Tourism

The recent suggestion that large parts of Wales should be forested to provide a playground for the English cities highlights everything that is wrong in the Welsh tourist industry. We are lucky to be blessed with spectacular scenery and fascinating historical buildings, but how much money do they actually bring in to Wales?

While its is an admirable sentiment to allow free access to our National Parks and museums it means that we are giving our greatest assets away for nothing – often for the benefit of visitors from across the border who bring their own packed lunches so to avoid spending any money here, and just clog up the roads.

So we should first find a way to charge an access fee for our National Parks – it is not practical to place turnstiles and pay booths everywhere, but it should be feasible to apply a flat fee of say £10/day to cover car access or £50/coach – which would be charged to park in any of the National Park car parks, but also alongside any public highways within the park area, on a pay and display basis which would be enforced by Park Rangers. Residents living within the park boundaries and within say 10 miles of the park would be exempt, as would anyone arriving by public transport or on a pre-arranged organised educational visit.

Similar arrangements should be established at the museums and major historical sites and areas of natural beauty, but at a reduced cost.

It is also common in tourist areas around the world to charge a tourist tax of around 5-10% at hotels, restaurants, attractions etc. This tax could be applied seasonally so to encourage more visitors in the quieter months.

Finally I would apply a caravan tax - £20/day for anyone towing a caravan on our roads (That should at least improve Jeremy Clarkson’s view of Wales).

That addresses the income from tourism, but what to do with the revenue? This should be paid into a tourism development fund that would be used for developing specific projects, such as infrastructure improvements in the National Parks, rebuilding and restoration projects etc, but also for funding new initiatives. In France they have the son-et-lumiere shows at their chateaus – why not have a series of ‘Sain a golau’ shows around our Castles ? Or establish a King Arthur Trail taking in the often ignored hill forts of Glamorgan?

Most importantly all tourism developments should follow the Equator principles for sustainable development.