Coronavirus: Tourism Industry Update

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2 September 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: Skills and recruitment - Hospitality recruitment campaign / Support with recruiting staff; Reminders - Is your product listing on VisitWales.com up-to-date?  Are you displaying the correct grading sign both at your establishment and on your website?;  Getting your business signage translated into Welsh – it’s FREE and as easy as ABC!; National Hospitality Day 18 September 2021; Support for EU citizens until end of 2021; Help Chwarae Teg shape the future of safe workplaces – Anti sexual harassment pioneers needed; Tips for minimising cyber threats; Recycle Week 20–26 September 2021; Digital IP renewal service; Useful COVID-19 information.


SKILLS AND RECRUITMENT:

Hospitality recruitment campaign

Following the launch of our recruitment campaign, which is being delivered in partnership with Working Wales, we will shortly be adding another case study to the campaign page telling the story of people working in the sector, highlighting the many benefits of working in hospitality and helping deliver great experiences to visitors.

We are also working on a toolkit to help businesses with recruitment of staff, which will be available soon.

Keep an eye out on social media and help support the campaign by using #TheExperienceMakers. For full details, visit the Working Wales website.

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

Support with recruiting staff

Did you know Jobcentre Plus can help you to recruit staff?  Here are some of the ways they can support businesses:

  • Offering pre-employment training packages to give unemployed people the skills they need to take up jobs.  This can help businesses with a number of vacancies or a group of businesses with similar vacancies;
  • Work coaches based in local areas across Wales help people into work e.g. by building confidence;
  • Funding may be available to help prospective employees with travel costs;
  • Bringing employers and prospective employees together – e.g. interviews can take place at Jobcentre Plus offices so that employment advisers can provide support;
  • Businesses can advertise vacancies on the Find a job website and these are highlighted to DWP clients;
  • DWP is starting to arrange face-to-face jobs fairs – the first will be held outdoors in Bridgend on 14 September with another in Swansea on 30 September - businesses who would like to attend to showcase their jobs should contact Jayne.Bissmire@dwp.gov.uk (Bridgend) or Lucy.Jones2@dwp.gov.uk (Swansea)

For more information on the recruitment support that is available visit Jobcentre Plus help for recruiters - GOV.UK.


REMINDERS:

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's 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, 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.

 

Are you displaying the correct grading sign both at your establishment and on your website?

While many businesses have taken advantage of the free replacement signage featuring the Cymru Wales brand there are still those that are displaying the old signs both at their premises and online with the wrong electronic logo (on their websites). Displaying the old signs can make your establishment look out of date and outside the Visit Wales branding family.

For a free replacement sign for your premises all you need to do is email quality.tourism@gov.wales.

Even while you’re waiting for the correct sign to arrive, you can change the logo on your website.  Please email quality.tourism@gov.wales and we can send you the right logo by return, so you can replace the old artwork on your website.

Visit Wales brand versions bilingual

Getting your business signage translated into Welsh – it’s FREE and as easy as ABC!

Tourism businesses the length and breadth of Wales can now use Welsh confidently on signage with the help of Helo Blod’s free Welsh translation and advice service.

One business in Montgomery has done just that, and they’ve even adopted a bilingual name in the process! Here, owner Barry Lord discusses how Siop Lyfrau Trefaldwyn – The Bookshop Montgomery have benefitted from using Helo Blod’s easy-to-use service and some of the steps they’ve taken to introduce a little bit of Cymraeg into the business.

Helo Blod can also help with other kinds of bilingual promotion, including:

  • Websites
  • Social media posts
  • Marketing and communication materials
  • Menus
  • Email signatures
  • Answerphone messages

Because using just a little bit of Cymraeg can make a big difference to your business.

Visit Gov.Wales/HeloBlod to find out more.


National Hospitality Day - 18 September 2021

National Hospitality Day is a nationwide celebration of brilliant and resilient restaurants, hotels, pubs and bars, and the suppliers that support them.

There are many reasons for hospitality businesses in Wales to join in:

  • to provide a showcase for the hospitality industry,
  • to encourage consumers to venture back into hospitality venues and build confidence around the public by promoting hospitality venues as safe and secure environments and
  • to underline the intrinsic role hospitality plays in the social fabric of communities, as an employer and as an income contributor to the economy.

To find out how businesses can get involved visit UKHospitality.


Support for EU citizens until end of 2021

EU citizens in Wales will still be able to access free and confidential support for their EU Settlement Scheme applications until 31 December 2021, the Welsh Government have confirmed.

The Home Office’s EU Settlement Scheme, known as EUSS, offered EU, non-EU EEA and Swiss citizens, and their eligible family members the opportunity to protect their residency since the UK left the European Union.

The scheme closed at the end of June 2021, however late applications with reasonable grounds are still being accepted by the Home Office.

Read the announcement in full on Gov.Wales


Help Chwarae Teg shape the future of safe workplaces – Anti sexual harassment pioneers needed

Chwarae Teg will be working with employers to create workplace policies, reporting mechanisms and support processes that can be rolled out across organisations to make workplaces safer for everyone and are recruiting 20 employers from across Wales to take part in this pioneering project.  Visit the Business Wales website for more details.   


Tips for minimising cyber threats

Cybercrime is on the rise as is the severity of attacks. Whether you’re a micro business, SME or large corporation, understanding how to safeguard your organisation against a breach is a crucial element to all-round success. 

Knowing where to start with cyber resilience measures can appear to be a costly and complicated minefield but that’s a myth which the Cyber Resilience Centre for Wales (WCRC) is working hard to eradicate and re-educate business owners and decision makers.  Visit the Business Wales website for more details.


Recycle Week 20–26 September 2021

The Be Mighty. Recycle. national recycling campaign has reached 6 million people thanks to partners such as Welsh visitor attractions sharing the recycling messages of Wales Recycles

Be Mighty. Recycle links with the Recycle Week theme ‘Step It Up’, encouraging everyone to recycle more of the right things more often.

Supporting Recycle Week through the Be Mighty. Recycle. messages, can generate positive publicity and encourage your visitors to recycle .

For campaign materials, email walesrecycles@wrap.org.uk.


Digital IP renewal service

A new digital renewals service that slashes bulk renewal time for IP rights from 5 days to 5 minutes has now been opened up to all customers by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).  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.


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