Coronavirus: Government must offer more support for Britain’s cash strapped tourist towns

Ministers must offer more support for Britain’s cash strapped tourist towns struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, Labour has demanded.

It comes as pressure builds on the Chancellor Rishi Sunak to offer details on how tourism, one of the industries hit hardest by the outbreak, will be supported as the vital summer holidays approach.

And on Thursday seven former Tory ministers, including an ex-Transport Secretary called on Boris Johnson to ditch plans to force people arriving in the UK to quarantine.

A new analysis by the Labour released to mark English Tourism Week, has laid bare the devastating impact of Coronavirus on traditional tourist towns across the UK.

It reveals ten towns in the UK with the highest percentage of employees working in shut down industries already had an average monthly pay packet nearly £300 lighter than the UK average before the crisis.

Today Labour are calling on the Government to bring the flexible furlough scheme forward to the end of June in order to give British tourism a chance to take advantage of whatever summer season is available.

They are also demanding the development of regional economic plans to give targeted support across the UK and help the industry get back to work.

Shadow Culture Secretary Jo Stevens told the Mirror: “One of the most devastating aspects of Coronavirus is how it often impacts worst on those who were already most vulnerable.
"Ensuring their recovery is vital. After 2010 the government took a hands-off approach that saw wages stagnate and family incomes hit.

"The same again won’t do.

"We need an ambitious response that ensures we have a sustainable tourism sector for the future – one that can be fully enjoyed by tourists and locals alike when it is safe to do so.”
Towns reliant on tourism such as Newquay, St Ives, Whitby and Skegness are among the most affected.

With smaller towns seeing the biggest drop in consumer spending, Labour is calling on government to ensure it supports these areas through the creation of regional economic plans.

Holidaying Brits spend tens of billions every year during trips abroad, but with foreign travel looking unlikely the party is calling on the government to give a boost to domestic tourism and revitalise local economies.

Visit Britain have estimated that the loss to Britain's tourism industry from the coronavirus pandemic has been as high  £37.2 billion.

The new border regime, which comes into force from June 8, will require all arrivals to self-isolate for 14 days.

Industry has already attacked the plan with more than 70 travel bosses, including chiefs at the Ritz and Savoy hotels, denouncing it in a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel.

And 40 MPs have now joined a taskforce urging the government to rethink the plan, saying it risks jobs in Britain's vulnerable aviation industry.

In a letter to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, the Future of Aviation Group warned that failure to successfully reboot air travel could lead to the loss of millions of jobs.

The group, which includes 22 Tory MPs wants the Government to prioritise “air bridges” with countries who have controlled the virus.

The Prime Minister on Wednesday confirmed that Ministers were examining the idea.
Tory MP Henry Smith said: “The Government should abandon quarantine as soon as possible.

"If we were ever going to have a blanket quarantine policy, it should have come in two or three months ago – we should be coming out of it now, not going into it.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: "As the world begins to emerge from what we hope is the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, we must look to the future and protect the British public by reducing the risk of cases crossing our border.

"We continue to support businesses in the tourism sector through one of the most generous economic packages provided anywhere in the world.

"However, it is right that we introduce these new measures now to keep the transmission rate down and prevent a devastating second wave."

Yesterday Matt Hancock offered the industry a glimmer of hope as he seemed to perform a U-turn on the prospect of Brits being able to take summer holidays abroad this year as he suggested they may now be possible.

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Earlier this month the Health Secretary said it was just a "reality of life'" that international holidays were "unlikely" in the coming months.

He told ITV's This Morning programme he "absolutely wouldn't rule it out" when he was asked if people may be able to go abroad from July.
But it may be too late for many Brits.

Britain’s biggest holiday company TUI is ser to hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers that their trips have been cancelled - calling off all holiday.

The company previously axed departures up to June 11 but has extended this until July 1 at the earliest.

EasyJet has said it will cut up to 30% of its workforce - about 4,500 jobs but confirmed it would restart flights on June 15.