A Plymouth tourism chief is warning the city could lose £225million and see thousands of jobs under threat if the Covid-19 lockdown is not ended in July.
Adrian Vinken, chairman of Destination Plymouth, said 66% of the city’s annual earnings from tourism and hospitality at at risk if businesses cannot open until September.
He has written to culture secretary Oliver Dowden asking for an additional year’s cash to support the city’s Mayflower 400 events, which were scheduled for this year but have now moved to 2021.
He said many Plymouth hospitality firms could face going out of business as they have no clear date when they can reopen, or what social distancing rules will be put into place - and whether such rules will even make it viable for them to begin trading again.
That will put many of the 1,600 Plymouth tourism and hospitality businesses, and their 8,000 jobs, at risk.
“They are very vulnerable,” Mr Vinken said. “It’s really imperative for the economy of this city and for those businesses that they get the chance to start trading again as soon as possible. That’s the message we are taking to the Government.”
Mr Vinken said businesses need to have some indication about when they can start reopening and said the ideal situation would be “a steady unlocking in July, but controlled and disciplined.”
“If it’s not safe to open by the end of July they need to continue to extend the furlough scheme for businesses in this sector,” he said.
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“If you don’t know when you can reopen there is a point at which you have to wind things up or you might go bankrupt,” he said.
If businesses do face a continued delay, however, Mr Vinken said the Job Retention Scheme would need to be continued, possibly beyond the current extension until October, for hospitality enterprises that can’t operate, and he said: “It’s really important they extend the furlough scheme for businesses in the hospitality and tourism sectors until it is deemed safe for them to reopen.”
He said large outdoor attractions and zoos are capable of opening with social distancing in place, but entertainment venues such as the Theatre Royal Plymouth and the city’s Pavilions events hall would find this impossible.
Smaller venues, such as cafes and restaurants, could operate viably if social distancing was reduced from 2m to 1m, as recommended by the World Health Organisation, he believes.
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And as for hotels, he said they could possibly open, but without catering, and said: “I can’t see why hotels can’t get back into operation.”
Destination Plymouth canvassed industry opinion via a “virtual roundtable” event, to mark English Tourism Week, which was chaired by Plymouth Labour MP, and shadow environment secretary, Luke Pollard, and which included representatives from Dartmoor Zoological Park, the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth Boat Trips, Mount Batten Watersports Centre and several hotels.
Mr Vinken said the Government’s already “proactive” support for firms, via loans, grants and furloughing, has saved many and said: “Without that half the tourism businesses in this city would have gone already.”
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But he added: “The Government has invested a lot of taxpayers’ money already to keep these businesses solvent, it would be counter productive to cut them off before they get trading again.”
Mr Vinken said a balance would need to be struck when tourism does return as there could be a “massive influx” of visitors to Plymouth and the South West due to flight restrictions and in-bound quarantine rules potentially putting British people off the idea of holidaying abroad.
He said that while tourists would be very welcome, the city would need to be ready to welcome them in a safe way.
“If they end the lockdown in an uncontrolled way we could face a massive, uncontrolled influx, and will have to be careful,” he said. “But it’s vital to get the local economy going again, so people can earn a living.”