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Prime Minister’s Speech on Tourism
Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a speech at the Serpentine Gallery in London on 12 August on the challenges and opportunities that tourism presents.
The PM said “This is not a speech I had to make. It’s a speech I wanted to make. I wanted to do it here, at the heart of the most internationally visited city in the world. I want to talk about just how incredibly important I think our tourism industry is and what we need to do now to make the most of it not just here in London but right across our country.
For too long tourism has been looked down on as a second class service sector. That’s just wrong. Tourism is a fiercely competitive market, requiring skills, talent, enterprise and a government that backs Britain. It’s fundamental to the rebuilding and rebalancing of our economy.
It’s one of the best and fastest ways of generating the jobs we need so badly in this country. And it’s absolutely crucial to us making the most of the Olympics and indeed a whole decade of great international sport across Britain”.
He outlined how tourism is now a first class priority at the front and centre of our economic strategy, as an export earner with international visitors and with a strong domestic market. He also stressed how fundamental the industry will be to the rebuilding and rebalancing of our economy.
He recognised that the 2012 Games and the coming decade of great international sporting events across Britain, with all that Britain has to offer, is an unprecedented opportunity. But, to ensure that this opportunity is not missed, as an industry there is still much that needs to be done to improve perceptions of Britain at home and overseas.
Over the coming months the Government will be working on ‘the strongest possible tourism strategy’ looking at:
• What the Government does nationally
• The role of local government and the support of the local area
• How we stimulate the private sector in tourism
• How we make policy in other areas that will impact the tourism industry
At a national level, the dedicated Minister for Tourism and Heritage, John Penrose will lead a new relationship with the tourism industry, showing the Government gets tourism and understands the huge potential of the industry.
In spite of the current tough times meaning tough decisions, he is keen to ensure that these decisions will serve us in the long-term.
However, the Government views tourism is a local industry and their aspiration is for new Local Enterprise Partnerships to allow local people and entrepreneurs more responsibility and control over how tourism is developed in each local area. A new set of incentives will be proposed for local authorities – including options for business rate incentives allowing local authorities to reinvest the benefits of growth back into their local communities.
The right local incentives should also help to stimulate the private sector. In addition to the reduction in red tape and excessive business taxes planned, the Prime Minister sees tourism bids as potentially key beneficiaries of the new £1 billion regional growth fund.
The Prime Minister also confirmed that “we’re stopping the removal of the tax breaks on furnished holiday lettings”.
He will also look across Government at the policies that impact tourism in a big way – visas, airport security and infrastructure – not as isolated issues, but from the perspective of both the domestic and international tourism industry.
Finally, he committed John Penrose to work with the industry, bringing together all your best ideas, to develop a tourism strategy by the end of the year, with the goal of setting Britain on a path to break into the world’s top five tourist destinations.
The PM stated that he had asked the Minister to report on whether the target of increasing domestic tourism to 50% of UK residents’ holiday expenditure from the current level of 36% was realistic and that the strategy would be published “before the end of the year” rather than “autumn” as has previously been announced.
The PM concluded “So that’s our goal and those are some of the ways that we’re going to raise our game to try and reach it. Today’s speech is an appeal for you tell us the tools you need to finish the job.
Because as with so much of this agenda, making the most of our tourism industry is not simply about government action. It’s about what our communities and local businesses do.
Reaping the gains of local tourism is one of the great economic tests of the Big Society. Can we come together to make our country more prosperous?
Can we support new developments and new enterprise to boost our tourism and make the most of our great heritage and national assets?
Can we seize the opportunity of this great decade of sport – and especially the Olympics – to deliver a lasting tourism legacy for the whole country and not just here in London? I really believe we can.
I believe we can come together in a new nationwide effort to make this coming decade the best ever for tourism in Britain. This government will stand fully behind every effort. The challenge is now for you as an industry and for us together as a society. And I’m confident that – together – we will meet it”.
Faenol Festival cancelled
The Faenol Festival have announced that this year’s Festival was being cancelled as the result of poor advance ticket sales. However, the Westlife concert will go ahead, but at a different venue.
