British Travel Journal | Summer 2020

hand sanitisers and gave them out to key workers and the local
community. Silent Pool, who branded their sanitiser ‘The Silent
Treatment’, has given away 50 bottles of hand sanitiser a day at
its distillery shop, focusing on the elderly and NHS staff including
nurses, doctors and surgeons, paramedics, a charity for the
homeless and GP surgeries.
Similar creativity could be found on Alderney, where one
business found that they had all the materials and bottles to make
hand sanitiser, while a volunteer support programme, called
Alderney Spirit, worked to provide help and support across the
community where needed, from support at the care home or
hospital to dog walking or meals on wheels for vulnerable or selfisolating
residents.
From big gestures to smaller ones, from landmark hotels
to country pubs, the message from hospitality seemed clear
throughout the country – that despite hard times and uncertainty,
their priority was giving back what they could and helping in some
small way. In Cornwall, catering company Fees Food created
the Cornwall Community Kitchen, fundraising themselves and
donating meals to local food banks and working with small
charities helping those most in need. “Food banks and charities
in Cornwall are seeing unprecedented demand, so we started
Cornwall Community Kitchen to help in any way we can,”, said
founder Fee Turner. While in the Cotswolds, village pub The Bell
at Sapperton set up a click and collect service, using their suppliers
to get access to much-needed bread, flour, vegetables, eggs and
milk, and used any excess of food and drink to create emergency
‘Survival Bags’ of essentials, which they delivered to local
neighbours and the vulnerable elderly community.
LOOKING FORWARD
Now, as the focus turns to reopening and what the rest of the
summer season will look like, it’s clear that this characteristic
pragmatism remains. Hope remains that the late summer season
will also push forward into autumn, and discussion about an
additional bank holiday in October have been met with positivity
by the industry. “We are working across the industry and with the
UK Government to save as much of the valuable summer season
as we can and to extend the tourism season into October and
beyond,” explains Patricia Yates, CEO of Visit Britain. “And we
have also been talking to destination management organisations
in England about how they coordinate their destinations, coming
out of lockdown.”
Working together has been a key feature for organisations that
might previously have worked more on their own agenda. Mark
Hooper, project lead for Visit Shropshire, explained to British Travel
Journal that Covid-19 has changed the way they work, creating closer
ties to other organisations. “During lockdown we became all about
supporting our businesses, and forming closer relationships with our
neighbouring counties and local authority to work together to ensure
Shropshire recovers in the strongest way possible. We have created
partnerships which we will take into the future.”
NESSCLIFFE VILLAGE IN SHROPSHIRE, LOCATED NORTH OF THE RIVER SEVERN
DISCOVERING BEAUTY SPOTS
Mark Hooper also explains how a big focus for Visit Shropshire
has been on promoting hidden gems or off-the-beaten track
locations, over the usual tourist hotspots, to try and spread
tourism across the UK and avoid busier areas. “We are aware
that social distancing will need to be in place for a little while
longer once we start to reopen. We are encouraging visitors to
explore Shropshire off the beaten track." It’s a great opportunity
for those areas in Britain that are less busy to make a difference
in terms of social distancing and visitor numbers.
In the Cotswolds, the theme across social media has been
one to showcase the beauty of the area, but at the same time,
to reiterate the message that says: “For now, please stay away.”
It’s a brave message for any business to share, but speaks
volumes about its commitment to safety. Mette Poynton, founder
of tourist guide and membership organisation Cotswolds
Concierge, explains how they have tried to tread the delicate
line between promotion and social responsibility: “We have
made it clear, through our promotion of the Cotswolds during
lockdown, that we will promote the area by encouraging people
to #PlanAVisit. We want people to plan to visit when it is safe
and advised to do so. It is of great importance that the tourism
industry recover, so we see it as our responsibility to do whatever
we can to make this happen, and that includes continuing to
promote all the wonderful things in the Cotswolds.”
On the island of Alderney, director of tourism Helene Turner
explains that how promoting the positives while encouraging
people not to visit is a challenge they have risen to. “We are
committed to singing from the rooftops about our lovely little
island and want to keep sharing the Alderney love with everyone
through social media and our website during this difficult time,
when visiting is not advised. Be assured our island community will
be ready and waiting to welcome you with open arms once we
are all able to return to a healthy safe state of normality.”
24 BritishTravelJournal.com