Ideas to reopen the leisure & tourism sectors if social distancing is to continue

[High Dyke]

I'd start midweek, maybe two midweek evenings. Forget Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays initially, even if just for a few weeks. You need very low footfall at the start if you re-open in July.

There is that. With many of the club members being in the elderly / vulnerable / high risk category then, in some respects, there won't be so many attendees at a weekend. However, for those do come in for a pint or three then we need to ensure we are doing all we can to protect them, our staff and also satisfy any rules, regulations or guidelines that are put in place. The important thing is to re-open and start generating some income again - we have no other suitable means to diversify the business currently.

 

[Bikeman78]

Just a normal day in a Weatherspoon's then!

I've been trying to put together a recovery plan for our social club to re-open; well providing we can survive as a hospitality venue. Consideration was being given to initially open Friday & Sunday evenings, and possibly a midweek evening. We are still a long way from any progress though. It also has to be remembered that many pubs and clubs will need at least a couple of weeks to ensure the facility is fit for purpose and stock is ready.

I can imagine it must be very difficult. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Jamesrob637]

There is that. With many of the club members being in the elderly / vulnerable / high risk category then, in some respects, there won't be so many attendees at a weekend. However, for those do come in for a pint or three then we need to ensure we are doing all we can to protect them, our staff and also satisfy any rules, regulations or guidelines that are put in place. The important thing is to re-open and start generating some income again - we have no other suitable means to diversify the business currently.

Absolutely and I second what Bikeman78 said above. I'll be frequenting local pubs rather than chains post-COVID-19.

 

[yorksrob]

Indeed. There are a few good non-chain pubs I am eager to support when the opportunity arises.

 

[High Dyke]

I can imagine it must be very difficult. Let us know how you get on.

Absolutely and I second what Bikeman78 said above. I'll be frequenting local pubs rather than chains post-COVID-19.

Thanks. Will do. Luckily we had a business grant from the local council which has helped somewhat, in the short-term. The bank we use seem a little more reluctant to help, as do other financial institutions. my own bank balance will only help them for so long, though I have said in the past - when faced with adversity - if we're going down it'll be fighting. The club, a former BRSA club, has been in existence since 1955 so we're determined to do all we can to keep it running.

Indeed. There are a few good non-chain pubs I am eager to support when the opportunity arises.

Likewise here. When I'm not at the club there's another couple of decent pubs nearby to visit. Also when out walking there are opportunities to support the local pub businesses.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I'd start midweek, maybe two midweek evenings. Possibly a Wednesday and Thursday evening. Forget Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays initially, even if just for a few weeks. You need very low footfall at the start if you re-open in July.

I'd suggest that if pubs want to open with restricted hours to test the waters then maybe opening daytime only, say 12 till 6pm might be the way to go.

The reason I suggest this is that the heavy drinkers, who are the ones most likely to disobey the guidelines (intentionally or otherwise) tend to drink in the evening, whereas the daytime customers are more likely to be walkers, pensioners, people wanting meals, who are more likely to be well-behaved, and would probably spend more too.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Another option would be that you can only be served once, which will practically limit people to a couple of pints i.e. not drunk enough to start disregarding social distancing.

 

[yorksrob]

Another option would be that you can only be served once, which will practically limit people to a couple of pints i.e. not drunk enough to start disregarding social distancing.

What do you do with the other four pints if you don't like the first one ?

 

[Bletchleyite]

What do you do with the other four pints if you don't like the first one ?

Most people wouldn't do that, they'd go rather flat.

 

[Bantamzen]

What do you do with the other four pints if you don't like the first one ?

Drink them anyway, Yorkshire folk don't waste beer, its against the law!

 

[yorksrob]

Most people wouldn't do that, they'd go rather flat.

My question was slightly tongue in cheek !

That said, I don't buy fizzy beer anyway.

 

[yorksrob]

Drink them anyway, Yorkshire folk don't waste beer, its against the law!

Good point, well made !

 

[Bletchleyite]

My question was slightly tongue in cheek !

That said, I don't buy fizzy beer anyway.

A pint of bitter left to stand for an hour still tastes pretty flat - while it isn't fizzy, the pouring does aerate it a bit.

 

[yorksrob]

A pint of bitter left to stand for an hour still tastes pretty flat - while it isn't fizzy, the pouring does aerate it a bit.

There might not be much of a head by then !

 

[takno]

I'd suggest that if pubs want to open with restricted hours to test the waters then maybe opening daytime only, say 12 till 6pm might be the way to go.

