Concern over booking cancellations on Yorkshire coast
Some accommodation providers are experiencing it, due to rising infection rates.
Last updated 23rd Jun 2021
Some accommodation providers on the Yorkshire coast say visitors are cancelling bookings.
It is as the coronavirus infection rate per 100,000 across the borough is continuing to rise.
But, according to Publich Health England, 68% of those in the Borough of Scarborough have received both doses with 85% having their first dose.
Tony Bates, owner of Hotel Ellenby in Scarborough, said:
"We had a booking this weekend for four rooms. When they called up and just said 'well, we've been looking at the rising numbers of Covid and one of us has got a health condition and we're kind of thinking now we don't want to come'. They were very apologetic but it was a true surprise because I thought we were way beyond that stage but obviously not everyone is.
"I think the message that comes from Government is still very unclear. We've just had the delay. We need to make it very, very clear that in Scarborough, yes our rates are up, now if we get perspective on this people cancelling coming to Scarborough, which is a really, really safe palce but I think you can only expect people to do this for so long.
"Someone did book for September and said 'oh, is the deposit refundable if we have a third wave?' And I said 'well I've got to be honest I think if we have a third wave, we'll give everyone their deposits back and give up beacuse I really can't get my head around the idea of having a third wave, but however we did change our booking form to basically say that. If that's peace of mind then so be it.
"Last year we were in a restaurant in-between lockdowns, people were chatting and they should have been in Portugal at the time and said 'we're in Scarborough and I'll tell you what, we're having a brilliant time. We've forgotten how good it was', I think that's point number one. Look at Scarborough not as the seaside resort that it is, it's got so much more, think about what you're doing and also think about supporting the local economy,
"You've got the help your local economy but also think about how low the rates are in Scarborough. Everything's very safe and let's face it, the weather's nice and people are out and about most of the time. If you are going into restaurants or pubs, they are being very careful about it so your risk is very minimal and most of the time, you're probably coming frmo an area with much higher infection rates than we have".