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?

UniversalAunt
There isn't really a place like an exhibition centre or stadium around Truro that I can think of. I can't think of anywhere. Many be a sports centre or school hall.

I see Italy is reopening cafes in June. Why are we different?

This is part of a phased re-opening and will depend on whether infection rates have remained manageable at previous stages.

All countries are different so what works in one country might not work in another. It is likely that if other countries can show they can use social distancing to control the virus, UK restrictions will be lifted more quickly. However, Italy has not done that yet, and a cafe is not a hotel.

I’m do people in Cornwall never go on holiday themselves?

Never go to London? Exeter? Bristol?

Do you all stay exclusively in your own towns? What about those who live on the border with Devon? Do you go to Devon? Do Devon folk go to Somerset?

Because if you’ve ever been on holiday anywhere on Earth, you just have no right to complain about tourists coming to the place you live because you’ve done the same. You don’t own that place. It’s part of the country we live in.

There’s a choice to be made isn’t there? I’d quite like to live in Cornwall but the tourists would annoy me in summer. I’d go and be a tourists myself elsewhere. I’d balance that up before deciding where to live. It’s not compulsory to live where you grew up.

I have three cousins from Cornwall and they all independently moved to locations in the north of England. They decided to move away, for whatever reason.

yeah, I think there's a good chance it'll be okay. If we don't open up to some degree for the summer the massive impact on businesses is going to be even more acute on seasonal businesses that rely on income from only half the year to survive the rest.

Honestly, people in Cornwall don't complain about tourists any more than residents in other honeypot parts of the country.
Can we let that go please.

There’s one complaining here!

I agree with you though. In generally they are very welcome and lovely ❤️

Maybe people just complain on here ? There’s some quite vitriolic posts about tourists throughout MN. But you are right, that’s not unique to Cornwall.

I've cancelled our Cornwall holiday. We also live in a tourist area in the south west and I wouldn't feel comfortable if the masses arrive here, so I don't want to be a hypocrite.

Honestly, people in Cornwall don't complain about tourists any more than residents in other honeypot parts of the country

I don't think this is true. Edinburgh is a honey pot but you don't see them complaining all the time.

Also Merry mouse, by your reckoning, nobody should go anywhere because they may be asymptomatic.

How long should we take that stance for? Until there’s a vaccine?

No, until testing and tracing systems are in place, which will be necessary to life lockdown.

I think you should follow guidelines and take note that guidelines in Wales are different to the rest of the UK.

a patient who has paid to see me and wants specifically to see me

Whether or not your patient has paid to see you isn't relevant. As discussed at length on this thread, plenty of people have paid to do things that they may not be able to do.

Honestly, people in Cornwall don't complain about tourists any more than residents in other honeypot parts of the country.

I am 100% sure that the number of people who complain about tourists in London is far greater than the number of people who complain about tourists in Cornwall.

@LocalYokel84 at no point did I suggest that people in Cornwall should worship the ground tourists walk on. And I have a serious ethical problem with second homes. Did you actually read my post properly?

The fact remains people in Cornwall really dislike tourists and don't bother to hide it and this crisis has made it really obvious. Whereas in other parts of the UK they at least pretend to be friendly because they're a useful source of income.

@Ihaventgottimeforthis - this is a screenshot from the comments section in the website I use for our Cornish holidays...

@Chillicheese123

@BuddleiaTime go to Pembrokeshire. It’s like the SW but with sound people, less busy too

We used to have a caravan in Pembs for 20 years. Still go once a year.

Also having grown up in a tourist area myself I have never heard anyone saying tourists were a burden on the local health services in normal times. There is a large elderly population and where my mother lives you see a large number of obese (presumably local) people. They're the burden on the health services, not the tourists who come for a week and go again.

Also having grown up in a tourist area myself I have never heard anyone saying tourists were a burden on the local health services in normal times.

These aren't normal times.

go to Pembrokeshire. It’s like the SW but with sound people, less busy too

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/second-home-owners-could-ordered-18154637

@merrymouse and ? I agree, don’t actually think second homes are great for touristy places either. If I had a second home, I wouldn’t be going to it. The article isn’t about making tourist ‘very unwelcome’ like the Cornwall posts are though, is it?

The article isn’t about making tourist ‘very unwelcome’ like the Cornwall posts are though, is it?

The concerns about hospitals and visitors are similar and that is what people have been discussing on this thread.

I really wouldn't be able to tell you whether Cornish or Welsh people are more or less friendly - I think people tend to just be people wherever they live.

However you can't really compare the two because Pembrokeshire doesn't get over run by tourists in the same way that Cornwall does. There isn't an equivalent to Rock or Newquay, or those villages that become SW London on sea in the summer.

If you dig around you will be able to find plenty of threads about English people who think the Welsh hate them, and Welsh people who are happy to prove them right, but they don't represent everyone in Wales or England.

We go to Cornwall at least once most years. I have always found the people friendly and welcoming. However, we don't go during school holidays, so perhaps they feel a bit less overwhelmed in term times.

This year, we won't be going. We don't want to risk either of us becoming ill or having an accident and putting an additional strain on health services.

We're resigned to staying home, apart from day trips if lockdown is lifted, until at least September.

We had a holiday cottage booked in Cornwall for last week. It was cancelled. No refund given although I am allowed to rebook it for later date. The problem being prices have been tripled for the rest of 2020 and 2021. Im not throwing more money at it - £500 down the drain.
We live in Cornwall and although disappointed, I just have to accept that the money has gone. At a time like this, normal rules can't always apply and there has to be some compromise.

I live in Plymouth. Personally I do not wish to see Derriford hospital become overwhelmed this summer because there is an influx of visitors to the region.

We are usually disadvantaged in many ways due to our geography and poor infrastructure. Absolute lack of investment and job opportunities. But the flip side of that during coronavirus is that we have, so far, faired better due to our geography. We don't have people packed on public transport travelling to their top jobs or flying in and out on business.

So how I feel is please stay away, just for this year. Let us have something in this usually rubbish area of the country!

@puffinandkoala sorry....where in your post did you state you had a serious ethical problem with second homes? I neither insinuated you didn't nor saw that you'd stated your moral standing, so that point is irreleavant.

Of course I read your post properly. You basically said there were far nicer people elsewhere. I merely suggested that maybe the reason we get so pissed off at a small number of tourists is because they'll wander around like they bloody own the place, and believe they're entitled to do so because they're spending money here.

The main percentage of tourists are actually lovely - it's the rude, inconsiderate and impolite ones we're not particularly nice to.

Having trained as a doctor down in devon and Cornwall, it's well known that the tourist industry has an impact on health services. We have "winter pressures" and added "summer pressures". Even in simple things like the fact that we have specialist expertise in dealing with drownings and diving medicine. But having done an overnight August bank holiday in one of the Trusts as a very junior doctor some years ago, I can tell you it can be VERY busy with plenty of folk who come in with alsorts whilst they're away from home.

Also; people saying they'd drive home; it's the infection you spread BEFORE you get ill that's the problem. Plus; for some people they feel a bit rubbish for 5-10 days, then suddenly deteriorate to needing hospital admission. and it is really sudden in many cases. so - "I'd drive home" shows you've missed the point completely.

@puffinandkoala

There is a large elderly population and where my mother lives you see a large number of obese (presumably local) people. They're the burden on the health services, not the tourists who come for a week and go again.

cornwallairambulancetrust.org/cornwall-air-ambulance-appeals-for-support-busy-summer/

Air ambulance call-outs rise dramatically over the summer. Most are tourists.