RURAL bars and hotels fear they are facing the worst summer tourist season for decades after new research showed some have suffered a significant drop in trade since stricter drink drive laws came into force.
Other businesses in villages and more remote areas are now hiring courtesy vehicles to encourage diners to consume wine and beer with their meals as the hospitality trade tries to counter a plunge in revenue from alcohol sales of up to 90 per cent at some venues.
The study found that customers are shunning lunchtime drinking and increasingly opt for cheaper tea, coffee or soft drinks.
The findings come days after the latest statistics revealed a 17 per cent reduction in drink driving offences in Scotland between January and March this year, compared to the same three months in 2014.
The new limit, which came into force on December 5 last year, means that motorists risk breaking the law if they consume a single pint or glass of wine before driving.
The new study by hospitality purchasing company, Beacon, found that a drop in alcohol sales of between 10 and 90 per cent across the Scottish hospitality sector is hitting some businesses so hard they are considering staff redundancies to stay afloat, or even closure.
Matthew Clark, Beacon's leading drinks supplier, reported a reduction in the volume of liquor sales of over 2.8 million litres and an 11 per cent spike in soft drink sales in the 12 weeks following the law change.
City locations with good access to public transport have been largely unaffected, according to Beacon, but many rural businesses fear this could be their worst summer tourist season in decades.
Stuart Hutton, at The Priory Hotel in Beauly, Inverness, said: "We are fortunate that a significant volume of our bar trade is local, but we're still seeing a five per cent drop in sales.
"The most significant change is in our restaurant with customers not choosing to have an alcoholic drink with their food. We have therefore had to introduce a courtesy 'Dine & Wine Vehicle' for our local guests to transport from their home to the hotel. Without this, I think sales would have dropped by more than 15 per cent.
"Despite having to introduce this costly service, we still consider ourselves to be lucky, compared with other hotels - we know that many have been seriously affected by the change in legislation."
The tourism and hospitality sector in Scotland is estimated to be worth £4.2 billion and employs more than 218,000 people, so any change in tourist behaviour and spending could hit the Scottish economy hard.
Most of the businesses surveyed by Beacon reported that consumers no longer drink alcohol at lunchtime while the businesses with an emphasis on food and dining have stabilised their income by diversifying their drink menus to include non-alcoholic beer and wine, as well as "mocktails".
It follows complaints from the license trade that the new drink drive-law was behind a 10 per cent drop in booze sales in pubs and bars between December 2014 and March this year.
Tennant Hilditch, director of sales for Beacon, said: "Just six months in, the research paints a gloomy picture for the hospitality industry in Scotland, and particularly those in rural locations.
"If the snapshot we have taken is reflective of the whole country with alcohol sales down as much as 90 per cent in places then millions of pounds will have been wiped off the Scottish hospitality economy.
"We absolutely believe in safer Scottish roads, and since the changes were made in December we have been working really hard with our customers to help them diversify their offer, such as investing in their food and menus to cover the shortfall in the drop in alcohol sales."
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