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Hospitality Cymru update 22nd Feb 2021
dunoonhotel • Feb 22, 2021
Update prior to the Prime Minister's announcement
> The First Minister has begun to identify how he plans to lift Covid
> lockdown restrictions in Wales. First Minister, Mark Drakeford,
> announced that from 1 March, licensed wedding venues, such as visitor
> attractions and hotels, will be permitted to reopen to perform wedding
> and civil partnership ceremonies and all self-contained accommodation
> could be open by Easter. The stages of reopening, if conditions allow,
> are expected to be as follows:
>
> * 19 February - 4 people can meet for exercise only from a maximum of
> two households and social distancing must be adhered to.
>
> * 22 February - 2-7 year olds go back to school
>
> * 1 March - Wedding venues can reopen for a limited size ceremony.
>
> * 12 March - Next review of restrictions and stay at home mandate. If
> cases have fallen more changes are expected to be announced.
>
> * 15 March - Possible reopening of non-essential shops and schools.
>
> * Easter - Target date for reopening of tourism businesses focusses
> on self-contained accommodation and tourism attractions with social
> distancing
>
> This was welcome news and UKHospitality Cymru is working to make
> this initial opening pave the way for an orderly reopening with
> simple, flexible and practical mitigations on the food and beverage
> sectors and get cafes, pubs, restaurants and hotels fully open to
> customers as soon as possible. We are involved in regular
> conversations with the First Minister, the Minister for Mental Health,
> Wellbeing and Welsh language, who has overarching responsibility for
> Hospitality, and the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism.
> along with other tourism and hospitality officials and leaders about
> the widest possibilities of opening up around Easter.
>
> You may be aware that today the Prime Minister will outline the
> Government’s reopening roadmap for England, and reports suggest that
> it will be a slower reopening for hospitality businesses in England,
> and this could impact on trade and tourism between England and Wales.
> UKHospitality continues to lead on essential immediate support
> packages (and has pressed for an announcement on further support to be
> made this week) and then for businesses as we move out of lockdown.
>
> Financial Support
>
> Westminster announced an additional £650 million under the Barnett
> Forumla that would go to the Welsh Government to support people,
> businesses and public services affected by Covid. The Welsh Government
> will be able to carry over any of the £650 million not spent this
> year into the 2021/22 financial year in order to provide continuing
> support.
>
> Scottish Government last week announced further support for
> hospitality businesses including a business rates holiday. In light of
> this UKHospitality Cymru called on the Welsh Government [2] to provide
> a similar business rates holiday proposal for its own hospitality
> businesses in 2021-22. Alongside furlough, reduced VAT and supportive
> sector grants, the business rates holiday has been essential in
> helping hospitality businesses and their teams at time of devastating
> lockdowns and shutdowns.
>
> Campaigning
>
> We have strengthen our call for immediate help to see our businesses
> through the remains of lockdown, a support package for the months that
> follow and extended furlough, business rates holiday and lower VAT for
> the industry. To support our call on both UK and Welsh Government, we
> are asking the wider hospitality sector to join our campaign to
> send a message to the UK Government to extend the business rates
> holiday and VAT cut for the sector. You can write to your MP [4] using
> our tool which has a drafted letter for you to send. In addition we
> are encouraging the hospitality to support the campaign by posting
> videos on social media using the hashtag #hospitalitymatters. You can
> see some of the videos already being shared here [5].
>
> We will continue to keep members updated via our weekly newsletter and
> bulletins, as we work towards a safe and viable reopening. If you do
> have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.
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