Highland tourism operators insist return can be managed safely in wake of coronavirus crisis
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As lockdown eased significantly this week and the Highlands faces a potential influx of tourists keen to visit the region, operators have been keen to assure the public that all possible safety measures are being taken.
Tourist accommodation across the board was allowed to reopen on Wednesday for the first time since March.
Michael Golding, chief executive of the Visit Inverness Loch Ness destination marketing organisation, said: “The tourism and hospitality sector has been the greatest loss to the Highland economy due to the pandemic. The sector is therefore our strongest asset for a recovery in communities across the destination.
“Businesses have clear safety guidelines by which to operate and schemes such as VisitScotland Good to Go, which demonstrates safe practices and provides confidence to communities, visitors and businesses alike. Attractions and activities will be operating with reduced capacity – many at only a quarter of what they were previously – which will further limit the number of people to meet the guidelines.”
Tony Story, managing director of Patio Hotels which owns the Kingsmills and Ness Bank hotels in Inverness, said that, this month, occupancy at both would be around 30 per cent, compared to 95 per cent in July last year.
And arguing that initiatives such as the furlough scheme, which had benefited his business, cannot be extended indefinitely, he said: “We are going to lose more money by being open initially than staying closed, but we have got to take that step to get folk to travel, and do that safely.”
Arguing for a need to balance safety and economic imperatives he added: “Tourism is the largest employer in the Highlands and we can’t just pretend it isn’t.”
The Cobbs Group’s Loch Ness Drumnadrochit Hotel was set to reopen yesterday with others in the group – The Loch Ness Clansman Hotel, Loch Ness Country House Hotel and Loch Ness Lodge – following on August 1.
Director Willie Cameron said a range of safety measures were in place to prevent infection including barriers, hand sanitisers, one-way systems and perspex screens.
With occupancy rates down to around an eighth of their usual level he said: “The message we need to get out there is we are a safe destination.
“We need the tourists or we will be bankrupt.”
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