Making the announcement, Bryn Terfel said “May I take this opportunity to thank all our audiences who have supported us over the last ten years, and to those who responded to our call last month to show commitment to this year’s Festival by buying tickets sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately, advance ticket sales in this challenging economic climate have not been sufficient for us to feel confident that we can move ahead with the full Festival. I know many of you will be as disappointed as I am. All I can say is that we have looked at the situation in great detail and from every possible angle. We have found no other workable solution.
I would also like to thank the Festival team, Trust, our wonderful Artists, the Wales Millennium Centre, Waitrose, and supporters including the Welsh Assembly Government and Gwynedd County Council, who have been incredibly supportive in all aspects of our deliberations, especially over the past weeks.”
The Faenol’s Westlife performance will go ahead on 27 August, but it will now take place in the Arena at Venue Cymru. The rearranged concert will be a standing show in the Arena and tickets will be £35.
All tickets for the Westlife concert at the Faenol Estate are automatically valid for the show at Venue Cymru. “This change of venue will give those with tickets an opportunity to see Westlife in a uniquely intimate venue”.
Sir David Henshaw, Chairman of the Faenol Festival Trust said “The team has worked tirelessly to explore each and every avenue and opportunity available to them. Ticket Sales have been dreadfully disappointing and we could not waste the generous grant of public money by the Welsh Assembly Government and Gwynedd Council.
By continuing with the Westlife element, we hope that we will be able to provide some of our valued audience with the entertainment promised and also provide the locality with some much needed business. It is too soon to say what will happen in future years, and whether or not the Festival will return.”
Antony Warren, of Universal Music said: “It is incredibly disappointing for everyone who has made this Festival such a wonderful event over the past ten years and of course the audience for whom it has become a regular highlight of their year.
Sadly, the level of advance ticket sales left us with no other option but to change venue for the Westlife performance, and cancel the other dates”.
Wales in a Website
People’s Collection Wales (Casgliad y Werin Cymru) is a new site launched by the Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones, at the National Eisteddfod on 2 August that uses pioneering technology to tell the story of Wales through the eyes of its people.
This is a contemporary, interactive and bilingual online experience dedicated to the history of Wales and its people. It is a rich cultural and social treasure trove that charts the human story of Wales with an archive of reminiscences, photographs, video and audio for future generations.
These include film from the middle of the last century of the Ebbw Vale Steelworks, the site of the National Eisteddfod, along with the history of the Gorsedd, its ceremonies and regalia, including images, video and audio clips of interviews with Bards, and even 3D photographs of medals awarded in 1789.
The site brings the story to life using GPS technology that allows the viewer to travel over the landscape of Wales and travel back and forth in time, while viewing artefacts in 3D. And the free site will build over time as contributions create people’s own personal collections.
Archive material has been drawn from a number of sources including Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, the National Library of Wales, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, and a number of individuals across Wales have already come forward with archive material.
As well as being of interest to the people of Wales, it will prove a valuable tool for the tourism industry in Wales, and as a source of learning for schools and colleges. The advanced technology, lead by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, allows people to pick up the site on their mobile phones, and contribute to the site from remote locations by uploading images or information for all to see.
Alun Ffred Jones said “This is a proud moment launching a website that truly encapsulates the social history of Wales that is written by its people. Many of us are aware of the key events in Welsh history, but you only truly feel that connection with the past when it is told by its communities. That is what People’s Collection Wales has achieved. It will widen the understanding of our cultural heritage.
As well as launching the site to the world, we also invite further contributions and material from the people of Wales both at home and across the world to ensure the site evolves as time goes on. People’s Collection gives a great boost to the tourism industry in Wales, allowing visitors to get a real feel for the country they will visit and to access information and stories relevant to the site they are visiting through their mobile phones”.
The site has been developed by Welsh company Sequence in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government, led by programme manager Rheinallt Jones, with the involvement of Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales, the National Library of Wales, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, the BBC and Llafur: The Welsh People’s History Society.