WHY is it important for Scottish tourism and hospitality to reopen out of the pandemic at the same time as England and why must a date be set?
Owners of hotels, restaurants, bars, and tourist attractions in Scotland universally welcomed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's "small step" in the right direction but the road map was also met with "utter dismay, confusion and anger".
Collectives including the newly formed Hospitality and Tourism Action Group were among those to call for better detail on logistics and a timetable with a target reopening date.
It is argued the date can be moveable with the circumstances, but gives firms the chance to make plans and consider contingencies.
A petition to help convince the First Minister that setting a date, however fluid, is central to businesses planning for reopening has also been set up.
READ MORE: Long-running fears of hostile intent but no one expected a UK Government takeover
More than 80 HTAG hospitality businesses across Scotland are proposing a “UK-wide full unlock and reopening of the tourism and hospitality industry” on May 17, a date that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set for lifting many restrictions south of the Border, including on international travel to and from England.
For holidaymakers, a set date in Scotland will give scope to seek to book a break some time beyond that, while being mindful the booking could still be pushed back, it is claimed.
“Rather than cautious hope, the industry now faces widespread cancellations as people make plans to head elsewhere in the UK, recruitment becomes almost impossible,” says HTAG. “It also risks a summer of depressed trade and inability to recruit the workforce to service it.
“Businesses need advance warning of a specific date in order to plan ahead for reopening. It is fully understood that these dates are subject to being pushed back if progress declines.”
The group includes Kylesku Hotel, Sutherland, Torridon Hotel, Wester Ross, Mackays Hotel, Caithness, Kinloch Lodge Hotel, Isle of Skye, Duck's Inn, East Lothian, Knockendarroch Hotel, Perthshire, Prestonfield House Hotel, Edinburgh, and Cringletie House Hotel, Peebleshire.
Bookings for abroad soared by 1,000 per cent in the 48 hours after Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out the English route map.
The failure of the exit plan to reassure also means a lack of direction, “with an end to the deep freeze still out of reach”, writes Deputy Business Editor Scott Wright in his column this week.
As international trade minister Graham Stuart delivered the inappropriately bullish aside that there would "ongoing frictions" but exports would rise, the Scottish Government is preparing to create a new customs stop.
From April the Cairnryan checkpoint will be used to inspect goods arriving in Scotland from the Republic of Ireland and the wider EU via Northern Ireland.
“In the absence of anything real by way of the Leave camp’s promised benefits – which have failed so spectacularly to materialise – one of the favourite words in the Conservative Brexiter lexicon has been ‘opportunities’,” writes Business Editor Ian McConnell in his Called to Account column on Friday, as it seems the cons outweigh the pros.
Glasgow-based energy giant ScottishPower is to invest heavily in renewables as it more than doubled the profits it made in household supply last year, Business Correspondent Mark Williamson reports.
Business Correspondent Kristy Dorsey reveals how government is looking at limiting non-compete clauses "prompted by concerns that the current use is frustrating workers who want to leave and set up their own business".
In the Business Bulletin, Scottish Olympic gold winner Callum Skinner has helped develop specialist rear view glasses for cycling, and is in good company with cyclist and physicist Alex Macdonald, who is also a former European inventor of the year.
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