Written by;
Nigel Hollett
Director
CLA Cymru
“Rural tourism businesses looking to re-open hotels and BandBs, campsites and shared-facility accommodation will be disappointed and frustrated following the First Minister’s announcement today,” says CLA Cymru Director, Nigel Hollett.
“Our members running self-contained holiday accommodation will breathe a sigh of relief that they can be open-for-business next Saturday (11 July), and be grateful the lockdown has not been even longer. But for sites with communal facilities – they’re still waiting for their season to start – and they feel far-behind competitor holiday businesses in England.”
Nigel Hollett adds,
“This week CLA Cymru set up a tourism task group and heard from some members who are passionate rural tourism business operators. The messages they had in common were that the Welsh tourism sector must open as soon as safely possible and should be in-step with other parts of the UK on standards and restrictions. Above all, they are asking for certainty and clarity – allowing businesses to plan, stock-up and staff-up. Equally, the Government needs to rev-up Visit Wales’ campaigning engine to promote holidays in Wales.”
“Tourism businesses face a host of imperatives that challenge their viability: operating at part-capacity, intensive cleaning regimes, closed play areas and activity-rooms and flow-management on countryside sites where freedom-to-roam has been part of the package,” Nigel Hollet explains. “Customers’ confidence that they will have a safe and enjoyable holiday is essential – but their tolerance of procedures, signage and cordoned-off areas – will determine the success of reopening as much as easement of Government restriction. We urge the Government to help these businesses make it easy for families to enjoy a great holiday in rural Wales.”
