Tourism industry responds to announcement that Scotland will move to level 0 on 19th July
Marc Crothall, CEO Scottish Tourism Alliance said:
“The First Minister’s announcement today that we are advancing, as opposed to staying still or going backwards will come as a big relief to the majority of businesses within Scotland’s tourism industry; these are the most normal conditions in which we have been able to trade since the outbreak of the pandemic and there is no doubt that we are moving in the right direction in terms of operating at the most viable level to date.
I know that the news of physical distancing requirements being reduced indoors to 1 metre will be a boost for those not yet permitted to trade with this measure in place, particularly the visitor attraction sector which has been hit particularly hard by regulations around social distancing; it remains the hope for all in the sector that social distancing requirements will be removed altogether from 9th August, giving all businesses a better opportunity to trade profitably.
It will be disappointing news today that the 1 metre distancing will remain outdoors for many of those business operating in the outdoor adventure and marine sector, especially as their counterparts south of the border are able to trade without this condition.
Self-catering businesses will also be disappointed that there has been no forward movement in terms of the numbers permitted to stay in larger properties; by the time this next change hopefully comes on 9th August, it will be too late for larger self-catering properties as our peak season will have started to wind down and they will have lost the opportunity to recoup some of their losses over the summer.
Some good news for the wedding and events sector with the removal on outdoor distancing requirements for groups of 15 to allow guests to mingle, although I know that many within the sector were hoping that the date for the easing of restrictions would have been brought forward to come into effect from Friday 16th to allow more freedoms at weddings this coming weekend.
There are understandably huge concerns across the industry in relation to the Scottish Government’s current self-isolation policy and the impact this is having on the ability for businesses to staff at required levels and in many cases, remain open. We are reassured by the Scottish Government’s commitment to removing the need for people to self-isolate if they are double vaccinated and come into close contact with a positive case.
We are by no means arriving quite at the level 0 we envisaged; businesses will continue to operate with many restrictions impacting viability, particularly our hospitality sector which will be now be required to close at midnight however today’s news does mark a very important step forward and we very much hope conditions will allow for further easing in line with industry expectations and the proposed framework as set out by the Scottish Government.”
