Helen Henderson

Last week the Scottish Government announced the relaxation of restrictions, with the “stay at home” order lifted on Friday 2^nd April and replaced with “stay local”, whereby everyone is asked to remain within their local authority boundaries except for essential journeys.

Further to this, the Scottish Government has published a timetable setting out how and when the Scottish Government plan to lift the current coronavirus restrictions over the coming weeks and months. The timetable is updated on a regular basis and contains all the pertinent indicate and confirmed dates for the re-opening of the country.

As it stands, and as confirmed by the Frist Minister at her latest briefing, the 26^th of April remains the next significant date for more reopening, with the reopening of the majority of visitor attractions (with some exceptions – e.g. soft play, funfair rides) permitted from this date.

The timetable can be viewed at this link.

The Scottish Government recently extended the Non-Domestic Rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses for 12 months to help relieve pressure caused by the pandemic. The legislation was enacted on 18 March 2021 and will come into effect from 1 April 2021.

The 100% relief was initially awarded automatically by billing authorities in the 2020/21 financial year. This year, however, the Scottish Government now require an application to be completed to award this relief.

It is important that you complete the relief application as soon as possible to allow for it to be reflected in your annual bill. Online applications are already available via some local authority websites and all should be live by early April 2021.

For more information, please click here.

Today (24^th March), ASVA received confirmation from the Scottish Government that 2 metre physical distancing restrictions will be in place for our sector when re-opening commences on 26^th April, for at least the short term.
 
ASVA has been pushing for changes to the restrictions to allow our sector to trade at a more economically viable 1 metre (as per WHO social distancing recommendations), but unfortunately, the Scottish Government do not believe that it would be appropriate to reduce physical distancing restrictions yet. They have, however, confirmed that 1 metre physical distancing will be possible within hospitality settings, e.g. cafes, bars and restaurants, so attractions with hospitality elements will be able operate with 1 metre distancing in these areas should they so wish.
 
ASVA is very disappointed that 2 metre distancing is to be maintained for attractions. We have made it clear to the Scottish Government that this restriction will have considerable negative economic impacts for 85% of the sector and have called for:

• Clarity on when physical distancing restrictions will be loosened for attractions.  We particularly recognise that there are a number of members who will not be able to re-open their doors at all while 2m is maintained, so we urgently need clarity on when we are likely to see an easing of distancing restrictions.
• Further, targeted financial support for those businesses within the sector who cannot trade at an economically viable level with 2 metre restrictions in place.

ASVA has put forward what we feel are very sensible proposals to the Scottish Government for the gradual reduction of physical distancing measures within our sector, including the adoption of additional mitigating measures, to ensure that any safety concerns are addressed. It is therefore disappointing that we do not have more positive news to support to the sector at this stage. We, however, remain hopeful that our case will be heard and we will see restrictions lifted sooner rather than later. We can assure members that we will continue to engage with Scottish Government officials on this matter during the purdah period when we are unable to engage with ministers.

It has also been confirmed by the Scottish Government that Test & Protect measures, including the collection of customer details for those visitors using hospitality facilities will remain in place, as per last year. The Scottish Government has highlighted that operators can use the Test & Protect app to help them manage this requirement.

Our friends at the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) have shared with ASVA their latest wave of public sentiment research they commissioned with Steve Mills of Decision House. This is the 7^th wave of results and follows similar sentiment tracker research conducted last Spring and Summer to measure the changing public mood about the nature of the UK epidemic, and to gauge the effect on people’s optimism of the successful roll-out of the vaccine programme.
 
