Lockdown: Tourism halt 'if people from outside Wales book'

The further reopening of the tourism industry will be halted if holiday providers are found to be taking bookings from people from outside of Wales, the first minister says.

Self-contained accommodation can reopen in Wales from 27 March, as long as cases remained low.

But people in England cannot go on holiday in the UK until 12 April.

Mark Drakeford said the "penalty" for businesses acting "irresponsibly" would be that further reopening would end.

The Welsh Government is relaxing lockdown rules, with "stay at home" rules replaced by a requirement to "stay local" and a plan to reopen parts of tourism industry for Easter has been set out.

The "stay at home" rule will end in England from 29 March, but people will not be able to holiday in other parts of the UK until at least a fortnight later.

In Scotland, people are being asked to stay at home until 5 April, with no date currently set for when people can travel to other parts of the UK.

The Stormont Executive in Northern Ireland has not given a timetable for reopening.

"People who let accommodation should not be taking bookings from people who live outside Wales," Mr Drakeford told the PA news agency.

"We will be talking with our local authority colleagues and with the police next week, just to see if there is anything we need to do to mobilise our own enforcement authorities.

"I know there are rogues in any part of life. But I think that the industry will absolutely recognise that we want to go beyond self-contained accommodation.

"We want the tourism industry in Wales to have a longer and better season this year than we managed last year."

Self-contained accommodation will reopen in Wales from 27 March, but people in England will not be able to holiday in Wales at that time.

In England, the "stay at home" rule will end on 29 March, but overnight stays in self-catering and self-contained accommodation will not be permitted until 12 April at the earliest.

Hotels and B&Bs may be able to take bookings in England from 17 May.

Mr Drakeford said any further reopening of Wales' tourism industry would be halted if holiday providers were found taking bookings from people in England over Easter.

Not being able to accept bookings from customers in England over Easter is a big blow, according to Gwenan Jones, who owns the Cefn Cae Campsite and Holiday Village in Rowen, Conwy.

"When you have a booking from England they'll normally stay for three to seven days, but people in Wales only want one night away because they already know how beautiful Wales is," she said.

"We have to make sure our cottages look brand new every time, so when you take cleaning costs into consideration for a one-night booking, it's just not viable."

She said "business can't continue like this", adding: "We're an industry that never asks for handouts - all we need is to be allowed to reopen and we'll be able to run things."

The first minister accepted he was powerless to prevent people in Wales from travelling abroad if the UK government followed through on plans to fully reopen foreign travel from 17 May.

But he said he was "asking UK ministers to think very carefully" about allowing foreign travel as early as that date.

"In September we had a really difficult period in Wales because people were coming back from all parts of Europe... bringing infection with them," he said.

"I really don't want everything we have done together, the sacrifices we have made, to be put at risk by an importation of the virus."

Mr Drakeford said the Welsh Government defined self-contained accommodation as anywhere without shared facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom.

He added: "But that does include, as it did last year when we started down this path, in the same way hotels that are able to offer room service and where people have all the facilities they need in their own room."

The first minister said people will only be able to go on holiday with people in their own household.

"The basic rules about only going with your own household will remain in place and all the other restrictions that we continue to need to observe will be as true if you are in your caravan as it would if you were in your own home," he said.

Mr Drakeford stressed he was "making the rules for people in Wales".

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price urged the Welsh Government to put "families first" by allowing family members from different households to meet before tourism reopens.

"Case rates remain stubbornly high in many areas attractive to tourists and we must remember the huge pressures already facing local hospitals," he said.

"After the sacrifices of the past year we should be putting families first and granting some limited extended freedoms for families to come together before tourism reopens."