Agenda item

Cabinet Member – Councillor Gareth Thomas

To consider a report on the above  (attached).

To accept the report and to note the observations submitted during the meeting.

The Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Economy and Community and the officers were welcomed to the meeting.

Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member for Economy and Community inviting the committee to scrutinise the steps taken thus far to formulate the draft visitor economy principles and the steps proposed to draw up the Gwynedd Sustainable Visit Economy Plan 2030.

The Cabinet Member set out the context by noting that the visitor economy was an important part of the county's economy, with a large number being employed in the industry directly and indirectly.  However, as Covid struck the industry, it had become apparent that the Council had to revisit its principles in the field.  There had been a significant change in the way we perceived the visitor economy.  Previously, everyone had been viewing the visitor as central to any visitor economy, by now however, the opinion was that the residents of Gwynedd should be central to any principles around the visitor economy, and this had been at the forefront of developing the principles.  If the people of Gwynedd saw the benefit and that the visitor economy was acceptable to them, this then fed through to the visitor's experience.  It was noted that a workshop had been arranged for all Gwynedd councillors on 2 March, 2021 to submit the draft principles, with the intention of submitting them to the Cabinet before the end of March to be adopted in draft form to consult on them with the people of Gwynedd.

The Leader agreed that developing these principles was a significant change of direction for the Council.   We saw last year what 'unsustainable' tourism was, and this was the type of tourism that damaged the environment, and had a bad impact on communities.  Stating that we were setting a new direction was very important.  It was believed that the industry was also seeing the need to reflect our society much better, and the principles formed the basis for the type of support and direction the Council had given the industry.  Meetings with the industry had demonstrated that tourism was an important industry for our people, although there was a perception that it was owned by others.  The pandemic had demonstrated that rural areas such as Gwynedd were by now very nearly fully reliant on tourism, and this was a motivation to continue with the work of seeking to create a much more varied economy.  Although Gwynedd was getting £1.3 billion through the industry, Gwynedd's household income was among the lowest in the country, and there was a need to develop a hospitality industry that provided good careers and good employment.  Examples of this already existed, and there was a need to work to improve the quality of the industry in Wales.

The Leader then referred to a letter of response from the National Park to the Council's decision to urgently research the possibility of charging visitors who visited parts of the park.  He noted that the letter stated that it would be entirely impossible to charge people for going to Snowdon's summit, but that this did not prevent us from looking at other ways of generating income.  The Park's plan to create a transport system in the areas of Snowdon and Ogwen was an example of this, and there was an opportunity here, not only to create a better environment, but also to create a low carbon public transport system that would serve local people as well as visitors.  It was very much hoped, following the members' workshop, that it would be possible to hold an open conference to hold a discussion on all of these matters, and to elevate some of the questions that arose.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and make observations.  During the discussion, the following observations were noted:

·         That the sub-principle of 'Maintaining and Respecting our Environment' suggested that things would be kept as they were, rather than being developed and improved.

·         There was a need to educate visitors to respect our communities and the officers were thanked for their efforts in this field.

·         It was possible to overreact to the situation as the number of visitors to the area would fall once the pandemic was over.

·         Not everyone was looking forward to seeing tourism return to the area after the lockdown period, and by sending the message out asking people to respect the area, they should also seek to change the mind-set of local people so that they understood that Gwynedd's economy was reliant on tourism.

·         That tourism was intertwined with all communities in Gwynedd, and not in the main holiday destinations only.

·         The idea of looking at examples of successful sustainable tourism in other countries, and to tailor them for Gwynedd's communities was welcomed.

·         There was a need to be innovative to benefit from tourism.

·         There was a need to find a balance that was fair to everyone, but also put the people of Gwynedd first.

·         There was a need to understand what was meant by 'unsustainable' tourism and there was a danger that what was currently taking place would spoil our communities.

·         There was a need to ensure work that paid well in the field of tourism in Gwynedd in order for local people to remain in their communities.

·         There was concern that parts of the county would face more difficulties this summer as people who were used to going overseas could decide to come here for their holiday.

·         There was a need to force motor home owners to stay in specific sites, rather than parking on the roadsides.

In response to the observations and questions from members, it was noted: 

·         The principles, by adopting them, would be principles for the whole Council.  A significant number of visitors had visited parts of Gwynedd last summer, and there had been very good collaboration across the entire Council to prepare for what could happen again this summer.

