Tourism industry faces challenges as a quarter of Scots rule out any holiday
Nearly a quarter of Scots are ruling out going on holiday this year, according to a wide-ranging new opinion poll which reveals that one in three people have been impacted financially by the pandemic.
More than half of those polled for new industry research said they would not consider going on holiday anywhere until much later in the year.
Just 12 per cent of people agreed that they were “desperate to take a holiday and will do so as soon as it is possible.”
Concerns were raised about the level of uncertainty about booking holidays and the possible risk of Covid trans
mission while the vaccination programme is still being rolled out.
Three quarters of Scots polled by the research company 56 Degree Insight said they were unwilling to consider flying off to a holiday destination.
However roughly the same number said they were likely to consider taking a “staycation” break somewhere in Scotland during 2021.
Less than half of Scots said they would consider going on holiday anywhere else in the UK.
The survey was carried out in early March, shortly before First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced an official reopening date for the Scottish tourism industry on 26 April.
An official report on the research states: “Whilst there is room for some optimism, the latest research demonstrates that there are a number of challenges ahead to ensure staycations can provide the tourism industry with the much needed boost in 2021.”