1 Introduction
1. Today's world is increasingly inter-connected
and inter-dependent. Global communications and the increasing
popularity and accessibility of new global destinations have made
it easier to attract businesses and tourists to and from new emerging
markets. The competition for countries to be "seen and heard"
on the global stage is increasingly intense. The current UK Government
has often espoused the need for Britain to compete in and win
"the global race".
2. As a small nation of three million people on the
western edge of Europe, Wales faces particularly keen economic
competition to attract skilled workers, tourists and inward investment
from within the UK, and from Europe and further afield. Wales
also remains one of the poorer parts of both the UK and the EU
and the additional revenue brought through trade, by overseas
tourists and from inward investors is vital. The tourism industry
already accounts for 15% of the Welsh economy, either directly
or indirectly, and there is potential for further growth. Wales
has a highly skilled workforce in certain sectors and can offer
a good quality of life for potential investors.
3. Both the UK Government and the Welsh Government
have responsibility for promoting Wales abroad, although the responsibilities
of the UK Government relate primarily to the promotion of the
UK (or Great Britain in some instances) as a whole, whereas those
of the Welsh Government relate to Wales only. It is unclear to
what extent the UK Government's international promotional work
focuses specifically on promoting Wales and whether it is broadly
comparable to Wales's 5% share of the British population.
4. Box 1 lists some of the UK Government bodies with
responsibility for promoting Wales abroad.
| Box 1: UK Government bodies promoting Wales overseas
VisitBritain is responsible for promoting Britain overseas as a tourist destination. It has a budget of approximately £20 million and employs 98 individuals in the UK[1] and 82 staff overseas. It works in partnership with the tourist boards in England, Scotland, Wales and London to ensure that Britain is marketed around the world in mature and developing markets. VisitBritain's role is to deliver on the Government's international targets for tourism numbers and to make the British tourism industry more competitive.
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the joint UK government department with lead responsibility for trade and investment. UKTI's aims and objectives are to:
· Deliver measurable improvement in the business performance of UK Trade & Investment's international trade customers, with an emphasis on innovative and firms active in research and development (R&D);
· Increase the contribution of foreign direct investment to knowledge intensive economic activity in the UK, including R&D; and
· Deliver a measurable improvement in the reputation of the UK in leading overseas market as the international business partner of choice.
The British Council aims to promote British culture in other countries and to create international opportunities for the people of the UK. The Council has offices in six continents and over 100 countries. It "works with millions of people, connecting them with the UK, sharing their cultures and the UK's most attractive assets: English, the Arts, Education and our ways of living and organising society".[2]
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Our inquiry
5. We launched an inquiry in January 2014 to examine the role
of the UK Government and its associated bodies in promoting Wales
abroad. This is not the first time we have examined the status
of Wales overseas. Earlier in this Parliament we produced a report
on inward investment in Wales.[3]
This Report follows up our previous work on inward investment,
but also examines other aspects of international promotion, such
as tourism and culture.
6. We took oral evidence from academics, representatives
from Welsh business, tourism and cultural organisations, VisitBritain,
and the UK Government, represented by the then Secretary of State
for Wales, Rt Hon David Jones MP, and the Minister for Trade and
Industry, Lord Livingston. We invited Visit Wales to give oral
evidence but they preferred to submit written evidence only. A
full list of witnesses can be found at the end of this report.
7. We also undertook two visits. In March 2014, we
visited Chubut Province in the region of Patagonia,[4]
and Buenos Aires, in Argentina. We visited the Welsh communities
in the west and east of the Chubut province. We also examined
the work of the British Council in promoting the Welsh language
in the region through the Welsh Language Project (there are approximately
7,000 speakers of Welsh in Patagonia). 2015 also marks the 150-year
anniversary of the emigration of the first Welsh settlers to Patagonia
and we were keen to learn about plans to celebrate this symbolic
anniversary in Chubut, and the support provided by the UK and
Welsh Governments. In Buenos Aires we met Argentinian parliamentarians
and business representatives to discuss the economic and cultural
relationship between Argentina and Wales. A summary of our meetings
can be found in Annex A. In June 2014 we visited the British Council
Wales office in Cardiff to learn about the Council's work around
the world to promote Welsh culture. We are extremely grateful
to those who facilitated our visits, particularly the British
Embassy in Buenos Aires.
1 In addition, 47 individuals are employed by VisitBritain
and VisitEngland for business services, which provide a shared
service in human resources, IT and finance. Back
2
British Council (IRW0003) para 1.1 Back
3
Welsh Affairs Committee, Eighth Report of Session 2010-12, Inward Investment in Wales
HC854-I Back
4
Patagonia is a region at the southern end of South America, shared
by Argentina and Chile. The Argentine portion of Patagonia The
Argentine portion of Patagonia includes the provinces of Chubut,
Neuquén, Río Negro, and Santa Cruz. Back
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