THE TOURISM CATASTROPHE
Chiefs of sector worth £723m slam ‘farcical’ U-turn by SNP on self-catering
TOURISM bosses yesterday condemned the SNP’s ‘farcical’ decision-making following a major U-turn on holiday lets.
Two families will be banned from staying together in holiday lets or other self-catering accommodation after SNP ministers reversed the rules less than 48 hours after they were announced.
The Scottish Government indicated on Tuesday that self-catering accommodation would be exempt from the ban on visiting other households. This meant up to six people from a maximum of two households could share holiday properties.
But ministers yesterday announced that sector will not be exempt – and people from two households will not be able to book holiday lets.
It comes as the boss of Ryanair yesterday branded Nicola Sturgeon’s plea for people not to fly abroad as ‘utter nonsense’ – as it was announced that people returning to Scotland from Denmark, Iceland, Slovakia and Curacao will now have to go into quarantine.
Scottish Conservative tourism spokesman Oliver Mundell said: ‘This confusion at the heart of the Scottish Government is deeply disappointing and further compounds the existing challenges the tourism industry faces.’
The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) said it received assurance on Tuesday that self-catering accommodation would not be included in the new rule meaning people cannot enter other households.
National clinical director Jason Leitch then told a BBC Radio Scotland talk show on Wednesday morning that ‘you can’t have two households in self-catering so that would be like allowing them in your own home’.
The Scottish Government initially responded to a request for clarification by saying the advice remained the same and that it was not the intention of the restrictions to include self-catering. But the ASSC received the further clarification from Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing late on Wednesday evening.
In a letter to the ASSC, Mr Ewing said: ‘We are so sorry to advise you that following further review of the Scottish Government’s position, our one household restriction for private homes will also apply to self-catering properties when our revised regulations become law on Friday.
‘We realise this is a change from the information that we were able to give you yesterday, but unfortunately our position has reluctantly had to be updated following further consideration, taking into account key public health considerations, over the course of today.’
ASSC chief executive Fiona Campbell said: ‘The ‘inability of the Scottish Government to get its story straight on self-catering over the past 48 hours has sent ripples of fear, anxiety and stress throughout our sector.
‘First to be told that we would rightly be exempt from the limits on households only to hear, via a morning radio programme, that our £723million sector will now be dealt another devastating blow by being hampered with this restriction would be considered farcical, if it was not so disappointing.’
Earlier this week, Miss Sturgeon urged people ‘please do not book travel overseas’.
Asked about her comments on Sky News yesterday, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said they were ‘utter nonsense’.
He said: ‘Air travel is not the cause of the recent spike in cases in Scotland or the UK. The Germans and the Italians and other EU countries have been travelling, there have been no restrictions on intra-EU flights in Germany and Italy and yet they have far lower Covid case rates.
‘The problem with these governments, whether the Scottish Government or Johnson’s Government, is blame somebody else, blame air travel, despite the fact you have been restricting air travel through the entire summer.
‘We’ve had the laugh of the situation that Portugal was on the quarthe antine list, then it was taken off for two weeks, then it was put back on again. Despite the fact that in Faro and the Algarve the case rates are incredibly low. There should have been no restrictions.’
The Scottish Government said its decision to add the four new countries to the quarantine list was due to significant increases in coronavirus cases in each country.
Joanne Dooey, president of the Scottish Passenger Agents Association, said: ‘The whole travel sector now needs urgent and targeted support to ensure its return to being a vital contributor to the Scottish economy. The recovery of the sector is not being helped by the continued removal or addition to the ‘‘safe list’’ of countries which Scots can visit without having to quarantine on their return.’
‘Inability to get its story straight’ ‘No restrictions on intra-EU flights’