Last week, it was decided that Welsh children and pensioners should be given free access to all historic sites run by the Assembly Government.At first glance, this looks an excellent initiative and it was broadly welcomed by tourism chiefs across Wales.
However, many will be disappointed that it will not come into force until September 1st and will therefore have no actual effect on this year’s main holiday season.
The other issue regarding this scheme is that it is confined only to those living in Wales and all visitors will have to prove their residency and age, adding massively to the bureaucracy and complexity of administering the scheme.
Will you have to bring your gas bill with you for your kids to gain entry to Beaumaris Castle?
How will hassled heritage staff cope with having to argue with people over their residency credentials?
Apart from the issues of managing such a scheme, the Minister may also be missing a trick in his drive to support the Welsh tourism industry and there may be some lack of joined up thinking between his tourism strategy and the heritage portfolio, both of which fall under his remit.
For example, the latest statistics on tourism spend actually showed that spending by visitors from the UK had declined from £1.73 billion in 2005 to £1.42 billion in 2007, a decline of 18 per cent. Of course, the loss of £313 million to Welsh tourism may be due to a whole range of factors, but it is clear that we need to use every lever at our disposal to persuade UK visitors to come to Wales and, more importantly, to spend their money here.
As such, the residency rules within the policy may actually have an unintended negative effect.
For example, if you were a visitor from England, Scotland or Northern Ireland and standing in a queue for entry to Caernarfon Castle, what would you think if the family in front of you has just had free entry for their two kids because they were from Cardiff whilst you had to pay £9.40 for your little John and Mary to do the same?
On the other hand, as the overall intention seems sincere, why not just go the whole hog and drop admission charges for all CADW sites, as we have done with our National Museums and Art Galleries?
In 1987, Dafydd Wigley wrote that one of the chief objectives of tourism should be "to bring knowledge of Wales and Welsh identity and hospitality to the consciousness of the people within and outside Wales”.
Many will agree with those sentiments and if the Assembly is trying to sell Wales on the back of its cultural heritage, then we should be shouting out loud and clear that we are inviting people to come into our beautiful nation to experience our exceptional culture and history?
Such a free entry scheme would add considerable value to the visitor experience and as a result, many will return or, more importantly, recommend the attractions to their friends, which can only benefit the local tourism communities in places such as Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech.
In these days of tight family budgets, visitors may then spend the money they save on buying gifts, going to other paid attractions and dining out in local pubs and restaurants.
Now that would make a real difference to our tourism economy.
Comments
I agree that free access to all would be best (as long as free access doesn't go along the St Fagans route, where one had free parking when one had to pay for entry, but now the parking fee is grater than the former cost of entry for a whole family!)
I don't see the administrative problem. If you have a free bus pass you show it for free castle entry. If you have a free kids swimming pass - it doubles up as your free Castle entry pass! No Problem!
Nor do I accept the argument 'lets keep Welsh money in Wales.' First it's not only Welsh money as we are in deficit on our public finances and secondly if we did that, and shout it out as this policy does then our visitors may decide to spend their tourist pounds in London, Warwick, Stratford ... There's plenty to choose from, and the evidence suggests they may already be doing that!
However, this policy will not serve to answer the title of this blog entry "Making heritage work for Welsh tourism."
Even free entry for everyone would be unlikely to make a significant difference. I would struggle to accept that people would base their decision to visit Wales on the basis of there being free entry to a castle.
But if we want to make heritage work for tourism we need to put more energy into our heritage sites. For example, I've taken a quick look at the Web sites for 5 Welsh castles and during this summer:
Caernarvon Castle has 6 events
Beaumaris Castle has 3 events
Pembroke Castle has 15 events
Cardiff Castle has 15 events
Caerphilly Castle has 3 events
So well done to Cardiff and Pembroke as they seem to have plenty going on for visitors and local residents to come and enjoy, in addition to the Castles. But even in these cases most of the events are historic themed and whilst that is appropriate given the venue, why not use some imagination to add further events. These could be outdoor cinema, garden parties, arts and craft fairs, children’s discos. The list is endless, but the point is they are all fantastic venues that could be used to generate income and provide locals and visitors will plenty of reasons to visit and enjoy the venue.
Arguably, if less people are going away for holidays, more people will be staying at home so providing more local events will appeal to them to help compensate for not going on holiday.
I would be concerned that free admission will take away the impetus to find exciting ways to bring our heritage to life and unlock its full potential.
Also in Wales we have a wealth of historic artifacts in the National Museum and Gallery in Cardiff. But surely a selection could be taken out of Cardiff each summer and be exhibited in different locations around Wales. For example, the French Impressionist paintings could be taken to Anglesey one summer. This would give both local residents the opportunity to see these amazing paintings without having to travel to Cardiff and at the same time give the island a substantial extra reason for tourists to visit.
Yes the historians may well be upset by such proposals, but injecting more life into our heritage sites can potentially make more money for Wales, provide more entertainment for local residents and help our heritage to play a proactive role in building the future prosperity of Wales.
Importantly, any such initiatives need to be effectively marketed to our potential customers.