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?

even a change in the law requiring holidaymakers to have documentation proving they are allowed to visit

what happens if you have family there (or in other tourist hotspots like Devon, Pembrokeshire or the Lake District?) Do you have to take your passport and birth certificate and your proof of the relationship with someone in the county? I can't see how that's workable.

Yeah it’s not just Cornwall. That’s not the only place people go in holiday

What are people's thoughts after Boris' speech?

People may start to book a weekend in a remote place but I fear that Cornwall might suffer... it’s been quite vocal in its refusal to accept tourists/visitors.

I think that we all got the message loud and clear not to visit Cornwall.

I was wondering that too.

Certainly no mention of spending time outside of your usual home.

No and you should not really even consider going there.

People may start to book a weekend in a remote place but I fear that Cornwall might suffer... it’s been quite vocal in its refusal to accept tourists/visitors.

Your meaning is ambiguous here. Do you mean people will respect the wishes of Cornwall residents and avoid going to the area, or that would-be tourists have been so offended that they'd choose not to go?

If the later I disagree. With foreign holidays off the cards, all the UK's tourist spots will be full to busting if domestic tourism is allowed.

Surfers are going to come down for the day in their vehicles when the curl is right. They will have to bring their own picnics etc. because hospitality will not be open but they can ride the waves.

Hard to say!

Fishing is on the menu again, the marinas will be able to open, golf too. It is a slow easing.

U.K. tourism will be open again by the summer holidays. If you listen to his speech again, that point can be easily inferred. There will be little enjoyment for many, however, if businesses (rightly) enforce social restrictions. I predict the beaches will be a mess, littered with disposable barbecues and discarded sleeping bags by the first week of September.

The B&Bs and holiday lets in our village have already stated that they are staying closed for the time being.

It’s unclear isn’t it?

For those of us who live in Cornwall, it’s an anxious time because it’s clear from the figures the virus hasn’t really been here yet.

An influx of holidaymakers could unwittingly cause a spike down here that we are ill prepared for.

It doesn’t feel safe to allow it, yet, when numbers elsewhere in the U.K. are still so high.

Of course some tourism businesses might go under. But Cornwall as a whole is not dependent on tourism for survival. That is a myth. And actually over-tourism is becoming a real problem down here - and is the root cause of some of the hostility towards holidaymakers.

Comparisons with London and tourism don’t really work. Because no-one actually lives in Trafalgar Sq or Piccadilly Circus. If the likes of Clapham Common were totally mobbed with tourists from April to October that would be a more accurate comparison!

Even if B&Bs close, people have campervans (or will hire them) or throw a tent/sleeping bag in the car.

Yy to orange samphire.

But surely tourists use public transport a lot in London?

I think that we all got the message loud and clear not to visit Cornwall.
I got it in about 1976 and I haven't bothered to go back :)

Clapham Common is mobbed with locals! London is much more built up. That’s why it has more virus spread. No area can lose 20% of the economy and EU finance and expect to be bouyant economically. Tourists normally shop and eat and use many local services and keep thousands employed. Cornwall would be even poorer without them. And it’s pretty poor now by any modern definition of the meaning.

I finally got the message in 2006 and haven’t been since.

They might well do @middleager but they will struggle to find somewhere to camp. Sites are closed and overnight stays in beach car parks are not permitted anyway. Lay-by on the A30 not too appealing!

Look - beaches down here are mobbed by locals just as south london parks are. Add tourists to that and it’s like a game of sardines that noone enjoys.

And a lot of those employed by the tourist trade aren’t locals. Lots of people from elsewhere in Europe.

Yes I’ve heard from a very well known chef that getting locals to work for him is difficult. Bizarre really. The beach is more appealing I guess.

Cornwall is ‘poor’ by GVA measures. Economic output is not valued here in the way that, say, nature, the environment, and people are.

Maybe instead of continually criticising and denigrating Cornwall, Bubbles, you might start to think of it as a place that has different values to you.