Written question WQ86068

Visitor levies are commonplace around the world benefiting many popular travel destinations. They are a way for local areas to protect and re-invest into the public services and infrastructure that support successful visitor experiences. Visitor levies are used successfully in more than 40 countries and travel destinations worldwide.

For example, New Zealand funded 10 projects in 2019-20 through its International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy. These aim to protect sensitive and ecologically valuable landscapes, upgrade visitor amenities footpaths and signs, protect endangered species, enhance visitor access through opening new car parks, walking and cycling trails and promote tourism careers.

We can clearly see the opportunities that a visitor levy in Wales could provide.

Our consultation on the visitor levy, available at: https://gov.wales/visitor-levy is an opportunity for the public and the sector to help inform our understanding of what would work well for Wales. We encourage everyone to contribute to the consultation.

This work has been carried out as part of the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.