Plymouth City Council is calling on the Government to help the city’s tourism, hospitality and retail sector bounce back from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic after it took a £150million hit in just half a year,
Between March and September 2020, it has been estimated that Plymouth will have lost almost £150million of its annual visitor spend – more than half its usual income.
This figure is expected to increase following the November lockdown and the ongoing Tier 2 restrictions.
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Before lockdown, the growth of tourism and the visitor economy had been a success story for the city with more than 25% growth in the past eight years.
There were about 5.4million visitors in 2018 spending more than £337million annually and supporting nearly 8,000 jobs, more than 7% of the city’s employment.
The council, in partnership with Destination Plymouth, which promotes tourism in the city, is now calling for further “significant measures” to help the sector recover including:
Maintaining the 5% VAT reduction rate to December 2021 and continued business rates relief to March 2022.
Expanding the types of businesses to be included in the mandatory grant support scheme to include coach and boat operators, language schools, inbound tour operators and others such as fishing and farming producers.
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Support to be offered to businesses who have suffered direct cancellations as a result of last-minute lockdown restrictions.
Extension of the Zoo/Aquaria Support grants beyond March 31 2021 for six months.
An amendment to Gift Aid percentage from 25 per cent to 33 per cent to support charities.
Consideration of repayable ‘cash flow’ funding to support businesses this winter and spring for example asking banks to extend CBILS repayment terms from six to 10 years.
Council leader Tudor Evans said: “We have seen great growth in the hospitality and tourist sectors in Plymouth over the last decade.
“We need government help to ensure that the businesses are still in place so we can continue to grow once the pandemic is over. But our immediate priority is survival.”
Amanda Lumley, executive director of Destination Plymouth, said: “We’re proud to be Britain’s Ocean City and tourism makes an important contribution to our economy and community.
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“There’s no doubt that the furlough scheme, grants, business rates relief and VAT reduction have played an important role in supporting our tourism businesses to date, but given the severity of the pandemic more needs to be done.
“As would be expected, Plymouth’s visitors have fallen dramatically and we’re calling for some extra support from the Government to support jobs and ensure tourism bounces back strong next year.”
How to contact William Telford and Business Live
Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
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A survey undertaken just before October half term across Destination Plymouth members and the levy payers of the two BID areas showed:
Approximately 28% of respondents had staff on furlough.
45% of these businesses said they would probably make these staff redundant at the end of the furlough period.
Nearly 50% of businesses who responded were less than 30% full for October half term.
76% said they were less than 30% full in November and December.
60% of those surveyed felt that business would not return to anywhere near normal until after July 2021.
Destination Plymouth has been working closely with Plymouth City Council and key city stakeholders over the past few months to support businesses through allocation of business grants funding, high level lobbying at national and regional level for further support and development and implementation of a Plymouth and regional recovery plan.
This includes successfully bidding into grant funding for additional marketing funds including the Enjoy Summer Safely campaign and Discover England Fund.