Saint Davids Day is an opportunity for people across Wales to come together to honour and celebrate Welsh culture and heritage.

While we are a comparatively small country, we have always punched above our weight when it comes to our cultural and sporting impact on the world stage.

Wales has produced a number of icons who have utterly flourished, promoting Wales on the world stage and celebrating our identity including Tom Jones, Gareth Bale and Micheal Sheen.

We have so much beauty to be proud of here, from our countryside, beaches, mountains and fields. There really is something for everyone coming to visit Wales.

Unfortunately, this St David’s Day, a number of tourist attractions are closing in protest over the Welsh Government’s tourism tax.

Other businesses who are opening will be flying their flags at half-mast in a sign of solidarity.

It is clear that this new money-making scheme by the Welsh Government is going to be both incredibly unpopular and damaging to our tourism sector.

Sadly, even children will not be exempt from this tax which means that this tax will make overnight stays in Wales for families more expensive.

Our tourism industry in Wales is still recovering from the impact of COVID with fewer tourists coming to Wales.

According to the Welsh Government’s own statistics, Wales had 13% fewer visitors in 2023 than in 2019 with tourists spending down 11 per cent over the same time period.

To make matters worse, Wales is the only UK nation to not recover pre-pandemic spend figures.

Even if we did need a tourism tax, it is clear that this is not the time to implement one.

While the Welsh Government cites the fact that other countries in Europe have a tourism tax in place, the fact remains that this is often used as a deterrent to tourists.

This is not the first time that the Welsh Government’s policy making has been damaging to our businesses here in Wales.

Under the Conservatives, hospitality, retail and leisure businesses in England were paying half the amount in business rates as their counterparts in Wales because the Labour Government here refused to implement the same tax relief.

Unlike the Labour Government, the Welsh Conservatives have a plan to promote and protect our tourism sector including abolishing this proposed tax.

We cannot afford to lose our tourism sector, and it must be protected.