Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
for how the virus could affect the county
Event organisers across the county say it is “business as normal” despite the rapid spread of the coronavirus - but assure contigency plans are being drawn up as health fears rise.
The outbreak - which has killed more than 4,000 people worldwide - has led to many large gatherings being cancelled globally.
But as yet the majority of big events in the UK remain unaffected.
It comes as efforts to slow the spread of the virus were discussed by a special emergency Cobra meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Among the key topics up for debate are whether to limit large-scale public gatherings, encourage more people to work from home, or even close schools temporarily. However, it seems inevitable the impact will hit many businesses in Kent. Andrew Tate works for business advisors Kreston Reeves, which has offices in Canterbury and Medway. He believes the effects will be widespread for the county.
“Tourism is going to be down as people are not going to want to travel and put themselves at risk,” he said.
“In addition, businesses are going to see their turnover reduce as consumer activity is going to slow down and that will have an impact on everybody.” Deirdre Wells is chief executive of Visit Kent - the county’s tourism agency, which allows the sector to generate some £3.8bn for the county and supports 70,000 jobs.
She says, for now at least, it’s business as usual - although it has already faced some setbacks.
“There is a ban on outbound travel for schoolchildren from France and Italy, and obviously a lot of our attractions in Kent have a significant business with school groups, so that was a bit of a hit,” she said.
“The Chinese market has also taken a hit.
“But we’ve sort of been here before - we’ve had foot and mouth and SARS; this is not unprecedented. The industry is pretty resilient and tends to be able to bounce back once these things die down.
“What’s difficult is everyone was really hoping this was going to be the year we could really bounce back after the uncertainty of last year. So there’s no doubt it’s challenging for businesses.
“The strong advice is to go about our normal business and that people heed that.
“It’s vital for our businesses to get as much business as they can, while they can.”
And she confirmed the Kent Big Weekend in April - the annual day where thousands of free tickets are distributed to people in the county to experience the tourist attractions on their doorsteps - will be going ahead.
She adds: “I hope that will be a great opportunity to send a signal that the county is still open. “It would be great to say it’s all going ahead, but we don’t know that as it’s all something of a moving feast, but if in the unlikely event we have to postpone, the tickets will be honoured for another day. “But inevitably there will be some challenges.”
Talks have also been taking place between Premier League officials and broadcasters should a decision be taken to play matches behind closed doors.
The clash between Arsenal and Man City was postponed on Wednesday night as players from the London club were placed in isolation.
Also at risk are the likes of the London Marathon, which if postponed or cancelled could put a huge dent in the pocket of many charities which rely on the income from runners raising money for good causes. Kent County Cricket Club says, so far, it has seen no negative knock-on impact of the virus on its valuable hospitality offering. Marketing executive Liam Knight said: “We’ve not had any direct impact on bookings nor have we been asked the question by customers as yet.
“Of course, it may get worse and we’ll have to see what happens but we’ve seen nothing yet. We’re in a place where our busiest time - when the T20 starts at the end of May - is still a long way away.”
The club will be hoping the situation is under control by the summer, when it has a number of major outdoor events planned notably by acts such as Westlife and Little Mix in July.
But for most, at the moment, the plan is to