|
This year the theme is ‘Strength through Partnership - Team Wales’. A target of more than 20 events are being aimed for to celebrate Wales Tourism Week 2019 which begins on Saturday (May 11th). The WTA, along with its partners, calls on tourism organisations and businesses across the country to organise events during the week that promote the value of partnership and raise awareness of the industry’s importance to the Welsh economy. For a quick guide to planning a familiarisation event for a local politician please download the pack from the link below. You can register by clicking the link on the Wales Tourism Week pages or by going to https://www.wta.org.uk/meetings.html Wales Tourism Week events may be added to the WTA website meetings page by simply clicking the submit button and completing the online form. For a quick guide to planning a familiarisation event for a local politician please download the pack from the link below. 
0 Comments
Currently, personal data can move between organisations across the EU/EEA without restrictions as the UK has a common data protection regime in the GDPR. However, once the UK leaves the EU that situation will change. UK Government has already committed to allowing data to continue to move into the EU/EEA, as well as to the 13 countries the EU has already deemed as having adequate data protection systems in place, so transfers out of the UK will not be affected. However, transfers into the UK from EU member states may be affected.
The EU does have a number of mechanisms to allow data to be transferred to countries outside the EU – the main one being the adequacy decision which confirms a third country’s data protection regime is adequate compared to the GDPR. UK Government has confirmed they intend to seek an adequacy decision from the EU after exit, but this process cannot start until after we have left. Receiving an adequacy decision may take some time. The UK Government is committed to seeking an adequacy decision and the process for this will commence during the transition period, should a deal be agreed. However, if the UK leaves without a deal, there will be a period of time where the UK is a third country without an adequacy decision and transfers out of the EU to the UK may be in breach of the GDPR. This may mean that data flows will be disrupted as businesses in the EU who transfer data in breach of the GDPR may be subject to extensive fines. DCMS and Welsh Government are working to ensure that businesses across Wales are aware of the issue and are aware of the guidance which has been prepared by the Information Commissioner, and the support available to businesses to prepare for any impact they may identify. If you have any queries please contact: data-ready@culture.gov.uk The Lords Select Committee on Regenerating Seaside Towns and Communities has published its report on the inquiry it held last year on the Future of Seaside Communities. This report contains a large number of recommendations that are tourism related. The main Tourism-related recommendations include: Tourism Action Zones
Transport
Heritage
Govt Support
The free, on-line toolkit has been designed to be easy to use and navigate and with contents based on what coastal businesses have requested. The toolkit brings together in one place a host of useful tips, information and advice. Whether you are a novice to the job of marketing or a seasoned pro, the tool kit contains a range of downloadable material including photographs and videos. Available here:
www.walescoastpath.gov.uk/about-us/marketing-toolkit The Government has produced a Communications Toolkit for explaining impacts on travellers to the UK in both a deal and no deal scenario. The toolkit contains key information and messages for use including images and text that can be either printed or added to website. In addition to the toolkit, there is also the following website which is continually updated https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visiting-the-uk-after-brexit
The preliminary IPS figures for 2018 have been released. These figures indicated that inbound visitor number were down by 4% last year while spend was down by a substantial £1.7bn (7%). Visitor numbers were down by 2-3% for the main categories of Holiday, Business and VFR travel with a big decline of 16% in the Miscellaneous category which includes short-term study. There was again a decline of around 4% from most markets, although the North American market was static although the Non-Eu European market declined by 12%.
With the pound at a historical low against both the US dollar and the euro.you would normally expect revenue to have increased, a 7% drop therefore indicates that other factors are involved. While it can be argued that concerns over Brexit were impacting visitor numbers from Europe, that the drop in visitor numbers in Europe was mirrored by most other markets suggests that some other factor was at play such as the global economic slowdown and the trade war between the US and China/Europe. Conversely, expenditure by UK residents taking overseas trips increased by 2.2% in 2018, which indicates that despite the uncertainty, people are still willing to spend on holidays. Skills Survey - DCMS is in the process of building an evidence-based understanding of employment and skills in the tourism and hospitality sector. As part of this they have commissioned Economic Insight to explore barriers to skills development from the perspective of both employees and employers. As part of their work they have developed the following survey for tourism businesses to complete https://www.warpsurveys.com/DCMS It should only take about 10 minutes to complete and the results will be valuable in feeding into UK Government policy including the new Immigration Strategy.