The reason I suggest this is that the heavy drinkers, who are the ones most likely to disobey the guidelines (intentionally or otherwise) tend to drink in the evening, whereas the daytime customers are more likely to be walkers, pensioners, people wanting meals, who are more likely to be well-behaved, and would probably spend more too.

Most of the heaviest drinkers I've seen are in the pub by 2 at the latest, and will almost certainly make the effort to show up at whatever hours you are open. I think expecting reduced hours to prevent crowding is a pretty bizarre model tbh. At least a third of the workforce are twiddling their thumbs all day every day right now, and a chunk of the rest are at home and to varying degrees are doing flexible hours. If you run short hours people will rearrange their days around it and will pack the place out.

If you want to restrict custom (and by mid June with a crumbling government and the rest of Europe opening up I think that will be an increasingly big if), then your best bet is probably to increase prices. Triple price for the first week, dropping to double for the next couple of months would sort it all out much more effectively

 

[Llanigraham]

Talking to one of the local licencees this morning, and accepting that Wales hasn't announced anything yet, he reckons that using the English "scheme" it would not be worth his opening. His pub is a very old building with 3 "bars", 2 of them would only allow 1 person in each, and the main bar no more than 3 would fit. And he has one room with no bar that would hold 4 people at a pinch but they would have to have table service, but access would have to be through the 1 person bar.
And he did serve a damned good pint!!

 

[Trackman]

Another option would be that you can only be served once, which will practically limit people to a couple of pints i.e. not drunk enough to start disregarding social distancing.

That would encourage 'pre-loading' so they would be half drunk to start with.

 

[NorthOxonian]

That would encourage 'pre-loading' so they would be half drunk to start with.

Or it would encourage people to visit multiple venues in succession, if they could only get served once at each.

Which would ironically make the rate of infection get worse!

 

[Trackman]

Or it would encourage people to visit multiple venues in succession, if they could only get served once at each.

Which would ironically make the rate of infection get worse!

Same as preloading but in pubs so to speak!
Unworkable and nigh impossible to police.
There is talk of it though.

 

[Trackman]

A huge blow to the UK tourism industry yesterday as Specialist Leisure Group fell into administration.

This will almost certainly send shockwaves through the industry, especially on the back of the government insisting on quarantining almost all people arriving into this country after 8th June. We are literally watching the collapse of our entire economy now, and something needs to be done really urgently.

Marriott group are closing a big hotel in Manchester as a direct result of C19.
I hope this is not a start of a trend, they are the 3rd biggest hotel chain in the world.

 

[duncanp]

Yes, my take on this was a clear messsage of ‘don’t expect too much easing up too soon’. The path also comes over as rather wishful. Phase 1 next week does not amount to much, and phase 2 is described as ‘virus controlled’ - who’s controlling it? The only current controls are in people’s behaviour. So timings not at all clear; which is disappointing but a fair reflection of the very limited progress to date with testing, tracking and isolating cases which would otherwise have remained undetected.

So not great for leisure in Scotland at all, though I can see ‘school holidays’ (start of July) leading to pressure from leisure businesses and also punters saying ‘why can’t I go to a caravan park in the Cairngorms’? People seem already to be voting with their feet, a little early IMO, on leisure travel and socialising more generally - admittedly that’s mostly personal observation but that is how it seems.

I can't help thinking that if Scotland is still largely closed by the beginning of the school holidays in July, many Scottish people will head South of the Border for holidays/drinking and eating/shopping etc.

As things stand:-

• Most non essential shops in England will be open by the middle of June, and yet there is no date for this to happen in Scotland.
• The hospitality sector in England will start to open some time after 4th July, and again there is no date for this to happen in Scotland.
• It will be difficult for Scots to travel to mainland Europe if the quarantine rules are still in place and no "air bridges" have been set up.
• There is no date for pubs in Northern Ireland to open, and in the Irish Republic pubs are currently not scheduled to open until 10th August.

So there may well be plenty of Scottish daytrippers to Berwick and Carlisle, plus overnight trips to Blackpool and the Lake District, plus stag weekends in Newcastle/Manchester/Liverpool. etc.

Scottish businesses who would normally expect that the money to be spent in Scotland will then complain to the Scottish Government, especially those that are affected by the cancellation of the Edinburgh Festival.

 

[Huntergreed]

I can't help thinking that if Scotland is still largely closed by the beginning of the school holidays in July, many Scottish people will head South of the Border for holidays/drinking and eating/shopping etc. So there may well be plenty of Scottish daytrippers to Berwick and Carlisle, plus overnight trips to Blackpool and the Lake District.

