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 - “Next steps towards a future with fewer covid rules” – First Minister; FAQ: Who can stay in holiday accommodation/what are the rules on gathering indoors?; Reminder for businesses; Face coverings to continue to help keep Wales safe; Keep Wales Safe assets; Workplace testing webinars, information sheets and assets; £500 self-isolation support payment scheme extended; Skills and Recruitment; “Help us forge the truly anti-racist Wales we all want to see”; National Forest for Wales – Woodland Investment Grant; Welsh Government Investment lifts climbing centre to steady ground; Help support your staff’s financial resilience and wellbeing
“Next steps towards a future with fewer covid rules” – First Minister
Wales will take its next step towards a future with fewer covid legal restrictions as First Minister Mark Drakeford set out (on Wed 14 July) a longer-term plan for the summer.
Wales will move fully into alert level one from 17 July. The changes were paused four weeks ago because of the emergence and spread of the delta variant across the UK and to enable more people to be vaccinated in Wales.
And there will be further changes to the rules outdoors as Wales takes the first careful step towards a new alert level zero.
Alert level zero is set out in an updated Coronavirus Control Plan, which is published today. If the public health situation allows, Wales will move to this level on 7 August.
Read the announcement in full on Gov.Wales.
Information is available on Coronavirus (COVID-19) recent and upcoming changes.
FAQ: Who can stay in holiday accommodation/what are the rules on gathering indoors?
Private dwellings, and travel and holiday accommodation.
Members of your extended household, or a maximum of six people from up to six households (not including children under 11 from any of these households or carers of anyone present) can meet indoors and stay overnight in private homes and travel and holiday accommodation.
Reminder for businesses:
Please ensure that you are aware of and following the updated UKHospitality Wales Guidance in addition to the Guidance for Tourism and Hospitality businesses. (Please watch this short film to help you find your way around the guidance).
Information is also available on recent and upcoming changes.
As each premises is different, businesses should read all guidance to understand the measures to be considered to operate the business safely.
Face coverings to continue to help keep Wales safe
Ministers have confirmed face coverings will continue to play an important role in helping keep us all safe from coronavirus in Wales.
Read the announcement in full on Gov.Wales.
Keep Wales Safe assets
Social media and other assets are available for use in your communications to help Keep Wales Safe, along with an easy print poster to display and distribute to premises which may use them.
Workplace testing webinars, information sheets and assets
Regular, rapid COVID-19 testing is an essential part of risk management in order to keep your staff, your customers and your business safe.
Almost 1 in 3 people with coronavirus don’t show any symptoms, so it’s important to test regularly to help stop the spread.
Twice weekly rapid tests are available for people who can’t work from home, and businesses with 10 or more employees can get free rapid COVID-19 tests by joining the Welsh Government’s workplace testing programme.
Find out more by attending a COVID-19 Workplace Testing Free Webinar on 28 July 3pm - 4pm or 29 July 1pm – 2pm. Please register for either of the dates by e-mailing Covid19CommunityTesting@gov.wales.
Also take a look at the workplace testing information sheets and there are assets available for you to use in your workplace.
£500 self-isolation support payment scheme extended
The Welsh Government scheme which supports people on low-pay with a £500 payment if they have to self-isolate is being extended until March 2022.
Read the announcement in full on Gov.Wales.
Skills and Recruitment
Promoting vacancies in the City and County of Swansea - Swansea Council’s Tourism Team can help tourism and hospitality businesses in the City and County of Swansea promote their vacancies via their industry website and newsletter. Email: tourism.team@swansea.gov.uk for more information.
Job vacancies in Gwynedd noticeboard – Gwaith Gwynedd - In response to the current challenge regarding jobs in the hospitality sector, Gwynedd Council’s initiative, Gwaith Gwynedd, has created a ‘Vacancy Notice Board in Gwynedd’ on Facebook. It is a notice board for jobs in Gwynedd and is suitable for anyone who is looking for work or wants to advertise jobs. Employers can share job vacancy details through the group, which is moderated by Gwaith Gwynedd staff.
The Skills and Recruitment page for Tourism, Hospitality and Events has been refreshed. For information on support with recruiting and training staff please visit our Skills and Recruitment pages.
“Help us forge the truly anti-racist Wales we all want to see”
With the closing of the Welsh Government’s Race Equality Action Plan’s consultation on Thursday 15 July, Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt, issued a plea to organisations and individuals across Wales to ensure they help forge the truly Anti-Racist Wales we all want to see.
Read the announcement in full on Gov.Wales.
National Forest for Wales – Woodland Investment Grant
The Woodland Investment Grant will provide funding to create new woodlands and enhance and expand existing woodlands.
The scheme is open for applications until the end of August and will provide grants between £10,000 to £250,000 to fund the creation and enhancement of publicly and privately owned woodlands with the potential to become part of the National Forest for Wales.
The funding can cover items such as trees and plants; activities to engage local communities in the woodland; creating and enhancing public access, ranging from accessible footpaths and or nature trails.
You can find out more on The Woodland Investment Grant by joining a live presentation next Wednesday 21 July at 10am. Click here to join the live event and save the link to your Calendar. Further information is also available in the TWIG Guidance Notes.
Welsh Government Investment lifts climbing centre to steady ground
Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething visited Boulders Climbing Centre in Cardiff to see how the centre has used Welsh Government Economic Resilience Funding to find new ways of operating - and keeping visitors safe.
Throughout the pandemic, the Welsh Government has made £2.5 billion available to support businesses across Wales, helping to protect in excess of 160,000 jobs that might otherwise have been lost.
The funding has enabled Boulders to expand its offering to allow more customers to safely use its facility - whilst social distancing. Boulders re-configured the layout of the facility to help make it compliant with the Covid regulations, invested in a new digital platform to improve efficiency, regulate numbers and speed up the arrival and registration process. They also invested in new digital training boards to make an underused part of the centre more accessible.
As attractions and hospitality businesses look forward to a busy summer, many other businesses have used support from the Economic Resilience Fund to future-proof their businesses.
Read the announcement in full on Gov.Wales.
Help support your staff’s financial resilience and wellbeing
The Coronavirus pandemic has brought into sharp focus the financial vulnerability of those who have little or no savings. There has never been a more important time to improve the financial wellbeing of your employees than now, and Welsh Government is asking employers to help by partnering with a credit union to offer work based payroll savings and access to affordable credit.
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.
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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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