Cornwall and Devon’s beaches, national parks and attractions may have been packed to the rafters this summer, but the influx of tourists we have seen flocking to the region since the coronavirus lockdown was eased off and hotels and restaurants were allowed to reopen, cannot hide one fact – 2020 has been a devastating year for the tourism sector.
‘Challenging’ and ‘devastating’ are the key words heard muttered by tourism industry chiefs in Cornwall and Devon, as hoteliers, restaurateurs and attraction owners catch their breath after a few manic summer months and take stock – or rather look at their empty pockets.
According to Visit Devon and Visit Cornwall the annual estimated turnover loss for the year is £1.3bn in Devon and £800m in Cornwall. In the Duchy that’s about 40% down on a normal year.
“It’s been devastating,” Visit Cornwall chief executive Malcolm Bell said. “Even with an extended season and efforts made by all of us to encourage visitors to come down in the autumn and winter, the sector is unlikely to recoup any of the losses it made.
“The reason we’re not all jumping off a cliff, though, is that the various financial packages from the government such as the furlough scheme or reduced VAT rate have really helped keep businesses afloat.”
Sally Everton, Mr Bell’s counterpart in Devon agrees, adding that outdoor attractions have fared better than indoor ones which were further constrained by restrictions and social distancing measures to be Covid-19 safe.
She said that despite the financial help from Whitehall, three hotels in the county went bust and many more jobs have been lost. Only in September while Paignton Zoo announced 130 job cuts with the Minack theatre also announcing 19 job losses. Many more hotels and restaurants have done the same.
Many attractions and hotels have lost more than £1m in turnover year on year.
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Mrs Everton said: “The loss of business over the summer across all the tourism and hospitality sector has been immense, and despite the press saying that Devon and Cornwall were bursting at the seams, it was but with much less capacity (some as low as 50%) to enable social distancing and it is estimated that the annual turnover loss in Devon is £1.3bn. It’s eye watering.”
Both counties may have seen an influx of day trippers, but local residents have largely stayed away from their own counties for fear of the tourist throngs bringing the coronavirus in with them.
Numbers for locals are down by as much as 40% for some attractions while seasonal income, during the school holiday, also massively reduced as attractions, restaurants and hotels were forced to shrink capacity due to social distancing measures and regulations.
Two summer storms did not help and greatly reduced the days of trading for outdoor attractions at a time when indoor attractions were at maximum capacity and could not take in the slack.
There have been many grumblings in the industry about who came on holiday to Devon and Cornwall and how these visitors behaved.
Mr Bell said: “We want people to come to Cornwall on holiday of course. But we want visitors to come down here because they want to be in Cornwall and share the county with us who live here not because they couldn’t go to Benidorm.”
He admits that lessons need to be learnt and all in the tourism sector will be working more closely with local authorities, the police, the health services and RNLI to ensure the mistakes made in 2020 do not happen again in 2021.
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Mr Bell added: “Next year could be a bumper year indeed but there is no guarantee. In an ideal scenario Covid-19 is under control, people come here because it is their first choice and those who would rather be Spain are in Spain, and there is no recession.”
There are a lot of ‘ifs’ to ensuring that 2021 is not a crippling year again for the tourism sector, but should we continue to manage the pandemic, capacity in hotels and restaurants will go back up to 100%, events such as weddings and music festivals will happen again and trade across the sector will pick up.
More food, more booze and more ice creams, pasties and cream teas will be consumed and the industry will make some money again rather than haemorrhage it out like it’s been the case since March 23.
Christmas could be make or break for food and drink businesses that have survived the coronavirus pandemic so far – and they will need our help.
That’s the view of Ruth Huxley, managing director of the Great Cornish Food Store.
The businesswoman and passionate Cornish food supporter, believes the sector has been struck like never before and, while there have been winners and losers, even those who emerge on the other side of a fraught season could be hit harder still if support is not there at Christmas.
“I think, for many businesses in the food and drink sector, Christmas will be make or break,” she said. “That final push will be vital to get us through the shoulder months of January, February and March.
“So it would be great for the lockdown support we received to continue at Christmas. It is about supporting local business and local jobs.”
Will Ashworth, owner of the Watergate Bay hotel outside Newquay believes that while there are a lot of ‘ifs’ in the equation especially surrounding future coronavirus restrictions or whether there will be a recession, 2021 is indeed shaping up to be a fully booked season.
He said: “Bookings for next year are already 20% up on the same period last year.”
The prominent hotelier believes the season will extend longer into the autumn and winter months as demand for 海角视频 holidays has rocketed this year in view of the various restrictions on foreign travel brought on by Covid-19.
“Let’s all be honest about this. We had a devastating loss of revenues this year but whatever we think or make of the government, the level of support in place for the tourism sector has been excellent and has gone a long way to helping the whole industry get back on its feet. By the end of the year we will still be down in revenues but it could have been a lot worse. Many businesses could have gone under.”
What the industry is asking is for the help that was promised by the government to continue into the New Year as well as encourage people to come in the winter months when there are still many things that can be done and enjoyed in both Devon and Cornwall – at a time that is generally cheaper.
Both Mr Bell and Mrs Everton are calling on the government to keep the VAT threshold down to 5% as it was this summer until August 2021 as a way to make the region even more attractive early on and encourage even more people to book their next year’s holidays early.
They are asking for the furlough scheme or something similar to be extended throughout winter to help retain key full time, an extension of the business rate holiday, an extension of the repayment terms on the bounce back loans and an extension to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme in October and November to cushion the blow for many restaurants and pubs.
“We’re working on a campaign to attract visitors to Cornwall in the winter months,” Mr Bell said. “It’s all those 50 things you can do any day of the week in October, November and all the other shoulder months.
“It won’t make up the losses made this year but if by March next year the sector can claw back £200m it will give us the necessary start to get ready for what could be, if all goes well, a very good year.”
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