Do you think Cornwall will be 'open' in July?

[NoSoapAndGory]

Hi all.

A purely speculative post to gauge opinions, as I know we don't know, don't have a crystal ball, etc etc.

We have booked a self catering holiday cottage near Bude for the first 10 days of July. We live in the South East, so it's about 5 hours drive to get there on a good day. We have a dog so would need to stop at a service station at least once.

As part of general future-focused conversation, DH and I are ruminating about

1: will we be 'allowed' to go
2: if we are, would we want to anyway?
3: if it's 'allowed', will the Bude community welcome us or hate us?
4: will the tourist industry want revenue or not?

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Anyone else having similar discussions, and if so, what are you thinking?

It's the hostility that's worrying me @Shodan. The problem is can't get a refund so, if restrictions are lifted in any way, it's go or lose my money.

Agreed - please come when it is safe to do so just defo not yet. It is not a holiday atmosphere here - remember we are also queing out our local shops once a week for food same as anywhere else, food is limited in them and many people are wearing masks. No one is on the beach. Everything is warning signed and its so so closed. The hotels are housing our homeless and our recovering patients. It is definitely no holiday here!

I doubt it. I remember the residents furious complaints just before lockdown started when loads of people descended on Cornwall + they've only one hospital too. If they do re-open it'll be due to needing the tourist income by then. But I wouldn't have thought government are planning for hotels guest houses and similar to be open by 1st July however

we have a holiday cottage and a glampingsite. And do a pop up campsite in August

Ive turned off bookings for the campsite - cant see how we can do the shared toilets and keep it safe for people, unless they come as a group who are happy to share

Glamping site and cottage. Not sure. I have a daughter who is in the shielding group so going to have to employ extra staff to do changeovers/cleaning and do non contact check ins because even if its lifted for the general public, I cant see it being lifted for her, and I cant risk taking it home to her

How will we survive? Ive no idea. We have written off this whole year to be honest and are taking the hit, as furloughed or grants for businesses dont apply for us, as we are a fram. Weve tried every which way to get help and our set of circumstances mean nothing available.

Looking at statistics Devon 643 deaths Cornwall 459 deaths, with two people sadly dying yesterday, the number of confirmed cases 1552.

In Wales we have had 788 deaths so have fared better than Devon and Cornwall.

www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/locations-latest-coronavirus-cases-confirmed-4080437

I think the hostility and threats which have made the news, which will damage Cornwall more than the virus during this first wave.

Vigilante behaviour is not going to help. I wouldn’t want to go to that area of the U.K. for a while. Sounds like a load of locals with pitchforks.

Also in relation to two posts upthread - no we didnt all vote to remain! And to those thinking its a good idea to have their tesco delivery slot on holiday arrival - my Dad who is over 70, has asthma and is currently recovering from major cancer surgery cannot get a tesco slot so that is exactly part of the problem - people coming thinking they can get food when there isnt any delivery availability even for people who are vulnerable here, its just so so sad. Being here there is no way Id get a tesco delivery slot, there are none. Whats a refund compared to the deaths of our elderly? Its just heartbreaking to think of taking a holiday here right now.

The thing I struggle with is that the majority of us have been pushed to a place where we are in fear for our lives and are following the lockdown properly. But realistically in 2 or 3 weeks the Government will start talking about more shops opening, more people returning to work, school children returning etc. And whether that happens in June or September - if there is no vaccine it WILL still happen. How do we then reconcile going back into real life when we're all so scared! And if we have to return to life then what difference does having any holiday make at that stage - because we'll be potentially risking our lives every day anyway! I'd love us to stay on lockdown until a vaccine is found but it's not going to happen.

But the Op isn’t asking about arriving now. She is asking whether the Gov will have opened the UK up to travel and Uk holidays by July.

If the gov weighs all the factors and says it is safe to go on UK holidays, people can travel. If they say it’s not safe still, people clearly shouldn’t.

If gov says it’s safe for people to travel and have holidays, locals shouldn’t be hostile to those arriving.

Fortunately none of us need to decide if it will be safe - government will say.

All the rest of us - potential holiday makers and locals can do, is listen to the advice and abide by it. Things might be different by July, or not. We will have to wait for gov to say.

If the UK is open for business in July it will be because the government has set up systems to test, isolate and track so that it can monitor the re-infection rate.

Hopefully there will be more freedom to visit beaches, but it will be impossible to track contacts if large numbers of people are passing through campsites and holiday accommodation, and if large numbers of people are visiting popular beaches as normal.

This is very tough for people who work in tourism, but tourism will be one of the last industries to return to normal, and it certainly won't have returned to normal by July, given that we currently don't even know when lockdown will end.

None of this has anything to do with Cornish attitudes to tourists.

