Mid and West Wales Assembly Member and Opposition Leader, Nick Bourne, today criticised the Welsh Assembly Government’s ‘Tourism Advisory Panel’, a committee of experts apparently charged with helping to shape and scrutinize tourism policy and strategies in Wales.
Speaking from Aberaeron in Ceredigion, Nick said:
“Tourism operators will remember that in July 2004, the Welsh Assembly Government abolished the former Wales Tourist Board, (which was at arms length from government), and took the decision to bring tourism under direct government control, renaming the organisation ‘VisitWales’. The Tourism Advisory Panel was then set up in 2006 to provide advice and scrutiny on tourism policies in Wales.
“Answers to questions which I recently asked of the Plaid Minister with responsibility for Tourism have revealed that the Minister has only ever attended one of these advisory sessions and that this panel of experts and industry representatives doesn’t even have to provide any agendas or minutes of their meetings.
“When the Welsh Government keep telling us that they are committed to openness and transparency, then where is the scrutiny here if tourism operators and the general public, cannot know the full content of what was discussed at meetings?
“The fact that the secretariat for this panel is provided by VisitWales, who then pass on information to the Minister, concerns me a great deal. This is absolutely farcical. Because there are no recorded minutes and because the Minister is reluctant to attend meetings, this suggests to me that the only information which government civil servants pass on to the Minister, is information which they want him to see.
“Tourism is vital to Wales and contributes £ 3.5 billion to the economy per annum.
The thousands of small yet dynamic businesses who make up tourism in Wales deserve to be taken seriously and to have their voice properly heard. Furthermore, they have a right to know that their thoughts and opinions about where the industry is going, is put fully on the record. The problem here goes back to the winding up of the former Wales Tourist Board which was supported by both Labour and Plaid members at the time. Since then, the Government has directly influenced tourism in Wales – a fact seriously regretted by all sectors within the industry. The Minister needs to come clean about what this Tourism Advisory Panel is supposed to be achieving for Wales and put the full content of their discussions in the public domain.”
