August 2021

Investing in the tourism sector

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Fiona Campbell

Supporting businesses to recover.

A multi-million pound package of support has been invested to help tourism and hospitality businesses recover from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Delivered in the first 100 days of the new Scottish Government, the support is part of a wider £129 million investment in the sector which has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. The package of support includes:

£4 million for VisitScotland to deliver the Days Out scheme which will help support the tourism sector throughout the year
£3 million for domestic marketing highlighting Scotland as an attractive year round destination
£1.4 million for holiday vouchers for carers and low income families

More than 60 jobs, including 47 seasonal rangers, have also been funded to support rural areas cope with higher than usual visitor numbers due to the rise in staycations this summer.

Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said:

“The past year has been extremely difficult for many businesses, especially in our prized tourism and hospitality sector. As well as being impacted by the necessary public health restrictions to curtail the spread of the virus, Brexit has also caused problems, particularly regarding staffing and supplies.

“The Scottish Government has worked closely with industry at every stage of the pandemic to deliver where we can on its asks, including 100% non-domestic rates relief, specific restart grants and funding to help alleviate staffing concerns.

“As we begin to carefully emerge and recover from the pandemic, we must work together to seize Scotland’s potential and build an economy for everyone by delivering greater, greener and fairer prosperity. Our tourism and hospitality sector is key to the Scottish economy and we will continue to listen carefully to the support it needs to bounce back from the pandemic.”

Scotland’s Economy: An update on Covid baseline measures for business

Posted on August 27, 2021August 27, 2021 by Melanie Allen

“Ms Forbes, The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy has just issued this statement online, highlighting the need for everyone to remain focused on current baseline measures and their importance to the collective effort to supress the virus.

“The guidance that remains in place around baseline measures and good practice is highlighted here:

Coronavirus (COVID-19): tourism and hospitality sector – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

“As you will all be aware, we remain in a delicate place with high rates of infection across the country, so we need to collectively focus on maximising adherence on current baseline measures.”

Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have made huge changes and sacrifices to protect public health. I’m incredibly grateful to the business community and would like to thank everyone who has spent time and effort to make their businesses as safe as possible for customers and staff. Your contribution has been vital in helping us control the spread of the virus.

We know these necessary modifications have often had a detrimental impact on the economic activity of businesses so I’m pleased our economy is now able to open fully as we move beyond Level 0.

However, the virus has not disappeared and case numbers have been increasing. That is why it is important we keep some precautionary measures in place to allow for a gradual and cautious approach, particularly as we move into the winter when more people will be interacting indoors. This will help to reduce the risk of outbreaks and allow all sectors of the economy to stay open.

Businesses have shown great leadership throughout the pandemic in encouraging adherence with mitigations and we would ask that this continues at this fragile time. I would urge customers to follow the guidance too, to support the businesses they use.

The most important step we can take to control the virus is to get vaccinated and we would encourage all who have not yet been vaccinated to do so.

Alongside this we urge businesses to continue to communicate and work with their employees to implement measures which will help us supress the virus:

wear face coverings – this is legally required in most indoor public places including retail, restaurants, cafes, bars, workplaces and on public transport for staff and customers
support staff to self-isolate if they are asked to do so by the NHS
regular testing of staff to help break the chains of transmission
support staff to work from home some of the time to reduce the ability of the virus to transmit
keep your premises as well ventilated as possible

Guidance for safer businesses and workplaces can be found on the Scottish Government website, including a range of further precautionary measures and good practice which can be used in workplaces to reduce the risk of outbreaks.

By working together, we can ensure businesses remain open and our economy recovers from the effects of the pandemic.

Kate Forbes
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy

During her COVID-19 media briefing today, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon covered the follow (27/08/21):

The FM reported that 6,835 new cases of COVID-19 had been registered and that 479 people were in hospital, with 47 in intensive care. She also reported that there had been 4 additional deaths, bringing the total to 8,103. On vaccines, she noted that 4,085,552 people had received their first dose of the vaccine and 3,587,145 second doses had been administered.
The FM noted that this was the sharpest rise in new cases since the pandemic began and that it was a cause for concern. However, she also observed that there had been a record number of tests and that vaccines were having a positive effect. However, she reiterated her claim that the situation was “fragile”.
The FM confirmed that she was not considering a “circuit breaker lockdown” at the moment.
The FM reiterated her calls for businesses and individuals to observe the guidance in place but noted that she could not rule out further measures in future.
In the following session of questions, STV asked what the tipping point for further rules being imposed would be. The FM responded by saying that it was not a binary decision and that the government was monitoring the situation closely. ITV Border raised the case of the South of Scotland, which had seen people turned away at hospitals. The FM said that she was aware of the situation and encouraged everyone in the area to do what they could to alleviate the pressure on local services. The Herald and the Mail both raised the subject of vaccine passports. The FM noted that there were ethical concerns to be considered but that the Scottish Government wouldn’t rule any further action.

Press Release: Self-Catering Worth £867m to Scotland

Posted on August 26, 2021August 31, 2021 by Fiona Campbell

The self-catering sector is worth £867million each year to the Scottish economy, a new report has found.

Economic Impact of Self-Catering Sector to the Scottish Economy has shown that in 2019 the 17,794 traditional self-catering properties across Scotland not only generated £672million in economic activity but encouraged visitors to spend £867million, thereby benefiting other related businesses in tourism and hospitality.

The report, carried out by the specialists at Frontline and commissioned by the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), also found that short-term letting in Scotland supports 23,979 full-time equivalent jobs.

Figures were taken from 2019 in order to understand how the sector, which has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, performs under normal circumstances.

Self-caterers have faced significant financial problems throughout the pandemic, with many operating at hugely reduced capacity and others facing the prospect of having to close their businesses entirely.

In 2020, due to Covid-19 restrictions, there was a £253 million plunge in guest spend and a drop in the total economic contribution the sector made of around a third (29%).

This underlines the need for government to support small businesses as they seek to recover from Covid-19.

Frontline also partnered with the Professional Association of Self-Caterers and SuperControl to produce similar figures showing the state of self-catering across Great Britain.

Their in-depth research discovered that the self-catering sector is worth £2.6billion to the British economy and supports 69,635 jobs across the United Kingdom.

The new figures cast further doubt over the Scottish Government’s plans for a licensing scheme, which threatens to irreparably damage the vital sector and hamper its ability to help Scotland’s tourism offering recover from COVID-19.

Rather than introducing licensing, which would jeopardise the £867million contribution self-catering makes to the Scottish public coffers, as well as many of the tens of thousands of jobs, the Scottish Government should consider listening to the sector’s exemption proposal.

Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers Chief Executive, Fiona Campbell, said:

“We already knew that self-catering is an essential part of Scotland’s vital tourism industry, but this report goes to show how significant our contribution is.

“Our £867million contribution to Scotland’s economy is indicative of the professionalism, entrepreneurial ethos, and drive that has made our sector a key pillar of Scotland’s world-renowned tourism offering.

“These figures make the Scottish Government’s continued willingness to thrust a damaging, counter-productive, and badly designed licensing scheme onto our businesses even more baffling.

“One thing is for sure, if the government is to rely on our huge contribution to the Scottish public purse, the last thing they should do is cripple our sector in this way.

Economic Impact Study –Scotland Report

Economic Impact Study-UK Report