Tourism could begin to re-open in time for Easter, Drakeford confirms

Self-contained accommodation in Wales could reopen in six weeks, the First Minister has said.

Mark Drakeford said that he could see tourism re-opening in time for Easter where there wasn’t “shared facilities” that would allow people to mix.

The re-opening of tourism after the first lockdown followed a similar pattern, with self-contained accommodation opening first on 11 July.

“I met our tourism taskforce yesterday, we’ll be having some detailed discussions with them now over the next couple of weeks to see if there’s anything that we might be able to do around the Easter period,” Mark Drakeford said.

“The most that would be would be the reopening of self-contained accommodation where there aren’t shared facilities and there isn’t social mixing.

“But if we could do that – and six weeks is a very long time in this business – if we could do that in six weeks’ time, I know that that would be a boost to the industry and a big boost to hundreds of thousands of families in Wales for whom going down the caravan for a few days or a break would be a very welcome prospect.”

However he also told BBC Breakfast that re-opening was a “possibility – and only that”.

“That is how we began the re-opening of tourism in Wales last year and we will bring that forward to Easter if conditions allow,” he said.

“I know that will be a huge relief to many many hundreds and thousands of families in Wales. So, begin to think. We want that thinking to start now.

“Six weeks is a very, very long time in the business of coronavirus so we will have to make that final assessment much closer to the time.”