Tourism ‘can help reboot economy’ after virus
TOURISM will be used to reboot Scotland’s economy under plans to help those worst hit by the pandemic, industry chiefs said yesterday.
VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said the revival effort will initially focus on ‘fragile communities’ in rural areas which rely on visitors for cash.
He called for tourism to be seen as the ‘solution rather than the problem’ in the economic fightback when lockdown ends and hopes the industry can welcome back visitors to Scotland in the autumn.
His optimistic message comes after leading Scottish chefs wrote to Nicola Sturgeon highlighting their fears for the food sector.
In a blog, Mr Roughead said: ‘We are currently conducting an audit of places people will be able to visit easily post Covid-19 and others that will require careful management.
‘Our marketing will reflect that in our initial domestic campaigns, which will be about ensuring some areas aren’t overwhelmed and others get a bigger taste of tourism success.’
He added: ‘Tourism will still be an economic powerhouse for Scotland but this crisis has taught us one thing – that local quality of life has to be at the heart of creating a visitor experience and economy.’
Mr Roughead said he hopes to help create an infrastructure that prevents rural communities feeling ‘overwhelmed’ by visitors and, post lockdown, that they will shed their ‘anti-tourism vibe’ as a result.
Western Isles Tourist Board has expressed its concern over the longterm impact of the pandemic.
Rob McKinnon, chief executive of Outer Hebrides Tourism, has also warned that remote businesses are feeling ‘anxious’ over their ability to weather the Covid-19 storm. He said: ‘Businesses want to do the right thing for the communities they are part of, want to get their businesses safely through the winter ahead in as good a shape as possible and get them ready for what is probably a very different tourism season in the spring.’
In an open letter to the First Minister, chefs including Nick Nairn, Martin Wishart and Tom Kitchin have warned the ‘reputational change’ the sector has enjoyed could now be ‘set back for a generation’.
They want Miss Sturgeon to press the UK Government to extend the furlough scheme for staff beyond its current end date in October.
In addition, they want government support for a 12-month, rent-free period, with reductions ‘for as long as social distancing is required in our premises’. They also said a business rates holiday should be extended to the end of June 2021.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish tourism emergency response group, chaired by VisitScotland, has been in place since the beginning of the crisis and has developed a plan to respond to the impact of the virus on the sector and that work will help inform how we move forward as we slowly and carefully emerge from this crisis.’
‘The solution, rather than the problem’