Agenda item

The former Chair of the Economic and Community Regeneration Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Alun Llewelyn presented the progress report to the Committee on the task and finish review which looked at support for tourism in the county borough. Councillor Llewelyn reported that tourism had contributed £110m to the local economy, attracted 1,530,000 visitors and supported 1,583 jobs in Neath Port Talbot in 2015. Councillor Llewelyn reminded Members that Neath Port Talbot had several major attractions such as Margam Country Park, Afan Forest Park, Aberavon Seafront and Waterfall Country.

Councillor Llewelyn informed Members that Visit Wales, Neath Inspired, Swansea Valley Holiday Cottages, Neath and Tennant Canal Trust, and Tourism Swansea Bay Trade Association participated in the review by attending the task and finish meetings and contributing to discussions. Councillor Llewelyn added that a public online survey was set up and responses were received from local businesses and elected politicians.

Councillor Llewelyn reported that the review highlighted significant consequences following the dissolution of the tourism team. Councillor Llewelyn informed Members that although the Economic Development Department had now taken responsibility for the Destination Management Plan (DMP), funding provided by Visit Wales was prioritised for Councils with dedicated teams to take forward initiatives. Councillor Llewelyn added that funding secured by the authority for tourism had significantly reduced as a result.

Councillor Llewelyn stated that the review had found that other authorities had made significant progress with regard to tourism while Neath Port Talbot had fallen behind. Councillor Llewelyn continued by stating that the review had also found that the authority was not maximising the number of potential visitors to the area, and this was impacting on local businesses. Councillor Llewelyn informed Members that there had been a reduction in the number of new businesses starting up in the tourism sector within the county borough, and that one of the functions of the former tourism team was to assist businesses in completing applications for funding and to provide advice on how to market their businesses. Councillor Llewelyn explained that the tourism industry in the county borough was not achieving its full potential, which reduced the opportunities to diversify the local economy further and create jobs.

Councillor Llewelyn reported that following the conclusion of the review the task and finish group made four recommendations. Councillor Llewelyn informed Members that recommendation one was to identify a dedicated resource to drive forward tourism, recommendation two was to ensure that the DMP was considered on a regular basis by the Regeneration and Sustainable Development Scrutiny Committee to monitor progress and the completion of actions, recommendation three was for an All Member Seminar to be arranged to highlight the findings from the review and to stress the importance of the tourism sector, and recommendation four was for a letter to be sent to St. Modwens to enquire what they believe their responsibility was with regard to the maintenance of Neath Canal and the importance of continued maintenance.     

Officers commented that recent statistics for 2017 indicated that there had been a 3.9% drop in visitors to the borough, and only two local authorities in Wales had seen such a decrease. Officers added that it was a worrying trend. Gerwyn Evans from Visit Wales stated that the recent statistics for Neath Port Talbot were disappointing, particularly as the tourism industry in Wales was currently thriving. Gerwyn Evans stated that it was difficult for Visit Wales to work with local authorities with no resources dedicated to tourism. Gerwyn Evans added that neighbouring authorities such as Bridgend County Borough Council and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council had dedicated resources and were making good progress with partnership support from Visit Wales.             

Gerwyn Evans informed Members that Visit Wales provides support to small businesses, but could not support all businesses without the assistance of the local authorities who provide a vital link. Gerwyn Evans stated that there had been some positive partnership working between Neath Port Talbot and Visit Wales recently since the Council had created a post dedicated to tourism with support from the Economic Development Department. Gerwyn Evans added that the authority had received a grant of £108k from Visit Wales for changing rooms for the Afan Fforest site and Margam Park all weather car park. Gerwyn Evans acknowledged the good work that the Council had undertaken with the Valleys Task and Finish Group and the restoration of work on Neath Castle, and stated that there would be opportunities to regenerate Aberavon Seafront.

Members acknowledged the good work carried out by the Business Services Team based within in the Economic Development Department.

In relation to the first recommendation, Councillors queried where the money would come from to fund two tourism posts. Officers stated that it would be a matter for the Director of Finance to determine. Officers stated that it was unsustainable in the long term to continue with only one dedicated post. Councillor Llewelyn added that having a small dedicated team for tourism would attract more funding and grants as it did previously, and would contribute towards the cost of projects that the authority was currently funding out of its core budget. Councillor Llewelyn stated that it was potentially difficult to afford the cost of a small tourism team, but the Council could not afford to be without one. Councillor Llewelyn explained that the Council may need to speculate to accumulate, and that a small tourism team could potentially pay for itself eventually. Councillor Llewelyn reiterated that the review did not recommend re-instating the full original tourism team.

Councillor Llewelyn informed Members that the report was supported by the Committee in January and referred to Cabinet for decision. Councillor Llewelyn queried whether there had been any further developments. Cabinet Members acknowledged the importance of the tourism industry within the county borough, and informed the committee that discussions were ongoing.

Members queried the creation of a recent post to promote the Princess Royal Theatre and Margam Park. Members questioned whether a post working in isolation from the tourism team was a practical approach. Officers stated that an alternative approach would have been to pool all relevant resources into one central team; however the risk with pooling resources is that it is difficult to maintain focus on one or two priorities at a time. Officers informed Members that the current lead officer for tourism had 15 months left on their contract, and that there was a risk of losing valuable expertise if the contract was not renewed soon.

Following scrutiny it was agreed by the Committee that the progress made in implementing the recommendations in the review be noted.