% decline in visits to the UK with 420,000 visits during December 2017. The Welsh Government has published plans to strengthen local government in Wales. 'A Green Paper consultation sets out proposals to explore the possibility of creating larger, stronger councils. The Green Paper sets out for debate, possible options on how this can achieved – from voluntary mergers, to a phased approach with early adopters merging first, followed by other authorities, to a comprehensive merger programme'.
The Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, Alun Davies AM has researched the challenges Authorities face and how these challenges are impacting on the future sustainability of services. Proposals aim to ensure councils are able to continue to provide essential services. The WTA wants to establish what effect this might have on the Tourism Industry in Wales. Please forward your comments. Full consultation papers: https://beta.gov.wales/strengthening-local-government-delivering-people Consultation closes 12th June 2018. 'Collaborating to Compete’ is the theme of this year’s Wales Tourism Week which aims to highlight the power of partnerships across the industry.
The week-long focus on tourism from May 12-20 is co-ordinated by the Wales Tourism Alliance (WTA), the voice of the tourism industry in Wales and aims to drive the industry higher up the political agenda. Held annually to raise the profile of tourism, Wales Tourism Week also highlights the industry’s huge revenue generating value as well as jobs and careers opportunities. A reception, sponsored by the Caravan & Motorhome Club, is being organised at the Senedd in Cardiff, home of the National Assembly for Wales, on May 15. The keynote speech will be delivered by Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas, who holds the tourism portfolio within the Welsh Government. There will also be a series of events throughout the week held by the industry to highlight how different enterprises within sectors co-operate, provide excellent self-employment and career opportunities as well as customer service excellence. The WTA, along with its partners, is calling on tourism associations, trade organisations and businesses across the country to organise events that highlight the importance of the industry and emphasise partnership during Wales Tourism Week. Events may be added to the WTA website meetings page, by simply clicking the submit button and completing the online form - http://www.wta.org.uk/meetings--events.html WTA members play pivotal roles in local, regional and national partnerships, often as unsung heroes operating away from the limelight, but providing trust, integrity and insight across all business and government sectors. Adrian Barsby, WTA chair, said: “We are entering a particularly turbulent political era and we want tourism associations and businesses to contact their local elected members at whatever level and invite them to meet their local tourism businesses. “It’s an important opportunity to showcase their tourism product and emphasise the economic contribution the industry makes to local communities, particularly with regard to jobs and skills.” A recipe for skills success - A £3m funding package for ‘Food Skills Cymru’, which will provide technical and staff development training for food and drink companies based in Wales, has been announced by Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths.
Speaking at an ‘Invest in Skills: Invest in Growth’ conference for food and drink companies and training providers, the Cabinet Secretary confirmed the programme will launch on 1st April and run until 2023. The programme, which will be run by Lantra, will include accredited and non-accredited training plus in-house company bespoke support. Over the first three years, the programme is expected to support 650 businesses. It will be available to all Food Supply Chain businesses outside retail and intervention rates will be in line with the complementary support offered through Business Wales Skills Gateway, Project Helix and Cywain. Further information about Food Skills Cymru can be found by contacting Lantra (Wales@Lantra.co.uk / 01982 552646) Despite our best efforts the new Package Travel Regulations are due to come into force on 1 July 2018. Ahead of this, BEIS is developing guidance on the application of the new Regulations, which it is planning publish after the Easter break. This will apply if a business is providing packages, combinations of two or more of the following products – travel, accommodation, rental car and “other Tourism Service”. For “Value-Added” products (Accommodation and Other Tourism Service) a package is only formed when the Other Tourism Service is “significant”. we await guidance as to how BEIS define “significant”?
