§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Ifor Davies.]
§ 11.20 p.m.
§ Mr. W. G. Morgan (Denbigh)I am grateful, even at this late hour, to have the opportunity of raising on the Adjournment the subject of the Welsh tourist industry. We heard a good deal earlier about salmon and trout fisheries, and one English Member referred to their importance to the tourist industry of Scotland. The House will be relieved to learn that this is an aspect of the Welsh tourist industry with which I do not propose to deal, as there are other subjects which I want to speak about.
It is about 2½ years since this matter was last raised, either in the House or in the Welsh Grand Committee. There was a debate on the subject in the Welsh Grand Committee in July, 1963, when that Committee had before it the Report of the Council of Wales and Monmouthshire on the Welsh tourist industry, which had been prepared after some exhaustive work by a panel of the Council over a period of three years. One of the panel's recommendations was that there should be a proper survey of the tourist industry in Wales, and its Report contained the first fair assessment of this industry and its importance to the Welsh economy. As a consequence of that debate, the then Minister for Welsh Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, North-East (Sir K. Joseph), made a grant of £40,000 for research into and development of the industry.
It is beyond doubt that this subject is one of the greatest importance to the Welsh economy. As far back as 1961, there was an annual turnover of £50 million in the tourist industry, and it could play an important part in the balance of payments struggle which is, unfortunately, a battle which is always with us. So far, however, the number of foreign visitors whom we have been able to attract to Wales has been disappointing. I have referred to these figures, and I should not like the House to think that I intend in any way to be gloomy in what I am going to say. I wish only to sound a warning—that impressive figures are capable of 1045 being dangerous as they can create complacency.
Good figures can dwindle as easily as they can grow: a good deal more easily, in fact. It has been pointed out by experts in the business that the Welsh tourist industry has this weakness—that it depends much too much upon tourist streams which were generated by the tastes of an earlier century. We must remember in this connection that we now have to compete with foreign nations with a heritage of sun which is not shared by any part of these islands.
While, of course, we are anxious to preserve our traditional tourists, we must bear in mind that we have to attract the young and modern-minded as well. As against all this there is a great potential in Wales which is as yet untapped. Mid-Wales, for example, is an area of great natural beauty where, unhappily, for the past century we have seen much depopulation. A great deal could be done to popularise this area, which would be some panacea, although not a complete answer, to its problems. Many foreign delegations come to this country. They are looked after by the Central Office of Information. Very few, if any, come to Wales. Could anything be done by the Government to bring influence to bear on the C.O.I. in this respect?
As I said earlier, there is very little evidence to show that the contribution of overseas visitors to the overall growth of this industry in Wales is any more than minimal. In fact, I believe that in 1961—the year for which I quoted the figure of £50 million of general turnover—the contribution of foreign visitors was about £250,000. There is no reason why this should not be changed.
An excellent example is provided in my constituency, in Llangollen, showing how a small Welsh town can become an international centre—a striking example of what can be achieved. In becoming a cultural centre, new life has been brought to this small town which, in turn, has been brought to the attention of many nations. This is not confined to Llangollen, because in Wales as a whole there is a wide variety of scenery, institutions and national occasions. We must take a hard look at this aspect of the problem to see what we can do to attract to Wales foreigners, other than Englishmen and Scotsmen!
1046 Another way of looking at the problem is from the point of view of the localities concerned. In many areas tourism represents the only real avenue of development and employment open to the particular community, and it should be accepted that support for the tourist trade is as vital for these people as industrial development is in other parts.
One cannot over-estimate the importance of publicity or propaganda in this connection, setting out the value of the tourist industry to the country as a whole. I will return later to the question of the Welsh Tourist Association, as it is now called. The importance of the industry is not sufficiently appreciated by people at large, even in Wales. The benefits to be derived from tourism are great, and it is as important to make Wales tourist-conscious as it is to make tourists aware of Wales.
The importance of the industry is being recognised more and more and great strides forward have been made from the point of view of both the Government and the general public. However, it is evident that something more than tacit general support by the Government is called for, and I now come to the core of my remarks, because I have some suggestions to put forward to help the industry, which, I hope, the Government will seriously consider.
