Highland tourism chiefs demand date for reopening after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces phased but significant reopening of the economy following latest coronavirus lockdown which omitted any detail for the holiday accommodation sector
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Dozens of hotels and other tourist accommodation providers across the Highlands have joined forces to call on the Scottish Government to reopen the sector in May.
Nicola Sturgeon announced on Tuesday that in the last week of April, Scotland could expect to see “a phased but significant” reopening of the economy, but tourism industry experts in Scotland were hoping for more detail as to when they could get back to business.
It wants the kind of certainty which has been provided in England, where tourism bosses have been told they can reopen in May. The Hospitality and Tourism Action Group fears the industry faces untold damage and the loss of thousands of jobs if the same does not happen here.
Ms Sturgeon’s announcement was, by her own admission, a cautious one, with indicative dates for the reopening of education, pubs, restaurants and non-essential retail and leisure all subject to a continuing downward trend in Covid-19 infections.
Setting out five “key requests” to the Scottish Government, signatories to the action group’s plea include managers of the Glen Mhor and Palace hotels in Inverness, as well as the Loch Ness Inn, Foyers Lodge and the Whitebridge Hotel in Stratherrick.
Describing how the First Minister’s plan was met with “utter dismay, confusion and anger” and how it, in their opinion, “demonstrates sheer disdain and contempt” for the industry, employees, customers and suppliers want the government to:
• Confirm an indicative date for reopening of the sector, on the understanding that date might move if the scientific data changes;
• Align with the rest of the UK with a full reopening of tourism and hospitality on May 17 and earlier for self-catering;
• Give clarity on travel and tiers;
• Immediately review financial support for Scotland’s hospitality sector;
• Provide longer term financial help to recognise the impact of another shortened season.
Emmanuel Moine, manager of the Glen Mhor Hotel, said it was important to have plenty of advance notice for reopening.
“It is vital because we need to equip stock, we need to buy goods, we need to clean the rooms because they have been closed for months – we can’t do that within a week or two weeks, we need three or four weeks at least,” he said. “We need to plan ahead.
“We are going to need 50 or 60 staff to work in the hotel and it is not something we can organise within a week.”
Tony Story, who owns the Kingsmills and Ness Bank hotels in Inverness, is not involved with the action group but said he also found the current situation”pretty worrying”.
He said returning to a system of regional levels of restrictions, which Ms Sturgeon said could happen from April 26, was “eminently sensible,” but he still worried about the implications of the Highlands only moving down one tier, to level three, at that point.
“If I am correct, there’s no alcohol service allowed in that and, quite honestly, what are we supposed to do in terms of leisure?” he asked.
“Visitors are just not going to come.”
Welcoming the fact that the door had been left open to accelerate the easing of lockdown if infection rates allowed, he said: “But I would still question, if we are in level three, is there any harm in giving someone a glass of wine with their dinner?”
NHS Highland chief executive Pam Dudek said a cautious approach to the lifting of lockdown was the right one.
In the wake of the First Minister’s announcement, she said :”In NHS Highland we have seen the much higher numbers of cases and hospital admissions caused by the new variant of Covid-19, and a slower decrease in cases than was the case last spring. We therefore welcome a cautious approach to easing restrictions, while balancing the need to connect, support and care for everyone affected by the pandemic.”
More than a third of adults in the Highlands have now been offered a Covid vaccine.
