Economy Minister bangs the drum for tourism and hospitality sector amid concern over staff shortages

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething has marked the start of Wales Tourism Week by highlighting the career and job opportunities offered within the sector in Wales.

Tourism and hospitality businesses have been particularly hard hit by the impact of the Covid pandemic over the last two years and with the lifting of most restrictions in recent weeks many companies are reporting staff shortages and difficulty in attracting new recruits.

The Welsh Government has been working with the sector on a recruitment campaign to highlight the variety of roles and personal development opportunities the industry offers and is using Wales Tourism Week to beat the drum for the tourism and hospitality sector.

Rewarding

“There is such a variety of interesting and rewarding career options within the tourism sector which offer flexibility as well as career development. It really is a great sector to work in” Mr Gething said.

“As we build a stronger, fairer, greener Welsh economy, we are committed to investing in our people, through the Young Person’s Guarantee, and a strong employability and skills offer, including apprenticeships.

“Apprenticeships can help futureproof, motivate and diversify a workforce, offering people the chance to gain high-quality vocational skills. They are also crucial to our ambitious post-Covid economic recovery plans. That’s why we have committed to creating a further 125,000 all-age apprenticeship places over the next five years

“And as the busy summer season gets underway, I’d like to thank everyone working in the sector for their hard work – the staff in this sector play a big part of making important experiences come to life.”

“It’s been an incredibly difficult couple of years for the visitor economy. However, the outlook for the summer looks much brighter and research now shows there is higher confidence levels and the UK public anticipate taking significantly more overnight trips in the next 12 months, than the previous 12 months,” he added.

“Many people visited Wales for the first time last year – and we look forward to welcoming them back again this year.”

Tourism provides a substantial economic contribution to Wales with tourism-related expenditure reaching more than £5bn annually in 2019.

According to Welsh Government figures, tourists spend around £17 million a day whilst in Wales, amounting to around £6.3 billion a year.