The new regulations also introduce a new category of package called a “Linked Travel Arrangement” whereby a business facilitates a customer purchasing two different types of product through the separate selection and payment of each product. This could impact on how DMOs sell their members’ products on their website. A Linked Travel Arrangement is also formed when a customer, having purchased a product on one website, is invited to purchase another product on another website. This could impact how tourism businesses provide information and links to other local tourism businesses. For example, if a customer purchased accommodation from a B&B, and was sent a confirmation saying “We look forward to seeing you on the 30 June, if you want to purchase tickets to the local attraction or book a meal in the local pub, here’s their websites”, this could constitute a Linked Travel Arrangement. On 1 April 2018 devolution in Wales will enter a new phase, as many of the provisions of the Wales Act 2017 will come into force. A key part of the Wales Act 2017 is that it gives the Assembly powers to amend parts of the Government of Wales Act 2006 which set out the Assembly’s electoral, organisational and internal arrangements. Previously, these powers rested with the UK Parliament. A public consultation on the scope of the potential electoral, organisational and internal reforms to the Wales Act 2017 is currently being run by the Welsh Government. The documentation can be viewed at www.assembly.wales/futuresenedd. It closes on Friday 6 April 2018.
There is still time to run on Wales EU funding programmes 2014–2020. The Welsh Government have published a policy paper Regional Investment in Wales after Brexit. This they state, ' is the first step in the process of designing a new approach to regional economic development in Wales' and forms one in a series of Securing Wales’ Future papers setting out our vision for Wales once we have left the EU.
There is an Online Survey at www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/RegionalInvestmentafterBrexit/where you can register your views on the ideas and proposals set out in the paper. The survey closes 23 March 2018. France continues to be a more popular destination for Indian visitors than the UK – with the latest research showing the gap is widening. Research by The Royal Commonwealth Society shows that despite the UK’s historic cultural and economic links with India, France attracted 185,000 more Indian business visitors and tourists in 2016. Overall the number of visits to the UK by Indian nationals fell by 1.73% in 2016, while in France it grew by 5.3%. Commenting on the research, Director of The Royal Commonwealth Society, Michael Lake, said: “Given the strong historic ties between the UK and India in areas such as trade, culture and business, the fact that France continues to attract more Indian visitors than the UK is not only hugely surprising, but also enormously concerning. It’s clear that more needs to be done to build stronger links between such important Commonwealth partners.” In response to these statistics, MPs, The Royal Commonwealth Society and representatives from the travel and tourism sector are today in Parliament reiterating their calls for a UK-Indian bilateral visa agreement to stop this decline and kick-start growth in the number of Indian visitors to the UK. The call comes ahead of the Commonwealth Summit, being held in London next month, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend. Given that the competitiveness of the UK visa offering globally has plummeted from 22nd to 108th in international rankings, a UK-India bilateral visa agreement would be an ideal initial step in making the UK a more attractive destination for Indian visitors. The agreement would be similar to the one recently put in place with China. Virendra Sharma MP, who is supporting the campaign, said: “A new UK-India bilateral visa agreement will enhance trade and tourism, as well as strengthen important business and cultural ties, enabling both the UK and India to capitalise on future global opportunities.” Fact sheet on Indian Tourism to UK:
For more information go to the Home Office Page - www.gov.uk/guidance/status-of-eu-nationals-in-the-uk-what-you-need-to-know . The main points on the agreement the UK Govt has reached for EU citizens and their families is:
· People who, by 29 March 2019, have been continuously and lawfully living here for 5 years will be able to apply to stay indefinitely by getting ‘settled status’. That means they will be free to live here, have access to public funds and services and go on to apply for British Citizenship. · People who arrive by 29 March 2019, but won’t have been living here lawfully for 5 years when we leave the EU, will be able to apply to stay until they have reached the 5-year threshold. They can then also apply for settled status. · Family members who are living with, or join, EU citizens in the UK by 29 March 2019 will also be able to apply for settled status, usually after 5 years in the UK. · Close family members (spouses, civil and unmarried partners, dependent children and grandchildren, and dependent parents and grandparents) will be able to join EU citizens after exit, where the relationship existed on 29 March 2019. EU citizens with settled status or temporary permission to stay will have the same access as they currently do to healthcare, pensions and other benefits in the UK. There is no need for EU citizens living in the UK to do anything now in terms of applying for settled status. There will be a new user-friendly scheme to apply for settled status which will launch later in 2018. |