The Welsh government have confirmed that tourists will be allowed to come on holiday in Wales two days earlier than the previous announcement stated.
Providers of self-contained accommodation including holiday homes, cottages, caravans and bed and breakfasts can now take bookings from Saturday 11th July due to Coronavirus cases in the area continuing to fall.
With flights still being cancelled, many Airbnb’s are gearing up, holiday parks opening, and caravans for sale Snowdonia is expecting a large influx of Brits that have chosen a staycation this summer.
These tourists will be limited to accommodation where they either have their own kitchen and bathroom, or room service and en-suite.
On Thursday, Eluned Morgan, who is the Minister for International relations in Wales explained that the change was made due to the tourism industry wanting holidaymakers to book in from the weekend and not at the beginning of a working week.
At the Welsh Government’s daily briefing she said that “If the scientific and medical advice supports reopening, self-contained accommodation will be able to reopen from July 11.”
To further boost the tourism industry, it was announced that outdoor visitor attractions can also reopen from July 6th – as long as the current 5 mile travel ban is also lifted.
“If the requirement to stay local is lifted this will allow our outdoor visitor attractions to open. But they’ll have to follow the rules on social distancing and hand hygiene, and they’ll have to follow the guidelines we’ve set out” explained Baroness Morgan.
Bosses from the North Wales outdoor tourism business such as Snowdonia Mountain Railway and Zip World warned that the industry is on the edge of collapsing as the main season approaches.
This phase of easing the lockdown restrictions in Wales will also see the re-opening of pubs and restaurants with outdoor seating areas from July 13th.
Places restricted to indoor service will have to wait until a later date to find out when they can open, and this will all depend on the success of the outdoor openings and the situation with the virus at that time. Indoor business’ will have to put in extra measures to limit the spread of Covid-19 such as pre-booking systems and table service.
