On last Friday, the UK Government released a list of exempted countries that pose a “reduced risk” from the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK Government has now allowed quarantine-free international travel to nearly 60 “lower risk countries", but India and the US are not on the list as the cases continue to spike in both the countries with each passing day.
The Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government Simon Clarke MP announced: communities that depend on tourism will receive a major boost from a new £10million Kick-starting Tourism Package. Speaking at the Local Government Association’s annual conference, Minister Clarke confirmed the new funding will be distributed to communities immediately to kick start tourism in time for the summer as part of the Government’s drive to boost the recovery of the economy
This is the latest package of support for economic recovery following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the “New Deal” last week, which will bring forward £5bn of capital investment projects, supporting jobs and economic recovery.
The £10m Kick-starting Tourism Package, will give small businesses in tourist destinations grants of up to £5,000 to help them adapt their businesses following the coronavirus pandemic.
Businesses can use the funding to pay for specialist professional advice such as HR, legal or financial expertise, to adopt new technology and online systems or to purchase new equipment. 100 percent of the money will come from the government with no obligation for businesses to contribute financially.
Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government Simon Clarke MP said, “When the Prime Minister announced the New Deal, he made it clear that the Government is determined to change the country for the better, uniting and levelling up our regions. “Kick-starting domestic tourism will be key to our economic recovery and that is why I am delighted to announce £10million in new funding for small businesses in tourist destinations, bringing jobs, investment, and financial support to the communities who need it the most.” Many areas across the country have experienced a significant fall in tourist and visitor numbers in recent months. The initiative will help ensure that tourist hot-spots are firmly open for business this summer.
Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston said, "Our tourism sector is hugely important - creating jobs, supporting businesses and driving local economies in villages, towns and cities across the country. It is vital that we help the sector bounce back and give it the platform to recover when it reopens from tomorrow. This fund will help many small businesses in tourism destinations and with the infrastructure investment brought forward will provide a further boost for jobs and growth."
Minister Clarke has also confirmed over £50 million European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding for shovel-ready infrastructure projects that will now be accelerated and distributed later in the summer and autumn. The funding is for projects already in development which will boost local economies and visitor numbers, create jobs and promote investment.
Tour and Travel agents think the grant is not enough
Asian Voice spoke to Ashok Jogia of Shivam Tours and Travel in Leicester, where a second lockdown was imposed, while other parts of the UK started to reopen on July 4. Jogia said, “This funding boost has been welcomed by everybody in business in the UK. But you will think that the amount of £10 million is distributed within thousands of small businesses, so even though the help is welcome, it won’t be enough. Our overheads you have to take into consideration as well.
As a tour operator whose 100 per cent of the tours are abroad, Jogia’s business has been under lockdown since March 23 till date. “Now our company had seven international tours which were scheduled from May 18 until November 2020,” he said. These tours included destinations like Jyotirlings, Amarnath and Char-dham in India, Kailash - Mansarovar in Nepal and Tibet, South Africa, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Bali, and a cruise to Panama Canal.
“The above tours were all confirmed in Feb 2020. So, you can imagine how much loss we have suffered. Originally, there was an assumption that this virus will go away like others in a few weeks, but it has proved more dangerous than all and also staying for a while. Our company has suffered a loss of over £50,000 in profit,” he added. He feels that this is now a waiting game until everybody opens their borders and starts to accept foreigners so that he can then start thinking of promoting his tours.
The BAME (British Asian and Minority Ethnic) community has been four times more vulnerable to Covid-19 more than the other population, and there have been reports and rumours of community transmission or flouting lockdown rules within Asian communities.
“As far as the above matter, this virus does not see whether you are white, black or Asian. It has affected everybody and everywhere. I have to say it is the people's fault they have not adhered to the UK Government rules and instruction. Specially there are groups of people who have ignored all common sense. The UK Government has tried everything to warn people of the consequences of this virus. Our ethnic minorities are so stubborn in their beliefs that they think nothing will harm them.”
When we asked him how soon he thinks tourism in the UK will be back to normal, he added, “Local tourism has started to pick up as Europe has opened the doors and quite a percentage of tourism is dependent upon the European market. Secondly, all the international market tourism, I think it will be by September before we see some movement. It will take some time before complete normality.”
He spoke about the measures post the business opens, “As per the reopening we have been working from home and have been busy laying down some tour projects for next year, taking into mind safety precautions, which we will apply once we resume our tours. Again, I myself escort the tours which we commence, so I work with my counterparts in each country to make sure the full health safety and security will be applied.”
Ramnik Parmar from Natraj Travel in London told the newsweekly, The grant is “good for people to survive” and “it won’t help much in the tourism industry because I don’t think the tourism industry will get up to start until around early 2021.” India is still in lockdown so “travelling will be much less this year”.