Routes to enjoying fabulous staycations
Tourism chiefs optimistic about the post-lockdown staycation boom
YOUR plans for jet-setting abroad this summer may have been put on hold but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy a brilliant holiday nearer to home – and you’ll also be helping the economy to get back on its feet again.
There are air bridges between Scotland and some popular European destinations that make it possible to fly but many people still feel uneasy about foreign travel.
And the hundreds of thousands of Scots who usually head to Spain have cancelled their plans because of the two-week quarantine period when their return.
However, travel operators closer to home are delighted because they have seen an unprecedented stampede for domestic holidays.
From today, all holiday accommodation will be able to reopen, as will museums, galleries, cinemas, and monuments.
It makes 2020 the ideal year to enjoy our own shores again.
For many people, it’s a throwback to the holidays of their youth when foreign travel was for a fortunate few and most folk holidayed “doon the watter” or, if they were more intrepid, ventured north to the Highlands or south to Blackpool.
This year has seen a resurgence in the popularity of traditional seaside resorts.
Claire Smith, president of Stay Blackpool, which represents accommodation across the Lancashire resort, believes a summer of rediscovery could be in store, with those seaside towns that have fallen from favour in recent years being given the chance to return to the spotlight.
“If people are looking to stay in this country then it’s a huge opportunity for us,” she says.
“There is a reason people have been coming here for more than a century. It’s just the out-of-date perceptions of Blackpool and other places in the country that we need to move on from. And if that happens then we’re expecting new visitors as well as our regulars who come year in, year out.”
Coach package holiday operators Tartan Travel have only been trading for a few weeks but managing director Chris Bond is delighted with the demand for holidays from Scots eager to book a short break.
The company was set up after the demise of Caledonian Travel, part of the Shearings Leisure Group, which went into administration at the start of the coronavirus crisis.
“There are lots of people looking to get away on a domestic break. we are very encouraged by the initial take up,” says Chris.
“We just started trading a few weeks ago but the initial response has been very good, with people booking destinations UK-wide, from the traditional seaside resorts of Bournemouth and Scarborough to shorter breaks within Scotland.
“I think people are more confident about travelling now and we’ve had a great take-up, far better than I could possibly have dreamed off.”
Traditionally, the reserve of the over-50s coach holidays this year are seeing interest from new clients, including more families.
To comply with social distancing measures, coaches will only operate at half capacity, so a 50-seater coach will carry 25 people, and everyone on board will be required to wear a mask.