Welsh Government is offering a webinar to help SMEs prepare for Brexit. This will be held on Wednesday 27 March, 1-2pm.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/importing-exporting-in-a-potential-no-deal-eu-exit-tickets-59040482673 Officials from HMRC, Food Standards Agency, DEFRA and the Border Delivery Group will cover the planned changes for both customs and broader border issues. By attending this webinar, you will learn about:
This webinar will include an opportunity for you to ask questions direct to UK Government officials. Mark Isherwood AM question to Welsh Government on promoting tourism in North Wales - 19th March 201922/3/2019 Extract from plenary session - 19th March 2019
Promoting tourism – Question asked by Mark Isherwood AM: How is the Welsh Government promoting tourism in North Wales? Mark Drakeford AM: I thank the Member for that. North Wales is featured in all Visit Wales marketing activity, including its current Year of Discovery campaigns in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in Germany. There is also, via competitive application, financial support given to partners to collaborate on particular projects to market the north Wales area. Mark Isherwood AM: Thank you for that response. But with the north Wales growth deal hopefully moving forward, and the approach by the North Wales Economic Ambition Board as team north Wales that Visit Wales should invest more in supporting the regions to target our UK domestic market while leaving Visit Wales to focus on Wales's profile internationally, how will the Welsh Government engage with our regional destination marketing organisation, North Wales Tourism, representing approximately 1,500 tourism-related businesses in north Wales, who are doing a great job already with their 'Go North Wales' brand, but could do a great deal more if more support from the Welsh Government and Visit Wales was forthcoming? Mark Drakeford AM: thank the Member for that. I agree with him that fantastic efforts are made by tourism operators in north Wales to promote the area and to make it an attractive destination to visitors from the rest of the United Kingdom, but also from the rest of the world. We've talked already this afternoon, Llywydd, about Japan, and when Wales is in Japan for the Rugby World Cup it will be a major opportunity for us to showcase Wales as a destination for visitors from that part of the world, and north Wales operators particularly have already worked very hard to increase the number of visitors from Japan visiting north Wales. In fact, 27 of the top 30 Japanese tour operators now include north Wales on their UK itineraries, and that is a tribute to the work that has gone on in the region to promote it as a destination. We will continue to work through the regional tourism forum from north Wales to make sure that the work that is done by Visit Wales to promote the whole of our nation fully reflects the needs of north Wales and goes on making it such a successful destination for visitors in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. BEIS has published a call for evidence on the Consumer Contract Regulations (CCR). These regulations govern:
• the information which a trader must give to a consumer before and after making a sale • how that information should be given • the right for consumers to change their minds when buying at a distance or off-premises They also ban practices such as: • additional payments which appear as a default option • requiring customers to pay more than the basic phone rate for post-contract customer helplines From a tourism point of view, one of the most important aspects of the CCR is the “right to cancellation” provisions for off-premises sales. Currently, for most goods and services, customers have a 14 day right to return goods or cancel services. However, there is an exemption to these cancellation rights for a wide range of tourism products including tourism accommodation, flights, car hire, tickets to events and services relating to leisure activities that take place on a specified date or period. BEIS is considering modifying or removing this exemption, with the consultation document stating that “Initial feedback from some stakeholders suggests that in some circumstances, certain exemptions could be causing consumer detriment, for example hotel bookings” and citing recent work that the CMA has been undertaking on OTAs. It is therefore important for the tourism industry to respond to this consultation. If anyone wishes the Wales Tourism Alliance to respond, with any issues you would like us to forward - adriangwalker@gmail.com alternatively you can place your own response. The closing date for submissions is 1 May 2019 and can be send to : CCRSCFEresponse@beis.gov.uk Alternatively, you can complete the online survey https://beisgovuk.citizenspace.com/ccp/consumer-contract-regs-2014-review-cfe/ |
||||
Join WTA
©