Lockdown dashes West tourist hopes

TIGHT coronavirus restrictions in parts of Britain are having a serious knock-on effect in the South West, cutting tourist numbers and putting hospitality jobs at risk.

Holiday bosses in the Westcountry were banking on an autumn and early winter boost from visitors, after losing millions of pounds in lost business during lockdown in the first wave of Covid-19.

But now travel restrictions imposed on people in areas like the North West from where many visitors to the Westcountry traditionally come, have put those hopes in jeopardy.

Malcolm Bell of VisitCornwall has urged the Duchy’s holiday businesses to cancel bookings made from would-be visitors living in the Tier 3 zones, who are on the highest level of lockdown.

And in Torbay, holiday operators fear that redundancies will be necessary as visitors are forced to stay away. Sally Everton of VisitDevon said: “With travel restrictions now in place for many people across the country, the adverse knock on effect into half term will be catastrophic for many.”

Torbay’s Director of Public Health Caroline Dimond sounded a more hopeful note when she told BBC Radio 4 that Torbay was still welcoming visitors, providing they stuck to the rules. But she admitted it was ‘inevitable’ cases in the Bay would increase.

She added: “Torbay is a lovely place to visit and both myself and my colleagues both in the local authority and tourist sector have worked really hard to ensure places are safe.”

She said strict controls were in place to reduce risks.

HOLIDAYMAKERS will still be welcome in Torbay during the half term break – even though the English Riviera has concerns about visitors from Covid hotspots, says the local health chief.

Dr Caroline Dimond says holidaymakers from areas of the country currently under tougher restrictions would be expected to abide by local rules and do all they could to stop the spread of the virus.

The director of public health told Radio 4’s Today programme that it was ‘inevitable’ Torbay would see a rise in coronavirus cases but that should not deter visitors.

Asked if local people were worried about an influx of visitors from places with higher transmission rates she said: “Obviously there has been a bit of concern but actually when you look back on our data and statistics we’ve had very few outbreaks or cases that have emerged because of people visiting.”

She said during the summer there were ‘less than a handful’ falling into this category.

“As the cases go up in some parts of the country we will certainly be more worried about people coming from the very high risk areas but to date it hasn’t caused us a problem.”

Current restrictions mean that people living in ‘High’ alert parts of London and the Midlands cannot go out and have a meal with people from other households. But the rules allow those same groups to visit ‘Medium’ alert Torbay and other parts of the South West and share a table.

“We would very much encourage people to make sure they were following all the guidance and remember even if they do come to Torbay we still have cases,” Dr Dimond said.

“Our prevalence is a lot lower but I think it’s important people don’t think we haven’t got a problem so following the guidance is still really, really important and people’s behaviour both in the restaurants and pubs but outside the restaurants and pubs remains incredibly important.”

She went on: “We’re obviously working incredibly hard to do as much as we can to stop these rates going up. We are working with schools and care homes. and making places safe. This time, unlike the first wave, we’ve got lots of things in place to stop those rates going up. However what is key is people’s behaviour, particularly outside.” And she added: “Torbay is a lovely place to visit and both myself and my colleagues both in the local authority and tourist sector have worked really hard to ensure places are safe to visit. People can be assured they can come here but there will be the usual controls around that.”