The headlines from this latest wave of research are:

• Since end January there has been a notable positive shift in confidence around visiting attractions when they re-open.
• The increase in confidence over the past month has been driven by those who have been lower on confidence throughout the pandemic – particularly older people (aged 40+)
• The growth in confidence has also been driven by those living in the south of England and Scotland, with the Midlands and North of England yet to see the same increases.
• The positive and safe visit experiences at attractions in 2020 have helped to lay the foundations for visitor confidence in 2021, now that anxiety appears to be easing.
• This easing of anxiety and growth in confidence is being driven primarily by less concern around new variants and high infection rates, plus perceived success around the vaccine rollout.
• The recent positive impact of the vaccination programme on public confidence has been particularly noteworthy – having the first vaccine dose now increases the proportion saying they will visit any attraction from 47% to 57% (+10%). This compares with an uplift of just 44% to 48% (+4%) at end January
• The impact of the vaccine is even more effective in encouraging the fearful to at least consider a visit – moving people from ‘unlikely to visit for a long time’ to ‘wait and see what happens for a short while’
• Since the end of January there has been a significant drop in the proportion of the market who will feel more anxious than usual about using indoor attraction facilities after re-opening. Anxiety is now lower than 2020.
• Most safety measures will still be highly comforting to visitors, although with visit confidence now growing, their impact on the visit decision is perhaps diminishing a little. There is now a small minority (around 7%) who will not visit until a ‘normal’ experience can be delivered.  

You can view the complete report at this link.

Last month, ASVA and the Moffat Centre asked all Scottish attractions to complete a survey to help us ascertain the industry’s preparedness for re-opening, the factors that need to be considered which will influence decision making about re-opening, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on your business and further support measures required.
 
In total, more than 200 attractions responded to the request, providing us with a comprehensive overview from the sector. The results of the survey have now been collated by the Moffat Centre and can be viewed in this report.
 
Please note, the key data from the survey was shared with the Scottish Government in advance, to afford them opportunity to review prior to the First Minister’s announcement on Tuesday.
 
Key highlights include:

• Ongoing travel restrictions would greatly inhibit the sector from being able to viably reopen. For example, if the country moved into Level 3 conditions which limited travel to local authority areas only, 30% of attractions would remain closed, with a further 49.5% only opening on a restricted basis (e.g. reduced hours/weekends only).
• The continuation of 2 metre physical distancing will have economic consequences for the majority of the attractions sector. Only 15% of attractions stated that reopening at 2 metre distancing would have no impact on their ability to operate at an economically sustainable level. It is therefore important to note that, for as long as physical distancing restrictions are in place, it is highly likely that our sector is going to need financial assistance to survive. 
• The lack of international visitors in 2021 is going to have a considerable economic impact on our sector. Almost 20% of attractions are anticipating a drop in turnover of more than 50% (when compared to 2019). Again this highlights the vulnerable position that many our sector is likely to be in this year and the need for further financial support.
• Just under 60% of attraction operators believe that an introduction of a government-led incentivisation scheme similar to ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ designed specifically to stimulate the domestic audience to visit attractions would be beneficial for the industry.  
• Just over 50% of attractions believe their business is secure in the short term (next 1-3 months). However, this number drops to just over a third when looking at the long-term security of their business (beyond 12 months).
• In terms of key measures to aid economic sustainability at attractions, respondents stated that the Scottish/UK Government’s top three priorities should be providing new/additional grant support to the industry, reducing 2m physical distancing restrictions and supporting increased national marketing activity/spend aimed at the domestic audience. 

As part her announcement on 16th March, the First Minister confirmed that the last four-weekly Strategic Framework Business Fund (SFBF) Temporary Closures Grant payment of up to £3,000 will be paid on Monday 22 March.

After this, one off re-start grants of up to £19,500 for hospitality and leisure businesses will be paid in April to help businesses re-open progressively. These one-off re-start grants will replace ongoing SFBF payments and will provide more money up front to help with the costs of re-opening. Please note, eligible businesses must have applied to the SFBF by 22 March in order to receive these payments.

Any business that is currently receiving the ongoing SFBF payments will be eligible for the one-off restart grant. As it stands visitor attractions are eligible for SFBF Temporary Closures payments, so we assume that attractions will therefore be eligible for the one-off re-start grant. We are, however, seeking assurances on this from the Scottish Government.

