Tourism leaders want Welsh Government funds for NRW visitor centres

Tourism leaders are calling on the Welsh Government to provide interim funding to keep open cafes and shops at three Natural Resources Wales (NRW) visitor centres until businesses can be found to run them.

MWT Cymru (Mid Wales Tourism) chief executive Zoe Hawkins and Mid Wales Tourism Forum chairman, Steve Hughson have both expressed grave concern about the economic impact of the closures, announced last week.

They have also questioned how much money the NRW will actually save by the cuts.

NRW says it’s closing the cafés and shops at the visitor centres at Bwlch Nant yr Arian and Ynyslas near Aberystwyth and Coed y Brenin near Dolgellau as part of £12 million budget cuts.

MWT Cymru, an independent membership organisation representing around 600 tourism businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia, organised a high level meeting in September with Members of the Senedd, industry leaders and senior NRW officials to discuss the closure plans and their potential impact.

During the meeting, MWT Cymru, Mr Hughson and other stakeholders called for interim funding to maintain operations until businesses are found to take over the cafes and shops at the centres. NRW estimated that between £1.2 and £1.4 million would be needed.

Miss Hawkins says the three centres attract nearly half a million visitors a year to Mid Wales and are crucial to the local economy and sustainability of rural communities.

“While we understand NRW’s reasons for considering closures, opportunities for external management must be explored to ensure continuity and support for the region’s economy,” said Miss Hawkins

“If these facilities close, investment in marketing these sites becomes uncertain. What guarantees can NRW provide that visitor numbers will not decrease, impacting towns, businesses and families reliant on this local spending?

“If these facilities were run by private businesses facing similar losses through their management, such actions might be understandable. However, as an arm of the Welsh Government, NRW has responsibilities beyond profit.

“The socio-economic impact appears to have been overlooked, with potentially serious consequences. With more visitors to these sites than the combined population of Ceredigion and Gwynedd, it’s clear that closures could have significant economic repercussions.”

Mr Hughson said he was disappointed that NRW had not agreed to the sensible solution of keeping open café and shop facilities at the visitor centres until businesses could be found to take them over.

“We hoped that there was room for further negotiation to find a long term, sustainable solution and, in particular, to avoid the centres being closed,” he added. “We wanted to ensure continuity, but hopefully they will still be able to find third parties to run these centres. It’s important that they stay open.

“It seems that the centres will still be open to some extent under the proposals announced by NRW, so I would like to know how much will they be saving by closing the cafés and shops?

“The centres will still need to be well maintained and safe if they are open to the public. They make a great contribution to the Mid Wales tourism industry as they attract people who go on to visit other attractions in the region.

“I would like to know how these closures fit in with the Welsh Government’s target for growth.”

MWT Cymru is lobbying local Members of the Senedd, Elin Jones, Ceredigion and Mabon ap Gwynfor, Dwyfor Meirionnydd to put pressure on the Welsh Government and NRW to delay the closures.