My mum lives there and everyone there hopes that people will stay away as the ONLY hospital there at Treliske only has 15 ICU beds and on top of a larger than average elderly population, it also has to cater for those airlifted from ships/rescued at sea in addition to tourists. Now normally that wouldn't be an issue as most tourists don't require ICU but if people fall sick once they are in Cornwall whilst visiting, then of course it leaves fewer resources for the local population. People in Cornwall will welcome everyone back once this has blown over.

AvalancheKit Yes, I noticed that in the statistics. The ‘blue circle’ was proportionately wider on the map than many other cities/conurbations. I’m not sure what you mean about contacts being traced though. No area in the U.K. was doing that or is doing that now from what I gather.

I don't know the people involved but I have GC at neighbouring schools. My understanding was the school the affected child was at was closed for several days, meanwhile children who had more contact with the affected child were contacted and went into isolation for 14 days and did schooling online. I don't know about adults, but one of my GC is similar age to affected child so on the teenage grapevine they all knew what was happening. I think it stopped it spreading or at least reduced the spread.

Also none of us work in any sort of tourism! In fact none of my friends do either! Forces, NHS, web developers, teachers, police, illustrator, builder etc

I said this last year and a lot of posters thought I was nuts. Of course some locals work in restaurants but locals like to eat out too and I know I will use them as much as I can once the restrictions are lifted.

It's like some people think every resident of Cornwall is a racist gift shop owner!

Knowing our luck the weather will be crap anyway.
Even if strict lockdown is lifted, Cornwall isn't really set up to do social distancing well - supermarkets few & far between, not many parks or public loos, limited shopping centres.
Hell, you can't even get more than
1m apart on the coast path in many places.
I think our tourism & hospitality industry is really going to suffer with Covid & Brexit.
I'm hoping Cornwall isn't at the start of a long decline.

We frequently go camping in Cornwall, and peak tourist season and social distancing in Cornwall don't seem very compatible to me. So many of the villages popular with tourists have narrow streets hard enough to walk down anyway, without queues of people for small shops. I'm visualising the queue for Morrisons at Newquay, and being campers, we don't stock up more than a couple of days per go due to keeping fresh food safely.

The roads gridlock easily and it must be a nightmare for the emergency services on winding, congested roads anyway. Better for the local population to keep their population density low and reduce the spread through vulnerable populations and demand on limited resources.

Tourist attractions would need the green light to be open. Organisations like the National Trust need enough healthy volunteers to function.

I can not see how social distancing and mass tourism (especially providing anything more than a different set of walls from home) are compatible.

I have nothing booked. If my tent makes it beyond my back garden this year, I'll be pleasantly surprised. If it does, it will be more likely to be within my own county rather than travelling across the UK.

@Nearlyalmost50 what a stupid comment to make! Idiots like you are absolutely hilarious at times like these. What a joke 🤣 thanks for the laugh!! Keep up with the comedy

@PhantomErik same here! I don’t know anyone who works in tourism. Also voted remain. Mostly techies, teachers and NHS staff in my circle of friends and family!

@TheNotSoGoodWife Falmouth here too! Waves

And if we have to return to life then what difference does having any holiday make at that stage - because we'll be potentially risking our lives every day anyway! I'd love us to stay on lockdown until a vaccine is found but it's not going to happen.

Because it geographically isolates outbreaks. The SW is less badly affected at the moment, you don’t really want people moving from ‘hotspots’ to places that have fewer cases. That might be different in July, but we don’t know yet.

July is actually quite a long time away as far as this virus is concerned , first death was on the 5th of March , so last month. We are now at over 20 thousand deaths and may possibly have peaked, who knows where we will be as a country in another 12 weeks , at the start of the Summer holidays ?

I have a family member who is on the board of some hotels in Devon. (Not quite Cornwall sorry!) they are hoping for late June/early July. Though obviously no one knows. The difference economically between not being open for main school holidays is staggering something like 80% are predicted to go bust if not.

waves back @coolcatsandkitten - were you ‘unexpected’ at some point as if you were we ‘know’ each other

Also voted remain, not that that is relevant to this - Truro Falmouth constituency was majority remain.

I do have friends who work in tourism but most don’t - a lot of those who have cafes etc are more reliant on regular local trade/students than holidaymakers.

We are now at over 20 thousand deaths and may possibly have peaked, who knows where we will be as a country in another 12 weeks

If cases decline it will be because we have been in lock down, not because the virus has gone away.

Frumpety its May next week. So two months, give or take a few days. As soon as lockdown is eased, there will be another rise in cases, its inevitable. We want to hopefully concentrate those cases in places that have the infrastructure to deal with them ie not a county that has a hospital rarely out of black alert & with a morgue in an old airplane hanger...

The SW is less badly affected at the moment, you don’t really want people moving from ‘hotspots’ to places that have fewer cases.

And the problem isn't just the Southwest, but all the other parts of the country that would be affected when people go back home.

@Nearlyalmost50 still crying?