Could the Government consider establishing some sort of central Government agency or Department which could advise and provide the professional and technical skill which is at present not available to many of the smaller tourist areas? Obviously, these areas cannot provide such an organisation, or anything like it, from their own resources. I am really asking for a visiting expert to help such places. I appreciate, of course, that while it is easy to make such a suggestion, it may be difficult to carry it out.
Next, I have a proposal on which I am particularly keen and which I hope will receive the Minister's closest attention. We all know of the difficulty occasioned by seasonal unemployment in the well-known North Wales resorts in the area extending from Llandudno through Colwyn Bay and Abergele to Rhyl and Prestatyn. If I may say so, no one has done more than the Minister 1047 of State to draw attention to the problem, which can be summed up by saying that in Rhyl, for example, the winter unemployment figure is not far short of 5 per cent.
I have in mind a Government-sponsored scheme whereby hotel staff could receive training and refresher courses in the off-season while being retained in employment, instead of living on unemployment payments or National Assistance, which, I feel, is a waste of talent and money. They could thus reach a greater stage of proficiency, and the tourist industry could give better service to the visitors. I see no reason why those people should not be given grants such as are given to students. The cost would not be much greater, if indeed it was greater at all, than it is at present, while the persons being trained would be devoting their time and talents to a constructive purpose.
The possibilities are great. A great deal could be done, for instance, to improve our cuisine. We have some delicious traditional Welsh dishes, which are rarely presented to visitors. Incidentally, I understand that something of the sort is being done in Scotland, and I do not think that we should be behind our sister nation in this respect. In this connection, I would not exclude short courses in the Welsh language, because foreign visitors are delighted and charmed to hear the oldest language in Europe being spoken.
It has been suggested to me by local authorities in my division that, ancillary to all this, there might be encouragement of small workshops in various centres where genuine indigenous arts and crafts could be developed, and genuine local souvenirs and mementoes produced. We do not wish to rely on, say, Birmingham, to produce Welsh dolls, as all too often happens today. One can envisage courses designed to that end as well during the winter period.
Educational authorities could also be asked to consider the career facilities offered by the tourist trade, and provide some introduction to catering provision in the secondary schools. That has, perhaps, been rather overlooked in the past, even though such education in our technical colleges is of a high order.
1048 As I appreciate that my time is limited, I should like to make three very quick points with regard to the Welsh Tourist and Holidays Association—Bwrdd Croeso Cymru. Will the Minister of State tell the House whether he is satisfied with the present structure of the Association; whether he feels that every part of Wales is properly represented upon it, and, last but not least, whether it has enough finance?
The Association has done very excellent work, if I may say so, in the last 15 years with very little money indeed. For example, on less than £25,000 per annum, until recently, it had to provide publicity, propaganda, staff and all the other incidentals. I wonder whether its work could not be strengthened by increased Treasury subvention.
I referred earlier to the former Government's grant of £40,000 towards development and research. What progress is being made in this study, and when can we expect the report?
The last question I wish to raise is that of communications. This is one of our black spots. I had a good deal to say about this subject in the Welsh Grand Committee debate on tourism in 1963. I feel very strongly that if anything will turn visitors away from our country, or discourage them from coming again, it is the state of some of our roads. I do not want to embark on a discussion of the Beeching proposals, although I represent a constituency which, unfortunately, was one of the hardest hit by them. There is a proposal at present to restart the branch line service from Ruabon to Barmouth. Could this not be considered in this connection? I appreciate that it has other implications as well, but it is important to the tourist industry.
I particularly ask the Minister of State what is being done about improvement of our road system, especially between the north Welsh coast and areas such as Lancashire and the M6. Consideration should also be given to north-south links in Wales, of course, but from the tourist point of view communications with north-west England are of the greatest importance. I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman can give us any encouraging news on this aspect of the problem. I have personally never ceased to compare the excellent approach roads to Blackpool 1049 in the Fylde division of Lancashire and the much inferior roads in North Wales.
