Welsh Assembly candidate for Caerphilly, Owen Meredith, welcomed this week’s budget announcements to boost UK tourism and said Caerphilly must plan to make the most of the help on offer.
In Wednesday’s budget, the Chancellor, George Osborne MP, announced plans to boost UK tourism, which included:
- A £100 million pound international campaign, co-funded by industry, to attract visitors to the UK
- A task force to cut red tape for tourism focused businesses
- More UK Boarder Agency biometric visa centres and online visa processing to make it easier for tourists to visit
- More service sector apprenticeships and a partnership with People 1st to deliver consistently high customer service
- Changes to Tourist Board to create partnerships between industry and government
- Help to boost information available through smartphone apps and new media
- A consultation on moving the May Day bank holiday to extend the tourist season
- Cancelling Labour’s planned abolition of Furnished Holiday Lettings relief.
Mr Meredith said:
“I am determined to see Caerphilly climb up the ranks of Welsh tourist destinations. We have a lot of offer people and we need to showcase it.”
“One of our greatest assets is Caerphilly Castle, but only 96,000 got to see it last year. We need to sell Caerphilly to the world and boost our all round offering to tourists to ensure people explore the whole of the County.”
“With the help announced in the budget this week we can plan for a future where Caerphilly is a ‘must visit’ location on the tourist map. I will continue to work with local businesses, the tourist board and others to see that vision for a positive change for Caerphilly become reality.”
