Fiona Campbell, chief executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, welcomed this week’s announcement that cross-border travel would resume on April 26 but demanded “urgent further clarity” on when larger cottages and apartments can reopen to multiple households.
Only one household can visit self-catering accommodation from April 26, rising to four people from two households from May 17.
She said: “Our members haven’t seen a significant uptake in bookings following the announcement but we did see a spike in bookings earlier this year and we’re all excited to see guests returning to our properties.
“The news that our members who operate their properties in Scotland’s island communities will not face the additional barrier of travel restrictions and will be treated the same way as those in the rest of the country is also most welcome. However, self-catering still faces serious uncertainty, caused by the lack of an indicative date for those larger properties which has the dire consequence of making them unviable for the foreseeable future.
“What is also needed, especially for those larger businesses, is more financial support from the Scottish government, which we believe must be in place until Scotland enters level zero.”