Coronavirus: Tourism Industry Update

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15 April 2021


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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 - People in Wales who cannot work from home encouraged to use lateral flow self-tests; Organised children's outdoor activities; Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance for Tourism and Hospitality Businesses; Mental wellbeing and advice for employers on work-related stress; Skills and Training: REMINDER


People in Wales who cannot work from home encouraged to use lateral flow self-tests

All those who cannot work from home are being encouraged to access lateral flow self-test kits as they are rolled out across Wales.

The rapid coronavirus testing kits will be available to collect from local test sites across Wales from Friday (16 April) this week.

The Welsh Government is also looking at other collection venues for test kits to be made available, as well as being directly delivered to people’s homes.

It is hoped that improving the availability of lateral flow tests will make regular asymptomatic testing for coronavirus more convenient and accessible for people not covered under existing schemes at workplaces, childcare settings, schools, colleges and universities.

As many as 1 in 3 people may have COVID without displaying symptoms which means asymptomatic testing is an important means to keep people safe as restrictions are gradually eased.

At each testing site people will be able to collect the rapid lateral flow tests between 08:00 and 13:00. They will not need to make an appointment before collection. Sites will close for a deep clean and re-open for symptomatic PCR testing between 14:00 and 20:00 each day.

Each person will routinely be able to collect two packs of seven LFD self-test kits for home use. It is recommended that tests are undertaken twice a week with the results recorded on the UK Government portal. Read in full on Gov.Wales.


Organised children's outdoor activities

We understand how important outdoor experiences are for our children and young people and how they can play a particularly important role in learning and in our recovery journey.

As part of the release of the current restrictions that are in place across Wales, organised outside activities for children and young people under 18 were able to restart from 27 March.  We have published some Frequently Asked Questions to support that restart which includes useful information.


Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance for Tourism and Hospitality Businesses

As we look at a phased re-opening, you need to be aware of the Guidance for Tourism and Hospitality businesses

As each premises is different, businesses should read all guidance to understand the measures to be considered to re-open the business safely.

The following additional measures are intended to provide further advice for self-contained accommodation businesses and must be considered in line with the UKHospitality Wales Guidance and the Guidance for Tourism and Hospitality.

Businesses should also consider, where appropriate:

  • Strengthening their policy on safe disposal of face coverings for staff and visitors
  • Introducing measures for staff and visitors, on arrival, such as taking temperature tests, asking people to sanitise their hands and asking questions around whether they are displaying any symptoms.
  • Considering the flow of guests/visitors and how to avoid any household mixing by keeping guests/visitors apart as they move around the premises throughout their visit/stay, with particular regard to enclosed public areas such as lifts, stairs and corridors
  • Instructing guests/visitors to move through enclosed public areas as quickly as possible, and to avoid shouting or singing in such areas
  • Within accommodation, ensuring that guests keep the doors to their rooms closed at all times, apart from when entering and leaving.
  • Staggering room service/laundry delivery etc to rooms, to avoid guests opening doors and coming out at the same time.
  • Reviewing their incident and emergency procedures to ensure they reflect the physical distancing principles as far as possible, including considering how to minimise household-mixing when congregating in fire assembly areas.

Welsh Government have produced the five key steps that all those responsible for work in Wales should implement to Keep Wales Safe.

Please visit the Business Wales Keep Wales Safe at Work pages for further information for your business on dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak.

A list of Frequently Asked Questions in relation to Coronavirus is also updated regularly on Gov.Wales.  


Tourism and hospitality businesses must take all reasonable measures to minimise the risk of exposure to the virus and should not knowingly accept customers in breach of the travel restrictions.


Mental wellbeing and advice for employers on work- related stress

These are unprecedented times for us as a society and whether you are self-employed or a business owner, COVID-19 will be causing a level of uncertainty. Take a look at the wealth of information available; now more than ever we need to take steps to take care of our mental health and those of our employees. 

With the rate of work-related stress, depression and anxiety increasing in recent years and the new challenges of the last year, recognising the signs of stress will help employers to take steps to prevent, reduce and manage stress in the workplace. Employers have a legal duty to protect employees from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it. 

If you already have a risk assessment in place, consider whether you need to re-assess the situation due to changes and challenges brought about by COVID-19. Find out more on the Business Wales website.


Skills and Training: REMINDER

The following resources/training may be helpful to businesses looking to prepare themselves and their staff for re-opening:

All Hands to the Pump 

  • Free support for the licensed trade eg free to access videos, templates and other resources for licensees, regulators and place managers from hospitality partners. Resources include Conflict Management, Customer Safety and Reporting COVID.

Skills Platform 

CPL Learning

  • Ready to Serve programme – Team Member : Developed to support operators and their teams in the implementation of a safe and effective return to work, adhering to the COVID secure principles. Cost: £7.50 per person
  • Reopening following lockdown – Manager - Ready to Serve: Developed to allow those in a management or supervisory role to understand the actions and responsibilities they have in ensuring their site and teams are ready to serve customers once again. Cost: FREE

For up-to-date information on other skills, recruitment and training support for your business, as well as other support such as Wellbeing for employers and employees, visit our Skills pages.



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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