Caithness hotel boss warns of impact from loss of tourist income
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A CAITHNESS hotel boss has warned that the loss of income from tourism will have an impact on the whole supply chain and the wider local economy.
"The knock-on effect is quite scary,” said Andrew Mackay, of the Caithness Collection. More than 100 staff have been furloughed across its chain of three hotels – the Norseman in Wick, the Pentland Hotel in Thurso and the Castletown Hotel.
All bus tours for the year are cancelled.
Mr Mackay is among 75 representatives from across the north Highland tourism and hospitality sector who signed the open letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon seeking support for their industry.
“I think it was a very timely letter," he said. "There is a lot of talk of the Highlands being closed for visitors.
“I think there has to be some form of common sense. The business has such a short season up here and it is so fragile and we employ so many people, it is critical.
“It affects the whole supply chain – butchers, bakers – as well as the wages that go into the local economy."
Another of the signatories was Andrew Mowat, of the Seaview Hotel at John O'Groats, where around 15 staff are furloughed.
He said: “We are doing nothing virtually, other than giving refunds and making cancellations. We have lost between £50,000 and £70,000 in room cancellations alone.
"Even if things can open up again we certainly could not operate the way we did before. It is going to be quite difficult. We will just have to wait and see.”
Along with other local businesses, the Seaview relies on trade from visitors using the John O'Groats passenger ferry to Orkney which has also been hit by the coronavirus crisis.
Mr Mowat explained that the hotel relied on the revenue made from the summer season to see it through the winter.
Murray Lamont, of Mackays Hotel in Wick – who also signed the letter – said: "It is necessary to highlight the importance of tourism in the north Highlands to the First Minister, and this letter was aimed at doing this. It was also to highlight the knock-on effect the current situation has on the smaller communities in the north.
"The government must lay out a plan, one that includes future support for all tourism businesses and is fair to everyone.
"We stress that we don’t want the Highlands open until it is absolutely safe to do so for the residents and key workers as well as tourists."
Trudy Morris, chief executive of Caithness Chamber of Commerce, said: "Tourism is a mainstay of the economy of the north Highlands and, while the support that has been given to the industry to date is welcome, it is clear that thought now needs to be given to the long-term future of the sector. The seasonality of the tourism industry means that many businesses are facing the possibility of 18 months without income.
"We absolutely recognise the need to protect public health and to mitigate against the spread of Covid-19 where possible, and we do not ask that Scottish Government makes any moves that would run counter to the imperative to protect lives. Rather, we ask that the Scottish Government pays close attention to moves being made elsewhere in Europe to reopen some portions of the hospitality and tourism sector and uses lessons from these to develop a strategy to support our own industry.
"The First Minister has rightly recognised in recent days that Scotland needs to get some normality back. As plans are developed to ease lockdown restrictions and bring some parts of our economy back online, it is important that a clear, comprehensive and transparent plan is developed to support and enable the reopening of tourism in the north Highlands and to allay understandable anxieties within our communities about the prospect of tourists returning to the area.
"Now more than ever, businesses need certainty to enable their long-term planning. It is important that Scottish Government keeps the tourism sector abreast of developments and provides appropriate support to ensure the survival of this important industry."