More information about this support for businesses can be found here.  

Yesterday (16^th March), in a statement to the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, set out an indicative timetable for the re-opening of parts of the economy over the next two months.
 
There were a number of points made that are relevant to the attractions sector, particularly in relation to the date of Monday 26^th April, where Ms Sturgeon announced that we will see museums and galleries reopen and the relaxing of travel restrictions across mainland Scotland.
 
Following the announcement by the First Minister, ASVA contacted the Scottish Government to check that, along with museums & galleries, other attraction types would also be able to open on 26^th April. We were pleased to receive confirmation that the wider visitor attraction sector will be able to reopen on 26^th April, providing relevant mitigating measures are in place.  
 
Highlights from the indicative timeline for reopening the economy include:
From 2 April:

• A lifting of the ‘Stay at Home’ requirement and replacing it with a ‘Stay Local’ message (retaining the current, local authority-based travel restrictions for at least a three-week period)

From 5 April:

• Reopening of non-essential ‘click and collect’ retail
• Extending the list of retail permitted to include garden centres (indoor and outdoor), hairdressers and barbers (with shopfronts – not mobile services) by appointment only, homeware shops and vehicle showrooms (appointment only) and forecourts

From 26 April:

• travel within all of mainland Scotland permitted (subject to other restrictions that remain in place)
• remaining shops can reopen and mobile close contact services can resume
• gyms can reopen for individual exercise
• tourist accommodation to reopen (self-catering accommodation to be restricted in line with rules on indoor gathering)
• weddings and funerals for up to 50 (including wakes and receptions with no alcohol permitted)
• libraries, museums, galleries re-open
• outdoor hospitality to open till 22:00 with alcohol permitted. Indoor hospitality permitted without alcohol and closing at 20:00

From 17 May:

• further re-opening of hospitality: bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes can stay open until 22:30 indoors with alcohol permitted and 2 hour time-limited slots and until 22:00 outdoors with alcohol permitted
• adult outdoor contact sport and indoor group exercises can resume
• cinemas, amusement arcades and bingo halls can re-open
• small scale indoor and outdoor events can resume subject to capacity constraints (to be confirmed following stakeholder engagement)
• non-professional performance arts can resume outdoors

Early June

• up to 6 people from up to 3 households can socialise indoors in a home or public place
• up to 8 people from 3 households can socialise outdoors.
• hospitality can remain open until 11pm
• attendance at events can increase, subject to capacity constraints
• indoor non-contact sport can take place.
• increased numbers at life events and places of worship subject to stakeholder engagement
• casinos, funfairs and soft play can open, subject to capacity constraints 

ASVA has received a number of queries from members following the announcement yesterday and we are following up with the Scottish Government on the following issues (amongst others):

• Clarity on when are we likely to receive updated guidelines on mitigating measures required to be implemented at attractions for re-opening, including test and protect measures, physical distancing restrictions, mandatory face coverings etc. We are very conscious that 2 metre physical distancing measures in particular have a significant impact on economic viability at many attractions and have fed back to the Scottish Government that, if we do see a continuation of 2m distancing rules, then additional financial support will likely be required for affected businesses.
• For those who operate distillery/brewery visitor centres, we have sought clarity on when drinks samples will be able to be served as part of tours. With support from colleagues at the Scotch Whisky Experience and Diageo, we believe have put forward a strong case for samples to be allowed to be served as part of tours as soon as distillery/brewery visitors centres reopen.
• For those attractions that operate rides, we have asked for clarity on indicative dates for reopening for these elements. At present, it is unclear whether these elements are categorised as funfairs, amusement arcades or whether they are simply included as being part of the attraction.
• For those attractions that have soft play facilities, we have asked for greater clarity on when they will be able to reopen, as we only have early June as a guide at present.  

