Scottish tourism calls for support
The Scottish Government is calling on more support for the tourism sector from the UK Government as the National Trust for Scotland warns some of its properties may have to stay closed until 2022.
In a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing and Finance Secretary Kate Forbes are calling for an urgent meeting to discuss extending support for Scottish tourism until spring 2021.
Mr Ewing and Ms Forbes have asked for a review of VAT rates, as well as extensions to the job retention scheme, self-employed income support scheme and any further tourism, hospitality and events business support.
In the letter, they write: "We are writing to outline the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the hospitality and tourism sector in Scotland, and to ask for your urgent support to develop measures to mitigate the worst impacts of this crisis.
"The Scottish Government welcomes the measures that the UK Government has taken to help support businesses since the onset of the pandemic. The CJRS and the SEISS have been valuable as short-term solutions, however, they are insufficient to support the hospitality and tourism sector into recovery.''
The letter added: "The seasonal nature of tourism means that many businesses rely on a successful summer season to provide the revenue which sustains the business throughout the rest of the year.
"The July - September period accounted for almost 38% of domestic and international overnight spend in Scotland in 2019, while April - June represented a further 28%.
"Our businesses stand to lose a substantial part of their trade for this year on top of the income lost through the lockdown period and may not see a return to demand until 2021.''
The country's tourism industry has suffered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with events including the Edinburgh Festival cancelled this year.
National Trust for Scotland chief executive Simon Skinner said some of its properties are unable to comply with social distancing or cannot sustain running costs and may be closed even after the initial threat of coronavirus.
Properties proposed to stay closed until season 2022-2023 include Bannockburn Visitor Centre, Hill of Tarvit, House of the Binns, Kippen Smiddy, Leith Hall, Holmwood and Souter Johnnie's Cottage.
It comes as the charity revealed its proposals to begin reopening some properties as part of the Scottish Government's route map out of lockdown.
The NTS hopes if sufficient progress is made in tackling Covid-19, enclosed grounds and gardens can be reopened in late June or early July for local access, with built heritage properties planned to open again in mid-August.
Mr Skinner said: "I said at the outset that the trust is in trouble through no fault of our own - our only way back is to take action now and make some difficult choices.
"We are going to have to live within our means - not just at the moment while lockdown is still effectively in full force but in the coming months, too.
"We have to decide which properties we can afford to open, either because they will generate sufficient visitor numbers to help with our recovery or because we can find ways to reopen them that will be compliant with the new normal of public health restrictions.''
He added: "We have already missed the busiest season for some properties and it simply isn't viable to reopen them in the latter part of the year so we will keep them closed until the new season begins in Easter of 2021.
"Having said that, in some cases where the historic building or centre is closed, it will still be possible to admit visitors to grounds and gardens.
"In a few cases, such is the unsuitable configuration of the buildings in terms of social distancing, or the scale of their running costs, that we will have to consider keeping them closed longer - perhaps into 2022 - until when we hope conditions will have improved sufficiently to bring about a return to better days.''
The trust was forced to place more than 400 staff at risk of redundancy due to financial difficulty because of the crisis.
Mr Skinner said: "I appreciate that many people will be disappointed if their favourite property is closed for a time longer.
"These are not choices we wanted to make but we need to take them to ensure that the trust gets through this period and emerges from the other side ready to do what it does best.''
He added: "We have approached the Scottish Government for financial support and, if this were forthcoming, it may allow us to open more properties more quickly.
"Nonetheless, if people want to help us recover faster, going beyond basic survival, I urge them to support us by remaining as members or donating to our new emergency appeal.
"We have always existed for the benefit for the people of Scotland as funded by our members and supporters - with a little more help we can save the trust and in turn we can return to saving Scotland's national treasures at our full capacity.''
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