Scotland's tiers travel ban casts doubt on future of 'staycations'

Hoteliers are telling Clyde 1 they are confused and disappointed following the introduction of Scotland's new tiers system, introduced yesterday to stop the spread of Coronavirus.

The First Minister warned that it came with a travel ban and people should not travel out with their local authority area, especially to places in a lower tier than their own, except for essential reasons such as for work or to care for a relative.

The announcement has cast doubt on staycations for people in the central belt, which is currently in level 3, and businesses are expecting a wave of cancellations from people who had planned to travel north or south for a holiday in the coming days.

No official guidance has been issued and the Scottish Tourism Alliance are seeking urgent clarity from the Scottish Government on whether businesses can except bookings from people in tiers higher than their own.

Mark Crothall, CEO of the STA said: “Our industry has been bracing itself for today’s announcement around the tightening of levels of restrictions which will come into force on Monday and the expected wave of cancellations throughout Scotland’s hospitality and tourism sectors which will happen as a result.

"As an industry, we have always understood the need to balance public health and the economy, however we are now at a point where many hundreds of businesses simply do not have the income or funding support to remain solvent.

"Businesses in Tier 2 areas had hoped for an upturn in business following the slight ease of restrictions as the majority of custom in Tier 2 would have been likely to come from the Central Belt area, however due to the new travel restrictions, this will not be possible.

"It is absolutely critical now that all tourism and hospitality businesses impacted by these restrictions in whatever tier they are in have immediate access to a strengthened package of support from the Scottish Government to enable them to meet their overheads and retain what staff they had hoped to keep on their payroll over the coming weeks and beyond to avoid permanent closure and a significant wave of redundancies.

"The STA has formally requested a meeting with the First Minister to discuss the impact of the new restrictions and our renewed call for a robust package of support for the sector.”

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