Arran residents and businesses say they are ready to open the island to domestic visitors following the relaxation of the five mile travel restrictions next week, meaning more freedom for Scots hoping to holiday locally this summer.
With lockdown causing a huge financial blow to tourism on Arran, the island is now entering into its recovery phrase and says communities are ready to welcome visitors back safely in a bid to kick-start the island’s economy and get people moving again.
READ MORE: Islanders call for guaranteed ferry spaces for medical appointments
Arran businesses such as retail shops and visitor centres have reopened this week, but many say tourism is now crucial to alleviating the impact coronavirus has had on local businesses.
Lorna Mansfield is managing director and owner of Old Byre Showroom and Café Thyme on the island and says businesses will not be able to recover fully without tourists.
She said: “We opened the retail side of the business and the play park on Monday and we’re doing takeaway from the café but it’s so quiet because there aren’t any tourists. I have a shop in Brodick which is quite small and it’s not done well at all this week with reopening.
READ MORE: Arran ferry cuts ‘potentially catastrophic for island economy’
“I would say if social distancing reduces and the ferry capacity increases, that will help, but at the moment we’re very limited with tourists not being able to get to Arran. Being open is better than being closed but it’s nothing like what it should be.
“We’ve all got to try and stay safe as much as we can but we can’t isolate ourselves anymore because the economy will collapse otherwise. People that know Arran will come back and hopefully people that haven’t been will think it’s a good alternative to travelling abroad.”
Mansfield admits that businesses will have to weigh up economic recovery with health concerns as more people arrive on the island.
She said: “I feel safe but I have got concerns when tourists do come. We just have to take the precautionary measures and do we what we can. We’ve had to change our practices such as if people are trying on clothes then they can’t just put them back on the rack. We need to steam-clean them and provide hand sanitiser wherever possible.”
The local welcome comes as Ayrshire travel route The Coig, similar to the North Coast 500, launched a campaign this week actively encouraging people across Ayrshire and the Clyde Islands to invite people to travel locally and visit them as restrictions lift.
READ MORE: Islanders' anger as safety issue brings Scotland's busiest ferry to a halt
Daniel Steele, chief executive, said: “The tricky thing is finding that balance between keeping people safe and inviting visitors to the islands as we want to avoid any spikes in regions and islands that are particularly fragile.
"Healthcare provision on islands is different so it needs to be gradual and only when communities feel ready to welcome people back.
“The “You’re Invited” campaign isn’t to throw the doors open to everyone, quite the opposite. It’s about businesses and locals inviting friends and family to come and see them as well as loyal customers and those within a relatively short travel distance.
“We’re all guilty at times of not making much use of what’s around us so this is a real opportunity to explore some of these places and holiday and shop locally. The Coig provides a lot information for people to plan ahead as we certainly don’t want to be encouraging thousands of people to honeypot areas.
"Places like Culzean Castle, Dean Castle and Eglinton Country Park give people leisure time to enjoy themselves again in a safe way and I’m confident that people will be sensible as they have been throughout the crisis. Now is the time.”
Turn off and be at one with nature as you take a slow wander through our rich and immersive woodlands.
— The Coig (@TheCoig) July 2, 2020
Who will you invite to get lost in nature with?🌲🌿🐿#LocalInvite #TheCoig
––@KelburnEstate @CulzeanOfficial @N_T_S @Dumfries_House @EglintonPark pic.twitter.com/tqbHhXr6Ep
Alastair Dobson, managing director of Taste of Arran, also invites Scots to staycation on Arran, describing it as “Scotland in miniature”.
Alastair said: “We’re ready to welcome tourists to Arran. We have worked positively with the Arran Economic Group to make sure the community is looked after as that’s hugely important – we want to be cautious and follow government guidelines but locals are very much behind it.
“We’ve also worked on the ferry capacity to allow a safe number of people to get across and with Arran Medical Group to ensure they have the capacity to do Test and Protect for an increased number of people on the island.
“Arran is a Scotland in miniature and we’re inviting people who already know how special the island is so I’m confident they’ll treat it well and respect the community.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here