COMMUNITIES in tourist areas across Scotland must be made to “feel secure” amid the expected surge in staycations this summer, the chief executive of VisitScotland has urged, ahead of the reopening of the industry in July.

Malcolm Roughead said setting July 15 as the provisional reopening date for Scottish tourism has been “psychologically important” in giving businesses “something to aim at” after the sector was obliterated by coronavirus in the first half of the year.

The move has led to expectations the industry will benefit from a rise in staycations this summer, as restrictions on international travel show no signs of being lifted. But Mr Roughead emphasised the importance of ensuring local communities in Scotland are not overwhelmed.

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“On the community side, there is a bit of work that we need to do just to make communities feel secure,” he told The Herald. “We need to take them with us, because they are part of the whole experience that people get. We want them to feel safe and also to benefit from the visitor economy when it is up and running again.”

He added: “It has got to be done in conjunction with the industry and the community, so it is done safely and at a pace that suits both business and the community. The worst thing we can do is open the floodgates and we get a negative reaction.”

The tourism chief said staff at the agency have been working hard to “signpost” help for under-pressure businesses amid the “confusing” welter of support schemes and grants put in place since the crisis erupted, while striving to ensure Scotland remains “front of mind” for tourists at home and abroad.

The Scottish tourism industry has been critical of a perceived lack of financial support for businesses affected by the crisis. Much of the criticism has centred on the decision to rule out businesses with rateable values of greater than £51,000 from grant support, which the Scottish Tourism Alliance said has penalised hundreds of businesses.

Asked if he sympathised with those who have lost out, Mr Roughead said: “I can sympathise with anyone in a position where they need that support. No one wants to see an industry that was growing, and had developed the momentum that it had, suddenly disappear overnight. That takes a lot of businesses with it, a lot of jobs.”

While overnight stays in Scotland generated £5.8 billion for the economy last year, rising to £12bn when day trips are taken into consideration, that revenue was suddenly “wiped out”.

“No one would have forecast that happening to them, and that has been seen right around the world,” Mr Roughead added.

Mr Roughead acknowledged the difficulties facing the industry, and referred to the redundancies recently announced by Crieff Hydro, Apex Hotels and Macdonald Hotels, in the context of the government furlough scheme winding down.

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He said: “If we get through to the 15th [of July] we will bring most of them with us. There is no doubt there will have been casualties. That will emerge as we get closer and do the supply and demand audit, because we will see where the gaps are. What we need do now is analyse the impact of that date (July 15), in terms of what that means for those businesses that are in furlough, because obviously they have got to get their people back into operation and trained up in the new way of working. Now, having this date… they can maybe stave off the redundancies that were being mooted.”

Despite the huge disruption caused to tourism by the pandemic, Mr Roughead insisted that demand for visiting Scotland remains strong. “There’s a very strong demand for Scotland, still, a lot of positivity,” he said. “People have been postponing holidays more than cancelling, which is encouraging.”