G7’s our chance ..don’t blow it

THE OYSTER CATCHER THE FRUIT FARMER THE TOURISM BOSS Cornwall hoping June’s global summit sparks year-round tourism revolution

TERRY Major is the last oysterman fishing from Pill Creek in Feock, near Falmouth.

His family has worked the Fal Estuary and Carrick Roads for 150 years and Terry, 79, of nearby Carnon Downs, began dredging the Fal for oysters in 1965.

He said: “If you go back 100 years there were over 100 men out here working. It’s a bit sad there’s nobody to carry it on.”

Terry sells his catch to wholesaler Martin Laity of Sailors Creek Shellfish.

Martin, 52, said: “Before Christmas we were exporting between seven and 10 tonnes a week to Europe. Now we are sending less than one tonne a week.”

He hopes the Prime Minister will use the G7 to press France and Germany to overhaul the deal on shellfish exports.

IN 1947, Phil Boddington’s grandad began growing strawberries above St Austell Bay.

His son and grandson joined the firm and Boddington’s Berries expanded to employ 50 East Europeans on 25 acres producing veg, flowers and fruit for supermarkets.

But rival farmers were also expanding and relying on cheap foreign labour.

Phil downsized to seven and a half acres to produce only elsanta strawberries for jam. The 56-year-old said: “We are using local labour. Now we only supply local shops, hotels, farms and restaurants.”

Lockdown hammered business as hospitality closed down and Phil feared he was “finished”. But luckily hamper firms were soon desperate to place jam in cream teas being delivered across the UK.

VISIT Cornwall boss Malcolm Bell hopes that the G7 summit will finally tempt foreign visitors “past Bath”.

International visitors to Britain tend to spend twice as much as domestic ones.

Often they get as far west as the Somerset city famed for its abbey and Roman baths, but venture no further.

Hoping to capitalise on the success of BBC show Poldark, Malcolm said: “We have been doing a lot of work in the American, Canadian and Australian markets.

“It [The G7] could change the perception of our coast, which for a lot of overseas visitors is piers, pebbles, and ‘kiss me quick’ hats because that’s the classic British seaside holiday resort.” But, he said: “They are going to see a spectacular coast.”

LESS could mean more for Cornwall as the county gets set to shine on a global stage.

June’s G7 summit will showcase the hotspot to millions of potential new visitors – and could trigger a fresh boom for local businesses.

But local hospitality chiefs don’t mince words when describing their strategy for maintaining the duchy’s appeal: “Don’t bugger up Cornwall.”

While welcoming the annual tourist influx, they fear too many could be damaging. Tourism is worth nearly £2billion a year to its economy – 23% of GDP – and accounts for one in three in private sector jobs, employing 53,000 people.

Its 530,000-strong population swells by a third in summer. Five million visit a year. But Cornwall Chamber of Commerce chief Kim Conchie estimates it lost up to £2bn of tourism revenue last year.

He said: “It’s a matter of clinging on by your fingernails to reopen.” Instead of packing mass tourism in three summer months, he wants highervalue tourism spread through the year, so local youngsters stay in the sector, rather than see such jobs as short-term.

He believes two famous chefs could help the “upgrade”: “We’ve an opportunity to show we’re not just pasties and pints but Nathan Outlaw and Rick Stein. If people pay a premium for that provenance and traceability and artisanal production, we can turn hospitality into something more prosperous, enabling people to be properly trained and employed all year round.”

Some locals call tourists “emmets” – Cornish for “ants” – and there can be tension when visiting traffic blocks country lanes. Visit

Cornwall chief Malcolm Bell says tourism is “feast or famine”. He wants Cornwall to be a premium destination: “The highest priority of the strategy is, ‘Don’t bugger up Cornwall’. We want quality not quantity, value not volume. Peak season’s untenable if it’s too many people.”

Ideas include “workcations” where employees rent a cottage in winter. Truro Mayor Armorel Carlyon, a farmer in her 80s, said: “The tourist industry is fragile – they discover you then drop you. What happened last year was devastating.” Veryan Palmer, director of the five-star Headland Hotel in Newquay, said: “Until the pandemic it wasn’t realised here how reliant most people are on tourism.”

Her hotel shut with most staff furloughed. When it reopened, it was “very busy” and it will host a G7 delegation days before lockdown restrictions end. She said: “G7 is amazing for Cornwall.”

LOCAL COMMERCE CHIEF

‘FEAST OR FAMINE’ Fistral Beach in Newquay GRAN Ann Mitchell says her estate in Redruth was once plagued by drugs and that G7 leaders should visit to see how a curfew and community action transformed life there. But she added: “Cornwall doesn’t get anything unless it’s the summertime.” ‘PREMIUM’ Mr Conchie and Truro ANDREW Knowles, 28, on furlough from a plastics factory, wants G7 leaders to address economic recovery. He said: “They are going to spend a lot of money to make the summit look nice, but there are not really enough opportunities here for young people.” LIAM Porter, made redundant from a clothing factory, said: “Lockdown made a big impact. I’m on Universal Credit now. “I was on £300 a week and now I get £342 a month. “There are summer jobs but people come in and get them... then the jobs get laid off.”