Scotland entered “Phase One” today, however travelling for more than 5 miles for leisure or recreational purposes isn’t permitted until “Phase Three” which, if the schools are anything to go by, seems to be Mid August.

Scottish tourism is going to take a very, very significant blow indeed and I do fear that there’s countless businesses who won’t be able to reopen after this, which will cause much more lasting, permanent damage to the industry and economy in general.

 

[duncanp]

travelling for more than 5 miles for leisure or recreational purposes isn’t permitted until “Phase Three” which, if the schools are anything to go by, seems to be Mid August.

So people in Scotland won't be able to travel more than 5 miles for leisure or recreational purposes for the whole of the Scottish school summer holidays?

I have friends in Kilmarnock, and are the police really going to fine people for travelling to the beach at Troon (8 miles) or the Magnum Lesiure Centre in Irvine (6.5 miles)?

I can't see such a rule going down well. It will be impossible to police, and no doubt widely ignored.

Already, with the announcement of the new rules in England, Downing Street has had to clarify that the Police will not have the power to enter people's houses to carry out "garden party spot checks", or fly drones over people's gardens to check on the number of people present.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveils details of furlough scheme taper as he extends self-employed support

Rishi Sunak has extended the furlough scheme for self-employed people, allowing those eligible to claim a “second and final grant" capped at £6,570.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Police will not have the power to carry out ‘spot checks’ to ensure people are not breaking new lockdown rules, Downing Street has confirmed.

New guidance is expected to be published today setting out further detail of the lockdown changes, allowing up to six people to meet in private gardens, which were announced by Boris Johnson yesterday.

Asked if police could enter properties, or fly drones over people’s gardens, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “Under the coronavirus regulations, police do not have the power to enter a home. They have the power to enter a home separately if they believe serious criminality is taking place.

Listening to the Jeremy Vine programme on Radio 2 this lunchtime, they were discussing the new rules for barbecues, and one "..expert..." said that to comply with the rules, everyone would have to go home if it started raining, and strictly speaking they shouldn't be allowed to use the toilet.

Welcome to the madhouse!!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Boris was asked if you could use the toilet and he specifically said you could.

"Sir, sir, can I go for a wee?"

 

[Scotrail12]

Scotland entered “Phase One” today, however travelling for more than 5 miles for leisure or recreational purposes isn’t permitted until “Phase Three” which, if the schools are anything to go by, seems to be Mid August.

Somehow I don't think that law will be policed or obeyed. Several people probably go further than 5 miles for exercise anyway.

 

[Ianno87]

Somehow I don't think that law will be policed or obeyed. Several people probably go further than 5 miles for exercise anyway.

Parts of Scotland, you have to go considerably more than 5 miles for a shop!

 

[Scotrail12]

Parts of Scotland, you have to go considerably more than 5 miles for a shop!

That's the case for most areas of Scotland except for the towns and suburbs near the large cities. If Sturgeon thinks that almost everyone in Scotland has stayed within 5 miles of their home in the last 10 weeks and will continue to do so until August, she has to be deluded.

 

[Huntergreed]

That's the case for most areas of Scotland except for the towns and suburbs near the large cities. If Sturgeon thinks that almost everyone in Scotland has stayed within 5 miles of their home in the last 10 weeks and will continue to do so until August, she has to be deluded.

And yet her guidance seems to suggest she is convinced that this is a practical way to move forward. The fact that England has had no restrictions on travel and doesn’t seem to be on the increase will, hopefully, change her views on the matter.

 

[Bletchleyite]

And yet her guidance seems to suggest she is convinced that this is a practical way to move forward. The fact that England has had no restrictions on travel and doesn’t seem to be on the increase will, hopefully, change her views on the matter.

To be fair to her the distribution of the virus in Scotland is markedly different from England. Possibly due to that weekend at the start of the whole thing, the virus has already made it into England's rural areas, and so there isn't really anything to guard them against. Whereas in Scotland it's mostly, I believe, concentrated in the Central Belt.

I do however think the idea that someone living in the west of Edinburgh should be able to go for a day hike in the Pentlands but not in the east of Edinburgh is beyond silly.

 

[Busaholic]

I'd love to know where it wasn't allowed?
I've been to bars in many European countries where it is quite common, and in Canada.

France, for one: if you choose to sit at the bar, where allowed, that's another matter, but you'll get charged extra for it, as a discouragement. Cheaper to sit outside in most Parisian establishments, and that ain't cheap!