I thank the Minister of State for the patient hearing he has given me and express gratitude to my Welsh colleagues for having come to listen. I have raised a number of points, I hope not too disjointedly, and I hope that I have not left many glaring omissions. The matters to which I have referred are those which occur to me as being of importance and worthy of consideration. I commend them to the Minister of State, of whose personal interest and sympathy I have no doubt.
§ 11.36 p.m.
§ The Minister of State, Welsh Office (Mr. Goronwy Roberts)The hon. Member for Denbigh (Mr. Morgan) has made a constructive and thoughful speech. He is quite right in saying that the holiday industry is of great interest and importance to Wales. The Council for Wales Report, from which the hon. Member quoted, stated that in 1961 the tourist industry was the fourth largest industry in Wales. In that year nearly 4¼ million people spent their holidays in Wales, spending 28 million nights in the Principality, an average of a week each, and paid out £50 million in doing so.
The hon. Member referred to the minimal contribution of this great industry to the balance of payments. Although the Council thought that in 1961 only 200,000 to a quarter of a million of this vast number of visitors came from overseas, there is evidence that this overseas proportion has greatly increased in the past five years. But even if we accepted the figure of 200,000, this represents about £2½ million annually in foreign currency. Furthermore, every British holidaymaker attracted to Wales is one who might otherwise might have been attracted, or enticed, overseas, taking precious sterling with him in doing so.
The former chairman of the Wales Tourist and Holidays Association, Dr. Huw T. Edwards, who did so much for Welsh tourism, and his successor in office, Mr. D. J. Davies, are agreed that the potential is even greater. They believe, and we agree, that it is possible to double the earnings of the industry in the next five to 10 years.
There are two aspects to this potential expansion. As the hon. Member so 1050 rightly said, there are in Wales great resources which in many areas are still untapped. He mentioned Mid-Wales, where the scenery is magnificent. When we consider that 20 per cent. of the holidaymakers in Wales at present go to two resorts while only 8 per cent. go to the five Mid-Wales counties combined, the potential expansion of that area alone is shown to be considerable.
It is not only scenery that we can offer. As the hon. Member said, we have some superb national dishes for which, with all due respect to the hon. Member, he is a handsome testimony. We can as a country properly exploit our language and customs, providing for our visitors an experience which is refreshingly different from what they can expect in other parts of the United Kingdom or abroad.
It is not by imitating other countries that we in Wales can best develop our potential as a holiday centre. Our greatest attraction, our scenery, does not imitate that of any other country; it casts its spell on the visitor precisely because it is unique. So, too, with our ancient language, our music and our crafts, which should all be used more extensively to impart to our visitors the special savour of Wales.
There is a vast market in Britain and abroad for the truly Welsh recreative experience. The hon. Gentleman referred to the international Eisteddfod held in the charming town of Llangollen in his constituency. There, vast numbers come annually from the five continents to join with us in enjoying the Welsh holiday. So, too, with the Royal National Eisteddfod which every year brings thousands of overseas visitors. Each year many people from abroad visit our capital city, with its superb civic centre. More people visited Caernarvon Castle last year than visited any other similar monument in Britain, 250,000 of them, in fact, many coming from abroad.
The Wales Tourist and Holidays Association recently reorganised itself on an effectively representative basis as a consequence of the excellent report of the Committee over which Mr. David Cole presided, and the Association is commendably pressing forward on the lines I have indicated. As the hon. Gentleman said, it is at present engaged in a far reaching survey of facilities for tourism in 1051 Wales and the potential market. This is partly financed by a Government grant of £40,000, and the operation is conducted by a development officer of great experience, Mr. Rees, under whom three field officers work in North, Central and South Wales respectively.
In answer to the hon. Gentleman, I can say that the entire exercise will take three years to complete, and there are about two years to run before the full results are known. Nevertheless, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects that an interim report will be available in March of this year, and this will undoubtedly be extremely useful to the Association and to the industry generally pending publication of the final report.
