4. How is the Welsh Government is promoting tourism opportunities in the Valleys to the world? OQ60999

Visit Wales promotes the Valleys as part of the strategy 'Welcome to Wales: Priorities for the visitor economy 2020-2025'. This focuses on growing tourism across the whole of Wales. The Valleys have recently featured in tv advertising, social media and website activity, and in promotion to the travel trade.

I know you've previously stated that tourism in Wales can't only rely on our mountains and our coastlines, and that we have to tell our story and our history too. In the Rhondda, we have the Eisteddfod coming to Ponty to celebrate our language, with Clwb Coffi providing Welsh lessons, and the Lion in Treorchy hosting Welsh language events, including Mabon festival. But we also have beautiful walking trails at Maerdy reservoirs and Cwm Clydach country park, and amazing mountain bike tracks at Barry Sidings. These beautiful places also tell the story of our industrial history. Add to this the Tower colliery zip wire and the Rhondda Heritage Park and Heritage Park Hotel, and we have a real opportunity to sell our story, through amazing experiences, to the world.

More recently, Martin Roberts has brought new life to the Rhondda tunnel project, which, when completed, will be the longest cycle tunnel in Europe. So, First Minister, would you please be willing to visit the Rhondda tunnel with me to meet the fantastic team, and to be lowered down into the tunnel to see for yourself the potential on offer, and, please, raise the funding problems we currently face to restore the tunnel with the UK Government?

Thank you for the offer. I'm sure the previous First Minister is regretting he didn't have the same opportunity to get lowered into a tunnel in the middle of a mountain. But you're right about the funding challenges, because, actually, there's a real will and desire locally to see the tunnel reopen. There's about £20 million of capital work that needs to be done. I'll be more than happy to arrange a visit with the Member to look at tourism opportunities in the Valleys. I'm sure that a number of Members, including Vikki Howells, in whose Constituency the Tower zip wire is, are delighted to hear name checks for those. But I'm also pleased that you mentioned different aspects within your own constituency, including the old wash house in Maerdy on the way up to the reservoir, the memorial for the Cambrian colliery disaster at Clydach lakes, and the old railway sidings at Barry. I think there are real opportunities there to think about more tourism that can go there in a way that is genuinely sustainable. So, I'm more than happy to talk to the Member about an appropriate visit, and we'll see whether that will be in the middle of a mountain or somewhere else.

You're welcome to walk through the tunnel and come out in the Aberavon Constituency. 

As we've heard, First Minister, the Rhondda Tunnel Society has been campaigning to reopen the old Rhondda railway tunnel between Blaencwm and Blaengwynfi in the hope of creating Europe’s longest indoor cycle path, as well as creating a tourism and community hub, which would include, among other things, a visitor centre, a bike trail and an amphitheatre, which will undoubtedly help attract visitors to the area. It has the potential to be a major tourist attraction for the Valleys, and bring in vital jobs to the area. And for the record, Dirprwy Lywydd, I'm a member of the Rhondda Tunnel Society, and this is project I believe passionately in. I've met with the Secretary of State for Wales and I've been in correspondence with the UK transport Secretary, and the latest is that the UK Government will only pass ownership of the tunnel on to a Government body, local or otherwise, not directly to a trust or other organisation. As you will know, First Minister, the UK Government has offered this tunnel to you in the past, but this has been refused. With this in mind, can you please give an account of the reasons for this, and explain why this Government is refusing to help support this opportunity to grow tourism in the Valleys? Thank you.

I should mention that Martin Roberts, of course more famous for being the Homes Under the Hammer presenter, in this context has provided a real boost to the tunnel society. The challenge, though, in Joel James's question, is the fact that this asset, which is currently owned by the Department for Transport in the UK Government, as I said in response to Buffy Williams, comes with a £20 million capital cost to deliver the project. That simply isn't available to us. There's also, then, the need to generate £0.25 million in revenue terms. None of that has been offered by the Department for Transport, so essentially it would mean transferring something with a massive bill and a liability for the Welsh Government. I'd like to have a sensible and grown-up conversation between the Welsh Government and the UK Government about the costs that come with that. I would like to see it turned into a real asset for the visitor economy here in Wales, and indeed the opportunity, potentially, for active travel too, as part of that. But we have got to be upfront and honest about the real cost and the significant price tag that exists on an asset that is in the responsibility, at present, of the UK Government.

I thank Buffy Williams for asking this question. I should state that I'm a member of the friends of the Rhondda tunnel, and not just because they put me underground. And I have to say, it's not the Mabon ap Gwynfor festival that will be held in the Rhondda, but the Mabon festival, which will celebrate Welsh music and Welsh culture on Saturday in the Lion in Treorchy.

One of the great challenges, of course, in terms of tourism is people being able to have access to the rich array of attractions already listed. Something that's raised with me often by local businesses is the fact that, following the upgrading of the Treherbert line, which has been a significant investment, the timetables haven't been expanded, which means that people can't get back to whichever part of Wales or England they come from if they want to enjoy what the Valleys have to offer. When you think about the Park and Dare Theatre, for example, in Treorchy, there's no late train in the night. So, could I ask how is the Welsh Government working with Transport for Wales to ensure that the timetables are expanded so that more people can stay and enjoy the rich array of attractions the Valleys have?

I should have said in response to Buffy Williams earlier that I in particular look forward to going to the Eisteddfod in Ponty. I look forward to joining Andrew Morgan and others, and I'm sure that many Members here will also take the opportunity to visit the Eisteddfod—a great window into Welsh language culture. Indeed, I'm delighted that it's taking place in a Valleys location this year. And I was at the proclamation for the Wrexham Eisteddfod that will take place next year, with Lesley Griffiths, on the weekend.

On your point around the Treherbert line, our challenge is how we deliver against a significant investment in rolling stock. Part of the reason I mentioned Wrexham is that we saw two new trains named after the co-owners of Wrexham football club. That's part, though, of the roll-out of a significant improvement in the rolling stock: £800 million that has been invested. There are significant capital works taking place on the Treherbert line as well, and a much better passenger experience and a more reliable experience for people paying fares. That is essential to get to where the Member wants us to and indeed this Government wants us to. We'll have more options on the timetable, and we can expand the services. What we need to do, though, is to increase patronage on those lines. That's why the journey that Transport for Wales are on in improving their punctuality and in improving the reality that they are the best performing franchise in Wales is so important to us. Without that increase in passengers, we're unlikely to see the developments that we want to, and of course the opportunities for a fair funding settlement to allow us to invest in passenger rail services here in Wales.