·         It was agreed that the use of the word 'Maintain' in the sub-principle 'Maintain and Respect our Environment' suggested that things were perfect as they were, and there was a need to consider the wording in the report that would go before the Cabinet.  It was also noted that there would be an opportunity to make this kind of observation at the members' workshop and during the consultation in due course.

·         That it was intended to allocated some time at the start of the members' workshop to identify the main matters that arose last year and to explain how the Environment, Highways and Municipal and Economy and Community Departments, along with different agencies, intended to respond to that for the forthcoming season  in terms of matters such as illegal parking, motor homes, litter, beach management, destination management in general and how to facilitate access and the flow of people within destinations, etc.  It was further noted that work had been completed last summer in twenty destinations in terms of securing arrangements for distancing, signage and ensuring that local residents and visitors respected the regulations, and it was intended to build on this work for the coming season.  Work was also taking place between departments to plan ahead and bids had been submitted to the Government for additional funding to support the work.  It was intended to send out messages of safe enjoyment of the area for the season ahead and to encourage responsible behaviour.  It was explained there had been no work to promote the area last year, rather, there had been a focus on working with the Police, the National Park and the Health Board in terms of responsible behaviour and responsible destination.  It was intended to build on this this season and carry out significant work on changes to the Snowdonia Mountains and Coast website and use it as a platform to share information. There was also further work afoot by the Maritime Service in terms of responsible behaviour messages along the coast, in light of several cases of difficulties in some locations last summer.  There was also work taking place to share information with the private sector to highlight matters in terms of regulations and grants and sharing good practice.

·         This Council did not contribute to North Wales Tourism.  It was funded by its members, but a large number of those members came from Gwynedd.

·         It was agreed that we had to bring the communities with us, and as an example of this, reference was made to Dolan, a joint project between Dyffryn Nantlle, Dyffryn Ogwen and Blaenau Ffestiniog, looking at the benefit that tourism brought to the community.  Also, it was considered that developing the relationship between some of the main attractions and their local communities was a way of getting the communities to see the possible benefits.  Consideration was also given to the possibility of formulating a community and business ambassadors scheme, as a way of making the people of Gwynedd understand what was exceptional about our area, as a means for them to convey these aspects to the visitors, as well as having an understanding of them themselves.

·         There was recognition that the STEAM model (Scarborough Tourism Economic Assessment Model) was not perfect, but this was the model used by the Government to allocate additional grant funding to the Council each year based on the increased population during the summer months.  It was also used by several councils in Britain, and internationally, and despite its faults, it offered an element of consistency as so many used it.  The model looked at the visitor numbers and the value trends, but there may be a need to look at a different measure, and there was recognition that there was a need to review how this worked.  It was added that the initial projections for 2019/20 showed a reduction of 50%-60% in economic benefits and the visitor numbers, although obviously the numbers that had visited the area over summer months was high, with fewer going overseas due to the pandemic.   In terms of moving forward, it was important to expand the series of measures to include additional performance measures that would assist in realising the vision of placing the residents of Gwynedd at the centre.

·         That the process of developing the principles recognised the fact that tourism was embedded in all parts of life in Gwynedd, and it was also hoped to incorporate the principles of the regeneration framework that would be developed for Gwynedd.  It was further noted, in terms of good practice across the world, that the Department was about to commission Dr Terry Stevens, an Expert in Sustainable Destinations and Tourism to advise whether the principles were fully in sync with sustainable tourism and which measures could be developed to measure the success of those principles in future.  He would also advise the Department on good practice in other areas, the visiting trends over the next ten years, and how to communicate with developing markets.  It was added that Dr Stevens could be invited to address the conference in March on what was happening internationally in the field of tourism.

·         That discussions were taking place between the Environment and the Highways and Municipal Departments and the National Park to seek to identify the best means of responding to the problems that were arising with motor homes.  There were short-term answers, such as communicating the message and erecting signs and height restrictions in car parks along with more long-term solutions, such as introducing bylaws and enforcement.  It was intended to share the matters and the implementation responsibilities for the next season, and the Environment Department would be leading on this element, with input from the Economy Department.

RESOLVED to accept the report, noting the observations made during the meeting.