The hon. Gentleman asked about the finances of the Association. It has three sources of finance, as have the other corresponding national associations in the United Kingdom. First, the Welsh local authorities, who co-operate most effectively with the Association, are contributing this year about £13,400 to the treasury of the Association. Second, there is the British Travel Association, which contributes about £11,000 which is earmarked for overseas publicity. Third, there are subscriptions from the holiday industry itself, amounting this year, I understand, to a little under £2,000.
Clearly, the quickest way to expand the Association's resources would be for the tourist industry to recognise somewhat more fully the great benefits which accrue to it from the Association's activities. By supporting the Association financially, the Welsh holiday industry would be investing in its own increasing prosperity.
This industry, as the hon. Gentleman said, is in some parts of Wales almost the only available source of employment; but he was quite right to point out, as my hon. Friend the Member for Merioneth (Mr. T. W. Jones) has repeatedly pointed out in the House, that tourism is still a seasonal industry, with consequent winter unemployment.
The hon. Gentleman made one or two suggestions on this point which, I am sure, merit our closest attention. I refer, in particular, to his proposal that hotel workers should be enabled to improve 1052 their expertise by following short courses during the winter months and that local authorities and private industry might be encouraged to set up workshops, which redundant holiday workers might enter during the off-peak season, producing articles for sale in the holiday season. These are suggestions which I am sure my right hon. Friend will wish to examine very closely. At the moment, I cannot say whether they are practicable, but they are certainly very attractive.
On the subject of improved communications, among other questions which he put the hon. Gentleman asked whether there was a possibility of reactivating certain railway lines and he mentioned one in particular for which he and my hon. Friend the Member for Merioneth have fought so hard, that between Ruabon and Barmouth. The answer to that must be that where there is substantial and dependable evidence of need and of developing future use, a proposal may be considered, but I must emphasise that such evidence would have to be quite conclusive. The economics of this kind of thing are very formidable.
We can all agree with the hon. Gentleman that road communications in Wales, as throughout the country generally, must be improved. There are priorities in this and we all accept them. Priority must obviously be given to areas where there is the greatest all-the-year-round use and need. We must look after our developing manufacturing industry. We must be careful to develop communications between the new industries which are coming to the aid of the old in South Wales, for instance, so that our growing industrial power in certain parts of Wales is not stultified by lack of access to raw materials and to markets.
None the less, the road improvements which are now projected for Wales cannot fail to assist the tourist industry. In North Wales, the Llandudno junction flyover, which, I am glad to say, is to go ahead shortly, will remove one of the worst bottlenecks on A.55. The diversion at Abergele, excepted to start later this year, and the St. Asaph by-pass, which we now expected to authorise in 1966–67, will help to improve the route further. This is a direct contribution to the solution of the problem of the access from North-West England to the Snowdonia National Park.
1053 In the South—and we must remember that in South Wales we have some of the loveliest areas in the whole of Britain, including my hon. Friend's constituency of Gower itself—we hope to make improvements to the access roads into Wales. The construction of the Severn Bridge and M.4 and the improvements of A.48 and the Heads of the Valleys Road will all help to improve the means of getting to and from the national parks and beauty spots. There are, too, many smaller schemes either in hand or planned which will make a contribution and we are hoping to do more by way of minor improvements to bring up the standard of roads on which there are particular problems at present and which run through typical tourist areas. I am glad to add that in this way the road communications between North and South Wales are constantly being improved.
In conclusion, my right hon. Friend would wish me to say that he fully recog- 1054 nises the great potential of the Welsh holiday industry. He is closely studying its place in the economy of Wales, and the increasing contribution it is making to the viability of many parts of the principality, as well as its contribution to the solution of the balance of payments problem. The Welsh Economic Council and the Welsh Planning Board are actively considering the future rôle of this growing industry, and I would certainly expect that the Plan for Wales, to be published this year will include a substantial reference to this industry. I am sure that my hon. Friends will agree that the manner and content of the speech of the hon. Member for Denbigh will undoubtedly help to stimulate fresh thought and interest in this important industry.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at ten minutes to Twelve o'clock.