BUSINESS NEWS
COMMENT: A STIMULUS PACKAGE IS NEEDED TO SAVE DOMESTIC TOURISM Shadow tourism minister Alex Sobel calls for a government support package during English Tourism Week
This week is English Tourism Week. In normal times this would be our opportunity to showcase the beauty of our landscapes, our unique and diverse cultural heritage, and the very best in the service and hospitality sector. However, this year the week
comes at the most difficult moment for domestic tourism in living memory. The reality for our domestic tourism is that it won’t return to anything like normality until next spring. For most businesses it means 18 months with only government support and any savings they might have (and many do not) to rely on. This is a year in which success for domestic tourism will not be measured on whether the sector thrives but whether it survives.
Tourism towns need help The impact is far-reaching. UK tourism and its services, including accommodation, attractions and events, are interlinked to a supply chain around food (much locally produced), transport, construction and maintenance. Financial turmoil in the tourism
sector leaves a great number of coastal and rural communities’ economies exposed to near collapse without significant support. It’s no coincidence the recent Centre for Towns report on ‘Covid and our Towns’ found that coastal towns were far more financially exposed to Covid-19 than other communities and four of the five worst-affected – Newquay, Skegness, Cleveleys and St Ives – are coastal towns reliant on tourism. The effect on workers and their families if the right support doesn’t
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come forward could be absolutely devastating. This is especially true for seasonal workers whose work starts after the cut-off date for government support schemes.
Furlough needs flexibility The extension of the furlough scheme is of course welcome, but it is due to end just as the leanest period of the year starts for tourism businesses. Without support over the winter, businesses could see a sharp decline. At a time when many more Britons than usual will be tempted by a UK holiday, some businesses won’t even be able to operate due to planning restrictions that limit the opening season for particular tourism businesses. While the furlough
schemes cannot continue indefinitely, we cannot allow the success they have had in reducing job losses to be lost in the domestic tourism sector. It is unlikely that asking employers to contribute even 40% of salaries would fend off
This is a year where
success for domestic tourism is not whether the sector thrives but whether it survives
large-scale job losses. Labour is therefore calling on the government to make the scheme more flexible. Businesses should not have to wait until the start of August to allow furloughed workers to return on a part-time basis; this flexibility is key to many companies relying on the domestic tourism trade. Many in the industry feel that
the Tourism Sector Deal, published last summer, is no longer fit for a post-Covid world. It may be important to look again at the deal, to find out what short-term infrastructure support is needed and
recast the deal to take into account
the new future the industry is facing. Looking closely at planning restrictions that limit tourism businesses may also be needed to account for the ‘new normal’ and is certainly needed over the next few months if we are to extend the season during the recovery so all tourism businesses can operate over the winter.
Sector needs a strategy It is absolutely true that a stimulus package for post-lockdown will ease the burden on the British people as well as boost the domestic tourism Industry. If holiday businesses shut, where will the great British public take their post-lockdown break? We have every Thursday applauded our essential workers, whether in the NHS, care, blue light or food sectors. These workers have been putting their lives on the line every day in the most stressful conditions. After the crisis is over, these workers will deserve a holiday but many are among the lowest- paid in our society. Considering ways we can both reward our essential workers and stimulate the sectors most affected by the lockdown should be a cornerstone of policymaking for the recovery. Let’s mark this year’s English
Alex Sobel
Tourism Week with a strategy that ensures the sector can survive this crisis. Let’s set out a post-coronavirus world where our coastal and tourist-dependent towns are not just protected but are the setting for the renaissance of UK tourism. Let’s allow the domestic tourism industry to do what it does best and create a stimulus that rewards our citizens, provides for our workers, and saves this industry.
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