Staycations under threat

‘Too early to say’ if tourism industry can open its doors again on July 4

THE reopening of the British tourism industry could be delayed beyond July 4, the Culture Secretary has warned.

Hotels, campsites and guesthouses have been taking bookings from the start of next month after Boris Johnson’s ‘road map’ for exiting lockdown indicated that the tourism ban could end then.

But with the deadline barely a fortnight away, Oliver Dowden last night said it was still too early to say whether Britain’s beleaguered tourist businesses would finally be able to open their doors.

Officials also warned there could be a ‘phased return’, with relatively lowrisk accommodation like campsites, caravan parks and self-catering flats and cottages allowed to reopen before hotels and bed and breakfasts.

In Scotland, the Scottish Government has said that people here will not be able to go on holiday until ‘public health advice allows’.

With the country expected to enter phase two of the easing of lockdown today, people should now be allowed to drive locally for leisure and exercise purposes. However, Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing has said travel to holiday accommodation is only expected to be allowed in phase three. Tourism businesses, including pubs, hotels and restaurants, have been told to prepare to reopen on July 15 – 11 days after the UK Government’s July 4 date.

Speaking at last night’s No10 briefing, Mr Dowden said that although the industry had made ‘a lot of progress’ on how to minimise the risk of the virus spreading, Government scientists had still not agreed it was safe.

‘We have set out a road map,’ he said. ‘The next stage is July 4. I very much hope that we’ll be able to stick to that roadmap and we will see tourism return to the UK... but we can only do so when it’s safe. We have made a lot

of progress, but the key thing is ensuring it’s safe.’

Ministers are expected to make a final decision next week on whether to give the green light for domestic tourist industry and the wider hospitality sector to reopen on July 4.

But one government source acknowledged the decision was in the balance. ‘Every department is fighting for its own sector,’ the source said. ‘The problem is that we only have limited headroom for relaxing the rules, so some very difficult decisions will have to be made.’ The warning came as idustry bosses said the sector needed certainty now about the date when firms could reopen.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UK Hospitality, said: ‘We need confirmation of the reopening date for hospitality businesses without any further delay.

Businesses need time to prepare and the first step in giving them some much-needed clarity is confirmation of when they can open their doors again.

‘This is particularly important for hotels and tourism, where 60 per cent of bookings are made more than two weeks in advance.’

Caravan, camping and holiday parks were planning to re-open in the first week of July. However,

Center Parcs, has revealed it is pushing this back to July 13 at the earliest and others are likely to follow suit.

A growing number of campsites have decided to pause or cancel all tent bookings because operators are in the dark about what safeguards will be required.

The advice is expected to mean that many of the facilities, such as playgrounds and children’s clubs, will be closed, so taking away much of the fun.

At the same time, any on-site bars and restaurants may only operate as takeaways.

Most importantly, camping and caravan sites are worried they will not be allowed to open shower and toilet blocks. If these are closed, or forced to impose social distancing and queues, many families will be put off.