Press statement: Tourism industry responds to First Minister’s announcement on changes to the 2m distancing rule for certain sectors
Marc Crothall, Chief Executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance said;
“The First Minister’s announcement of the relaxation of the 2 metre physical distancing rule to 1 metre for certain sectors with mitigations is the news that the industry has been eagerly anticipating. The recent research that the STA undertook revealed that the majority of businesses in the tourism sector would be economically unsustainable if the 2 metre physical distancing rule remained; today’s news will mean that many hundreds of businesses that had not planned to reopen may now reconsider and plan to do so.
While this decision will be welcomed by many operators in Scotland’s tourism industry, all those who I have personally spoken with remain very mindful of the absolute need to provide reassurance to their staff, customers and importantly those in the communities where their business is based. They are all committed to adopting at very least the recommended government and public health sector guidance, and in turn carry out COVID-19 risk assessments to check they have all the required processes and protocols in place.
We are in contact with numerous businesses across all sectors every day and I have been impressed with the commitment, initiative and determination of these businesses in going above and beyond what is required to provide their staff and customers, both the environment and experience that they will feel confident in and can enjoy and importantly, reassurance to those in their communities that safety is a priority. It is immensely reassuring that more than 2000 tourism businesses have already gone through the recommended UK-wide Covid-19 ‘Good to Go’ accreditation and many more doing the same before reopening from the 15th July
We know that many people in our communities feel under threat and worried and it is incumbent on not only every tourism business, but every customer and visitor to retain that commitment to moving around and interacting safely to suppress the virus
It should never be an ‘us and them’ situation in any regard; we really are all in this together and it is up to every one of us – businesses, customers, communities to act responsibly, safely and with consideration to those around us as the tourism industry starts to reopen.
We have heard reports from the self-catering sector that opens tomorrow that bookings are healthy and with hotels and other accommodation able to open from the 15th July we would encourage all Scots who have not made plans yet to holiday at home and most importantly support local business too, as by doing so this will help this key sector of Scotland’s economy and the many business in the supply chain that feed into it to start out on the long road to recovery. We are only nearing the end of the first mile of what is set to be a very long marathon.
