TODAY we welcome a new contributor to eBusinessCumbria & Cumbria24 providing a hotelier’s view of life in the Lakes. We are delighted to introduce you to Jamie Shail of Rothay Manor, Ambleside’s boutique hotel and his monthly post .
On 29th June, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Hospitality and Tourism launched a new inquiry into coastal and lakeside tourism.
The inquiry entitled ‘Coasts and Waters’ aims to examine tourism and hospitality in the UK’s coasts and lakeside regions, and the process brings together a wide range of stakeholders to examine the challenges and opportunities that face businesses and local communities in these areas.
It is imperative that the needs of businesses in these areas are considered, particularly given the socioeconomic challenges that are often present in such locations. Coastal and lakeside tourism can be a major source of growth and jobs, especially for the young. It is important that a long-term vision is provided to enable tourism and hospitality businesses to grow, but to do so in a sustainable manner that protects the interests of local communities.
The timing of this enquiry is crucial; as you will be aware tourism is a highly seasonal industry and depends on significant numbers of people visiting, indeed its wider infrastructure is also largely dependent on these visitors. These businesses include pubs, restaurants, visitor attractions, shops, historic houses, heritage gardens and the like. There is no doubt whatsoever that Covid-19 has ravaged the sector this year, as a result the sector will more than likely experience a protracted recovery period well into 2021.
On 3rd July the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government Simon Clarke announced a new £10 million Kick-starting Tourism Package. He confirmed the new funding will be distributed to communities immediately to kick start tourism in time for the summer as part of the government’s drive to boost the recovery of the economy.
There is no doubt at all that many areas across the UK have experienced a significant fall in visitor numbers in recent months. While most hospitality businesses re-opened from 04th July, many did so significantly below capacity as a result of restrictions to combat the spread of Covid-19.
To assist, a number of measures have recently been announced; including the above £10 million Kick-start Tourism Package, designed to give small businesses in tourist destinations grants of up to £5,000 to help them adapt their businesses following the coronavirus pandemic. They also announced a cut in the VAT rate from 20% to 5% for all businesses in the hospitality, accommodation, and attractions sector for six months, and a £10 voucher scheme to encourage people to dine out mid-week.
More significantly the government has also pledged a ‘levelling up’ agenda across the country and has stated that supporting a number of vital sectors including hospitality should form an essential part of this.
These announcements and funding streams are welcome; however, they should not overshadow the very real and significant social and economic issues many coastal and lakeside communities face including low wages, low skills, seasonal jobs, high levels of benefits, alongside ageing and transient populations.
How, then, should we best consider these issues around the economy and access to services to ensure that initiatives that are put in place are not undertaken in isolation?
The UK’s coastline has always played a considerable role in the economy, history and culture of our country, and our lakeside regions have over centuries proved to be hugely popular tourism destinations, but both areas face significant issues. Many of our coastal resorts were already in significant economic decline, and our rural economies increasingly reliant on tourism, especially in light of the demise of traditional rural employment, they depend hugely on tourism and its related infrastructure / support networks.
The tourism and hospitality sector is diverse with broad reach across our economic landscape, encompassing many thousands of businesses of varying models and size. It is essential that we have a strong tourism and hospitality sector in order to help drive our economic recovery and future prosperity.
Which is perhaps why now more than ever it is important that we ensure we put measures in place to assist both our coastal towns and lakeside destinations, which directly employ 3.2 million people directly and a further 2.8 million people in-directly. If we fail to put effective measures in place to assist these communities going forward, we will inevitably see a huge downturn in employment, particularly among our young people, many of whom work in the hospitality sector.
The APPG is set to hold two roundtable discussion sessions with key industry figures – the first took place 15th July and the second is to take place on 20th July, followed by a wider consultation with relevant stakeholders, with a summary report due in September.
The inquiry will examine the following points:
- What support can be afforded to coastal and lakeside commerce and economies to optimise their capacity to drive much needed economic growth, employment, and prosperity?
- What distinct concerns do costal and lakeside businesses have compared to other hospitality businesses?
- What support do local authorities require to promote and support tourism in these areas?
- What structural issues are faced by coastal communities that inhibit tourism?
- How can demand be stimulated for coastal and lakeside tourism?
- How can tourism to these areas be grown sustainably?
- What are the recent trends in the number of sector businesses within these regions of the UK?
- What conditions need to be present in the economy to enable long term recovery and growth in these sectors of the visitor economy?
Many of us across the sector will be keeping a weather eye on the recommendations made by the inquiry and the resulting actions. Certainly these communities are resilient but it’s imperative that we fully explore all of the possibilities to protect them and ensure their continued survival as viable places in which to live work and do business – getting it wrong brings about all sorts of very stark realities, which I’m sure none of us wishes to witness.
