Demise of an icon

[Tomo]

My last trip was in October last year - we managed to squeeze in a week or two in between the lockdowns. Things needed a little more planning, pre-booking and restrictions on numbers - but other some a couple eating options we managed to fit most things in. On the whole, at that stage, things seamed to be just about ticking along - although we were the only visitors to the Speyside Cooperage and Dalwhinnie distillery.

By contrast - the last time I was in Edinburgh (Spring 2019) with my daughter - who was 4 at the time - we visited Gordon Nicholson, Slanj, the Celtic Craft Centre, Hector Russel and couple of other to check out some bits and bobs - she thought it was great fun and everywhere was busy. However, the second wave seams to have exposed how fragile some of these businesses are - and I know from someones else in the tourism business that financial support is a bit hit and miss. Sad times indeed - but sometimes you need to take a longer view to even out the ups and downs.

[Sir William]

Thanks Jock.

I was thinking about ways to get people doing tourist-y things without creating huge crowds. A side benefit could be that less-frequently visited places (places hard to get the big coaches and/or big groups into) might get more visitors. Another side benefit could be more employment, either by tour guide firms or individuals/partnerships.

Another thought would be some venues hiring guides to become experts (with in-depth knowledge on the history, architecture, etc.) on their particular location and/or offering more small-group or self-guided tours.


Back to the theme of the OP - several years ago before the boom in bourbon sales, several of the bourbon distilleries here in Kentucky diversified into distillery tours, gift shops, etc. in an effort to avoid shutting down. Now the Kentucky Distillers Association offers a package deal of tours of several of the major distilleries and discounted merchandise (or special deals for the higher-end bottlings). They utilize passenger vehicles smaller than a full-sized coach (shuttle transports and the like) to take people around the region spread across north central Kentucky (I'm guessing 250+ square miles). Otherwise, people could easily get lost trying to find some of the distilleries. I know I would, and I was born here! (Though to be honest, I don't often drive more than 20-30 miles from home.)

I'm in the travel business and recently attended an online Expo by Visit Scotland. There were a number of suppliers/tour operators who were offering tours for smaller groups (12 or less), and to less visited places. Most of us attending were in concurrence that this will likely be the norm for at least several years to come. On the plus side, I've had clients express greater interest in the years before the pandemic for small group packages, as opposed to the huge coach tours. I was also pleased to find more companies conducting walking tours of locations other than Edinburgh, and soft-adventure like hikes/hill walking, bike tours, kayaking or small boats among the isles.

[Troglodyte]

Like all poplations that live in a tourist destination, there is a love-hate relationship with the trade. The locals get inundated every season and frustrated with the crowds, but the economy depends to a very high degree on the in-flow of cash from the holiday makers. Without the overseas visitors, Scotland's economy is not just feeling the pinch, it is like having thumb-screws applied.

There can be over-kill from the popularity of some attractions, and Applecross in the north-west is trying to get itself taken off the North Coast 500 route as a result of the damage to roads, litter and dirt created. The puplic amenities are not sufficient to deal with the number of visitors, and the locals are quite rightly complaining about the fouling of public areas. Basically, there are not enough public toilets to answer the needs of the high number of holiday-makers, and in desperation, they go where they can. The result at the end of the season is easy, but unpleasant, to imagine.

But it would be a very sad day indeed if Chisholms in Inverness were to fail. They are perhaps the last of the true-blue Highland outfitters of the old kind, and their shop is as much a cultural heritage centre as it is a retail outlet. The tailoring is done on-site at the back of the shop, and they have some extraordinary examples of vintage Highland dress from a time when dressing up was expected.

If anyone visits Inverness, it would be well worth calling into their shop just to see the vintage Fraser kilt they hold. Dating from the latter part of the 19th century, it has more than 80 pleats which produces a dramatic swish for the wearer. I wonder what would happen to such items if the business failed.

[Jock Scot]

Scottish success in tourism is plagued by lack of decent facilities for the visitors which inevitably upsets the locals. Applecross is just one of many examples. Too little space to build anything new, the tourist board are caught between a rock and a hard place. Scotland loves the income from tourists, but try to build on anything that is not vertical or a bog inevitably ruins the “million Pound”view that the visitors come to see and besides, the locals do often need the scarce building space for themselves. I have to admit that I have some sympathy with all points of view on this issue and cannot actually see a way round it either.

[MichiganKyle]

Michigan has a huge tourism sector, and while most of the state likes the tourism, some of the west coast towns have a pretty decent love/hate relationship with them. The locals in these towns are well aware of the benefits from tourism, but folks from out of town sometimes get called "fudgies" (see http://michigannative.com/ma_wordsphrases.shtml - far more derogatory than you would think from the gentle nature of the term), even if "out of town" is the next town over, because they've got such a bad taste in their mouth from the way some of the tourists behave.

But on the upside, the tourism sector supports our hugely popular state and county parks and nature areas, funds the highways and infrastructure, and keeps a lot of people employed. The seasonal nature of the towns means that working at tourist towns is pretty common among students for summer break. Overall it's a huge benefit to our state.

As an example of this, last I heard for the statistics for the greater Grand Rapids area (which is minimally tourism-based - a good chunk of it is craft brewery tours) we lost about 40% of our small businesses last year. The restaurant sector was hit particularly bad. I haven't heard stats from the towns along the lake, but I would think they took a much worse hit.

But on the upside, hokey smokes are the tourist towns with beaches busy now. Anybody that weathered the storm is inundated with business. Right now it's largely domestic tourism, and the USA is big enough that the domestic tourism market is still quite large. But I expect that when international travel becomes a thing again, just like here, the businesses in Scotland which survive this will be doing really well.

