Plea for support of community
Warning from attraction that worst is yet to come
The family behind Scone Palace are urging residents across Perth and Kinross to support local attractions.
William Stormont, son of the Earl of Mansfield, told the PA he thinks the full impact of the pandemic has still to hit businesses across the region.
He said normal numbers may not get back to normal until 2022, which will also have a knock-on effect on other enterprises in the region.
But residents can play their part by making use of attractions like Scone Palace, where the grounds and gardens are now open once more.
William said: “We are here and hoping we can get back to normal times that will include local tourists returning to Scone and other local attractions.
“The more tourists that come, the easier it is for us to weather this storm. We have a significant number of staff on furlough that we would love to bring back and also it would help us plan for next year.
“The more support we can get and more team members we can get back, the stronger our return will be.
“Hopefully that will benefit everyone. So many local businesses benefit from our events, so we want to ensure our return is as strong as possible.
“Tourism is a vital part of our economy, a huge number of jobs and livelihoods are linked to it.
“It’s not something that we can let slip and in this difficult time, we need to support each other.
“I like to think of it as a twoway thing – tourists coming in to support us and we will use that to reinvest money in the community.”
Scone Palace recorded around 115,000 people last year.
But only a fraction will go through the gates in 2020.
The international market has been decimated by the virus and bosses at Scone do not expect that to change straight away due to the financial impact on people, and the fact many will still be wary of travelling.
William wants to see both the UK and Scottish Governments take the lead in promoting Scotland again for holidays.
“The pandemic has been absolutely devastating but if I’m being honest, the real devastation has not yet happened – that will be in six months time,” says William.
“This is a really key period of time. The governments have stepped up in terms of immediate need but now there is going to be that really awkward period where businesses will start incurring costs, and if there’s no income there will be issues.
“International visitors will not pick up for another 18 months to two years.
“There might be a trickle back next year but we’re now looking at 2022 until it’s back to normal.
“The Irish Government is already promoting the country for 2021. Both governments here need to quickly move to promoting Scotland as a destination, especially for staycations.”
Despite the rain pouring on the first day Scone reopened, William has been buoyed by the response from locals.
Many have returned to what he calls their “sanctuary” and there are further openings planned as Scotland moves out of lockdown.
He even thinks it has given a part of the attraction a chance to shine that is not always in the spotlight.
“It’s quite exciting to show off our gardens more because they are sometimes overshadowed by the palace and the history of the place,” he says.
“Brian (Cunningham, the head gardener) is fantastic and I’m going to join up one of his tours – I might learn something.
“Over the week, it has not been normal but it’s been nearly normal, there have been decent numbers.
“We have many visitors who have been coming here for years and it’s been really difficult for them not to be able to come when they wanted to.”
Find out more at https:// scone-palace.co.uk/