Coronavirus: Tourism Industry Update

Visit Wales
Industry News

Wales Logo

News for the Tourism Industry in Wales

To subscribe to our newsletter, click here.

Having trouble viewing this email or to share, view online.

12 August 2021


Landscape

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:  Campaign highlights benefits of working in hospitality following staff shortages; Skills and Recruitment; Alert Level Zero - What legal requirements remain in place?; Travel: coronavirus; Having good ventilation will help reduce COVID-19 transmission at work; Capital Grant Programme for museums, archives and libraries is now open; Places available for International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) ICC Wales 18-21 October 2021; Is your product listing on visitwales.com up to date?; Helping to keep our visitors safe – the ‘Good to Go’ scheme; Make Memories Not Mess; Creative Wales Audience Insights – Online Survey; Useful COVID-19 information.


Campaign highlights benefits of working in hospitality following staff shortages

A campaign to encourage more people to work in the tourism and hospitality industry has been launched by Visit Wales, Welsh Government in response to nationwide staff shortages following the coronavirus pandemic.  The call to arms focuses on highlighting the personal development opportunities, potential career paths, and tangible benefits on offer to people who could fill roles like front of house, chefs, waiters, housekeeping, as well as supervisory and management roles.  For full details, visit the Working Wales website.  More case studies and video stories will be added to the site in the coming weeks.

Advice on recruitment and work programmes, including apprenticeships, is available on the Skills Gateway.


Skills and Recruitment

For information on support with recruiting and training staff please visit our Skills and Recruitment pages.


Alert Level Zero - What legal requirements remain in place?

Full details are available in the Guidance alert level 0: guidance for employers, businesses and organisations which provides the essential information needed to help businesses, employers and other organisations or institutions meet the legal obligations they are under to minimise the risk of people being exposed to, or spreading, coronavirus on their premises. 

At alert level zero, many of the legal requirements in tourism & hospitality settings have been removed though carrying out a coronavirus risk assessment will continue to be a legal requirement for businesses, employers and event organisers, and they must take reasonable measures to minimise the risk of exposure to coronavirus.   

Below is a summary of what this means for Tourism & Hospitality at alert level zero:  

  • All businesses and premises will be able to reopen, including nightclubs.
  • No legal limits on the number of people who can meet, including in private homes, public places or at events.
  • No legal requirement for 2m social distancing, table service or controlled entry and instead these are now some of the reasonable measures that a business should consider.
  • Collecting details for Test, Trace, Protect in all businesses will also no longer be required by law and is instead a reasonable measure that should be considered as part of the risk assessment.
  • A summary of other reasonable measures that businesses should consider as part of the risk assessment:
    • Maximise ventilation;
    • Where possible, take measures to ensure customers and staff can safely distance themselves from others and avoid crowding e.g. advanced booking, one way systems, limiting the number in confined areas (lifts, toilets, kitchens, break rooms etc.);
    • Minimise touch points e.g. use apps;
    • Maintain thorough cleaning and hygiene practices e.g. provide hand sanitisers;
    • Clear signage throughout your premises.
  • Face coverings must be worn in all public indoor places, with the exception of pubs, restaurants and cafes and education settings.
    • If the primary purpose of your business is to serve food & drink (e.g. a restaurant, café or pub), the wearing of a face covering isn’t mandated at that premises, but should be considered in ‘pinch point’ areas, when queuing, in lifts and corridors etc. as part of a risk assessment.
    • If your business is multi-purpose, with food & drink one of the many reasons for a visit (e.g. a hotel with a restaurant, an indoor attraction with a café, an events or conference centre with a restaurant, a cinema or theatre with a bar), face coverings must still be worn by staff and customers in all areas of the business apart from the specific areas where food & drink are consumed.

Welsh Government guidance is also available in other formats by emailing: Covid19.Legislation@gov.wales 


Travel: coronavirus

The latest guidance on what people must do if travelling to or from Wales is available on Gov.Wales:


Having good ventilation will help reduce COVID-19 transmission at work

HSE’s updated guidance will help you identify poor ventilation in work areas and take practical steps to improve it. This can help reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in your workplace.  You can find more details on the Business Wales website.


Capital Grant Programme for museums, archives and libraries is now open

The Welsh Government’s 2022 to 2023 Transformation Capital Grant programme for museums, archives and libraries is now open for expressions of interest.

These grants will enable successful organisations to transform service delivery to offer sustainable, modern, attractive facilities and services in local museums, archives and libraries across Wales.  Visit the Business Wales website for more details.   


Places available for International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) ICC Wales 18-21 October 2021

As a springboard to COVID-19 business recovery plans, Visit Wales will subsidise the cost of up to 10 eligible companies to attend IGTM.

Cost:  £150 + VAT (published price €3,910 + VAT)

Visit Wales selection criteria will be applied to your application.

International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) is an annual B2B exhibition and showcase organised by RX (Reed Exhibitions Limited).

IGTM is a community for golf travel professionals who are looking for a highly focused and cost-effective way to grow their business. Pre-scheduled meetings are the heart of IGTM, which provide golf destinations, resorts and courses with the opportunity to connect with leading golf travel agents and tour operators who help grow the world’s international golf tourism market.

The event is especially suitable for the following:

  • Golf operators
  • Golf courses
  • Golf hotels and resorts

The closing date for applications will be 20 August 2021.  Visit the tourism industry website for more information.


Is your product listing on visitwales.com up-to-date?

The number of searches on VisitWales.com for accommodation, attractions and things to do are at a high.  If you have a listing and haven’t updated it for a while, it is worth you checking the information by logging into the product listing tool. To help your visitors prepare for their visit it might be useful if you include information like: opening times, pre-booking arrangements and accessibility facilities.

If you would like some help logging in, please email Visit Wales Data Steward vw-steward@nvg.net, call 0330 808 9410 or if you would like to arrange training on using the tool or just some advice on how you can improve the content please email product.database@gov.wales


Helping to keep our visitors safe – the ‘We're Good to Go’ scheme

We’re pleased to say that over 1,500 of the businesses listed on VisitWales.com have now signed up to the UK ‘We're Good to Go’ scheme.  These businesses have the ‘We're Good to Go’ logo appearing on their listing and visitors can search for businesses that have signed up.


Make Memories Not Mess

Keep Wales Tidy are calling on everyone to take responsibility for their own rubbish as they make the most of Wales’ beaches, parks and beauty spots this summer.  Across Wales, rates of litter have increased as Covid restrictions continue to ease.

The ‘Make Memories Not Mess’ campaign is being run as part of Caru Cymru (a Welsh phrase meaning ‘Love Wales’) – an inclusive movement led by Keep Wales Tidy and local authorities to inspire people to take action and care for the environment.  Visit the Business Wales website for more details.       


Creative Wales Audience Insights – Online Survey

Are you in the creative industries? What and how do you want to hear from Creative Wales?

Creative Wales have put together a short survey which forms part of a research project seeking to inform future engagement with people working within creative industries in Wales, including the gaming, animation, TV, film, createch, publishing, and music sectors.   You can find more details on the Business Wales website.


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.


HomepageFacebookTwitterInstagram