Coronavirus: Tourism Industry Update
Please follow the news reports and for latest advice regularly visit the Public Health Wales website and the Business Wales website
BULLETIN CONTENTS - Businesses urged to register for financial support; Restrictions Business Fund Extension; Visits to Tourist Attractions Survey; International Traveller Research; Broadband competition for event venues; Apply for a Kickstart Scheme Grant; Business Online Support Service; £6.2 Million funding package for the National Library of Wales and Amgueddfa Cymru; Wales Covid-19 Wellbeing Survey
Businesses urged to register for financial support
The Welsh Government is urging businesses to ensure they are registered for financial support to help them deal with the ongoing impacts of coronavirus.
Last month, the Welsh Government announced an additional £200m package to help firms through to the end of March. This takes the Welsh Government’s business support package from the December to March period to £650m.
The financial package is predominantly for businesses that pay non-domestic rates and have been forced to close or operate differently as a result of coronavirus restrictions.
As businesses need to have registered with their local authorities in October or later in order to receive the payments, the Welsh Government is urging firms that have not yet done so to take action now so they do not miss out.
Read the announcement in full on Gov.Wales.
Restrictions Business Fund extension
The Restrictions Business Fund Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) and Discretionary based grants for non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism (NERHLT) sectors has been extended to provide a single top up payment to cover the period between the 25 January and end of March 2021 for businesses affected by national restrictions.
You can find more details on the Business Wales website.
Visits to Tourist Attractions survey
Over the coming months Visit Wales will be working with Strategic Research and Insight (SRI) to undertake a survey of visitor attractions in Wales.
This survey will collect visitor figures for 2019 and 2020 as the 2019 survey was initially postponed, allowing attractions to focus on immediate priorities during the pandemic. SRI will contact visitor attractions directly this week. We are very grateful for the support of visitor attractions in helping us by providing visitor numbers and other vital data used to inform strategies that will help recovery. If you represent a visitor attraction and do not hear from SRI but would like to take part please contact Jennifer.Velu@gov.wales for further information on how to participate.
International Traveller Research
VisitBritain have published the findings from the International Recovery Research on their corporate website on 3 February 2021. Visit Wales, along with Visit Scotland, London and Partners and VisitBritain have co-funded the research. The purpose is to provide up-to-date insights on international travel demand and visitor needs as part of our recovery planning. The report provides the results from the first wave of the research, undertaken in December 2020, based on an online survey of potential visitors living in 14 key international markets for the UK. Please follow the link to read the report.
Broadband competition for event venues: round two
In August 2020, the UK Government launched a new scheme to improve broadband connectivity in event venues, enabling them to receive full fibre access.
This scheme builds on commitments from the Tourism Sector Deal and the UK government’s International Business Events Action Plan.
The second round of the broadband competition for event venues is now open until 2nd March 2021. Applicants can apply for a portion of £200,000 funding towards the costs of digital infrastructure for their venues.
More information can be found on the GOV.UK website.
SKILLS & TRAINING:
Apply for a Kickstart Scheme Grant
If you're an employer looking to create job placements for young people, you can apply for funding as part of the Kickstart Scheme. The UK Government has now removed the 30 job threshold from the scheme.
Visit the Business Wales website for more details.
Business Online Support Service
Business Wales’ Business Online Support Service (BOSS) is here to help you and your business. It’s online learning made simple and it offers free courses to you and your staff at a time and pace to suit you. Find out more and see what courses are available on the Business Wales BOSS website.
£6.2 million funding package announced for the National Library of Wales and Amgueddfa Cymru
The Welsh Government has announced a new funding package for the National Library of Wales and Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
The package includes £6.2m over financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22, providing the Library with £2.25m and the Museum with £3.95m to safeguard jobs and deliver new strategic priorities. The funding for the Library also includes £0.75m to accelerate the implementation of the findings of the recent Tailored Review.
Read the announcement in full on Gov.Wales.
Wales Covid-19 Wellbeing Survey
From the 9 June 2020 to 13 July 2020, Wales Wellbeing conducted an online survey that looked at levels of wellbeing and psychological distress in the Welsh population during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results of the survey have now been published. To find out more visit the Wales Wellbeing website.
Wales Wellbeing in conjunction with Cardiff University, Swansea University and all 7 Welsh Health Boards are inviting responses to a second survey which is aiming to further the understanding of how the ongoing pandemic has impacted on the health of the Welsh population.
Visit the Business Wales website for more details.
Useful COVID-19 information
As each premises is different, businesses should read all guidance. This continues to be updated so please check back regularly for the latest information.
Stay up to date with tourism industry news
We are committed to providing the support and assurance the business community needs during these unprecedented difficult times and have issued several Coronavirus (COVID-19) related bulletins which can be found on the Tourism Industry Coronavirus (COVID-19) Bulletins page.
Business Wales is providing businesses with tailored support and advice about dealing with coronavirus, from financial and supply chain planning to advice on staffing issues. We would advise Tourism businesses and stakeholders in Wales wanting specific guidance to visit the Business Wales website or call Business Wales helpline on 03000 6 03000, and to regularly visit the Public Health Wales website for up-to-date public health information for you, your staff and your visitors.
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