If any members have particular queries about re-opening beyond those noted above, please submit them to our CEO, Gordon Morrison – gordon@asva.co.uk – and he will be happy to raise your query with Scottish Government officials.  

For full details of the First Minister’s statement, please click here and to see the full indicative timetable please follow this link.

Today (3^rd March),  ASVA CEO, Gordon Morrison and the Board of Directors were pleased to host the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy & Tourism, Fergus Ewing, for a wide-ranging discussion about the current challenges being faced by businesses in and connected to the attractions sector. During the open and honest hour-long discussion, a variety of the key challenges facing the sector were covered, including:

• The need for clear timelines for re-opening to allow for the sector to plan accordingly.
• The implications of the ever-increasing levels of debt that most attractions are accumulating due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
• The impact that travel and physical distancing restrictions will have on the sector as we move out of lockdown and the need for either these restrictions to be loosened or for far more substantial ongoing financial support to be provided if attractions cannot trade viably due to restrictions.
• The likely slow recovery for the attractions sector and the implications of there being very little opportunity to attract international visitors this year.
• The likely need for further financial support for the sector in the winter of this year, given that there will be little opportunity for reserves to be built up in the main season.
• How the Scottish Government intends to get the message across to domestic visitors that ‘Scotland is open for Business’ and ensure that we do not miss out on this audience, when that audience has effectively had a green light to start making plans for holidays in England.
• How the Scottish Government can apply pressure on those insurance companies that are stalling on paying out on Business Interruption insurance claims.

Mr Ewing acknowledged all the challenges and highlighted that:

• He is confident that the Scottish Government will move quickly to reopen the industry as soon as it is safe to do so.
• He is aware of the desire for a plan for restart with indicative dates to allow the sector to prepare and will be stressing the importance of this with colleagues within the Scottish Government.
• He is fully aware of the unique challenges the sector faces with regards to travel and physical distancing restrictions and the Scottish Government are revisiting this to look at how to limit restrictions when re-opening takes place.
• He is keen to work with ASVA to look at changes to restrictions and what would be most beneficial to our sector, whilst of course still taking a ‘safety first’ approach.
• He is aware that, for as long as restrictions are in place and the sector cannot trade viably, there will be a need for continued financial support.

ASVA will be following up with the Scottish Government in the coming days and weeks particularly to take forward the discussions around restart and restrictions.

Today (3^rd March), the Chancellor the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, presented the 2021 UK Budget to Parliament. In his announcement, Mr Sunak set out a £65 billion three point plan to provide support for jobs and businesses as the UK looks to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
 
Whilst many of the announcements related purely to England, there were some highly significant points that are relevant to Scottish businesses:

• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be extended to September 2021, across the whole UK.
• An extension to the VAT cut to 5% for hospitality, accommodation and visitor attractions across the UK until the end of September, followed by a 12.5% rate for a further six months until 31 March 2022.
• The introduction of a new UK-wide Recovery Loan Scheme to replace the existing government guaranteed schemes, with loans between £25,001 and £10 million, and asset and invoice finance between £1,000 and £10 million, being made available to businesses of all sizes through the next stage of recovery
• The Scottish Government will see a further £1.2 billion in Barnett consequentials.

ASVA very much welcomes the announcement of the furlough extension and extension of the VAT cut, both measures which we have been calling to be extended for some time. The likelihood however, is that to fully safeguard our industry we will need to see both these measures extended further into 2022 and this is something that we will continue to push for with our friends and colleagues in UK wide trade associations.

To view further details of today’s UK Budget announcement, please click here.

Following the Supreme Court test case on a range of business Interruption insurance policies, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), have today (3^rd March) published finalised guidance setting out how to prove the presence of coronavirus in a particular area, based on the High Court’s judgment and declarations.

They have also published a feedback statement summarising the feedback received on their draft guidance published on 11 December 2020.

For more information please visit the FCA’s dedicated business interruption webpage.