Self-contained accommodation in Wales will be allowed to start reopening from two days earlier than previously announced, International Relations Minister Eluned Morgan said on Thursday.
It has previously been suggested that hotels with en-suite rooms, caravan parks and holiday lets with no shared facilities could reopen from Monday, July 13, if coronavirus cases continued to fall.
However Baroness Morgan said the Welsh Government had listened to the sector and would let them open from Saturday, July 11, to enable them to honour week-long bookings from that day and avoid changing changeover dates.
See live updates and reaction from the announcement here. And see the full details of the announcement on the reopening of pubs, restaurants and cafes with outdoor space here.
She said: "The next milestone for the sector will be on the July 9, when we will review the coronavirus regulations again. We will look carefully at all the options for re-opening self-contained accommodation.
"By self-contained, we mean accommodation without any shared facilities.
"If the scientific and medical advice supports re-opening, self-contained accommodation will be able to re-open from 11 July.
"We have brought this forward from 13 July, after discussing this further with the sector, to enable bookings to be taken from the Saturday to Saturday."
The Welsh Government said that this announcement covered any accommodation that is entirely self-contained, for example, holiday cottages, holiday caravans including modern touring caravans and motorhomes and some glamping accommodation with their own kitchens and bathrooms that no other guests use.
Also in this category are:
- Hotels and other serviced accommodation (B&Bs, hostels etc) which provide en-suite rooms and can provide room service meals.
- Caravan parks where accommodation is entirely self-contained – but shared facilities on the premises will remain closed, such as swimming pools, leisure facilities, shared shower and toilets blocks