[Pleater]

I live in Poole on the south coast of England, and we have seen so many small businesses and small shops close down.
The little Edinburgh Woollen Mill's shop in the middle of town was already looking rather run down, even before the pandemic hit, and it was soon closed up and empty.
I think that we will be able to say that things will never be the same again.
We live just off a local shopping street, which had numerous businesses and several supermarkets and which was a thriving shopping street - now only the supermarkets are opening every day and there are so many empty shops - some had been established for many decades, and were here when we moved in, back in 1981.
The local population was rather elderly, and so many of them have died in the last year - when they sent covid infected patients from the hospitals some homes were almost emptied, which was perhaps a good thing as the staff went down with the virus as well, as they had no PPE at all. That has made a significant alteration in the demand for various items - one of the local businesses to fold was the mobility scooter dealership.

Anne the Pleater

[Troglodyte]

The Highland economy has never been robust enough to sustain itself, but it has done rather well in a feast-or-famine kind of way for the past couple of centuries. Queen Victoria gave a royal kick up the pants to the tourist industry, just when it was needed (taking to the Highlands for the Season had been the habit of well-heeled lowland Scots for centuries, and is well documented) and the aspiring English followed her lead.

Southern money poored in - the sporting estates boomed, demand for accommodation, the 'right' clothing, etc, allowed Highland towns to grow and prosper like elsewhere. But what we see now is as sad shadow of what could be found as recently as 30 years ago. The late summer Scottish Season is still an annual event, but no-one now buys their stalking scopes in Inverness, guns in Perth, tweeds in Aberfeldy - guns are Italian, scopes are German, and the outfits all seem to be of technical fabrics by French of Scandinavian makers. And few wait until they are in Scotland to make the purchase.

Sporting outfits in authentic tweeds now seem to preserve of the estate employees - stalkers, ghillies and the like - who have their work clothes made in their estate tweeds. Campbell's of Beauly seem to have had a stay of execution granted, and the young couple that has taken over the business has continued supplying the estates - until now...

Covid could have an unexpected sting in its tail - governments seem to be discouraging their populatins from travelling abroad, with the aim of boosting their own domestic holiday industry. Scotland has about 60 million neighbours living south of the border, all needing a holiday at some time. It's not difficult to see a solution to the problem if handled carefully.

We shall see...

[Jock Scot]

The Highland economy has never been robust enough to sustain itself, but it has done rather well in a feast-or-famine kind of way for the past couple of centuries. Queen Victoria gave a royal kick up the pants to the tourist industry, just when it was needed (taking to the Highlands for the Season had been the habit of well-heeled lowland Scots for centuries, and is well documented) and the aspiring English followed her lead.

Southern money poored in - the sporting estates boomed, demand for accommodation, the 'right' clothing, etc, allowed Highland towns to grow and prosper like elsewhere. But what we see now is as sad shadow of what could be found as recently as 30 years ago. The late summer Scottish Season is still an annual event, but no-one now buys their stalking scopes in Inverness, guns in Perth, tweeds in Aberfeldy - guns are Italian, scopes are German, and the outfits all seem to be of technical fabrics by French of Scandinavian makers. And few wait until they are in Scotland to make the purchase.

Sporting outfits in authentic tweeds now seem to preserve of the estate employees - stalkers, ghillies and the like - who have their work clothes made in their estate tweeds. Campbell's of Beauly seem to have had a stay of execution granted, and the young couple that has taken over the business has continued supplying the estates - until now...

Covid could have an unexpected sting in its tail - governments seem to be discouraging their populatins from travelling abroad, with the aim of boosting their own domestic holiday industry. Scotland has about 60 million neighbours living south of the border, all needing a holiday at some time. It's not difficult to see a solution to the problem if handled carefully.

We shall see...

Haggarts of Aberfeldy have already gone.The traditional country activities in Scotland are still continuing quietly when lockdown regulations allow. How long that will continue after Covid who knows, I have my real concerns there. The present Powers-that-be are far from sympathetic with those activities. I had better stop there, before I get a slap on the wrist from "website HQ".

[OC Richard]

I've worked in the tourism industry in California for 30 years now, and there's been nothing to compare to 2020/2021.

My workplace (Disneyland) finally reopened a month ago with elaborate restrictions in place (Guests and employees masked, Park attendance severely capped, restaurants with just a few tables, distancing markers and plexiglass shields everywhere, an army of employees disinfecting all surfaces constantly).

On June 15 California lifted all restrictions regarding public places. I think we are one of the last States to do so.

So tourism is up, travel is up, and this tourism season is salvageable here.

Are the lifting of restrictions in Scotland coming too late to save this season? Then we have to look for a huge rebound of tourism in 2022. I feel sure it's coming due to millions having put off their plans for two years.

The tourism infrastructure in the UK might be strained as never before.

[Jock Scot]

................

Are the lifting of restrictions in Scotland coming too late to save this season? Then we have to look for a huge rebound of tourism in 2022. I feel sure it's coming due to millions having put off their plans for two years.

The tourism infrastructure in the UK might be strained as never before.

I have no idea when the lifting of Covid restrictions are going to happen, be that for the residents or visitors. As I understand it the situation will be considered again by the relevant "experts" in about 4 weeks time. To be fair we have been bowled a googly(a cricketing term for a sort of curve ball) by this far more potent Indian(Delta) Covid variant, so I fear we are going to have to be patient for quite a while longer yet.

Depending on what visitors are interested in, in Scotland/UK, then we can have pretty much a 12 month tourist season, so once the doors are opened then business can get started.