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?

Nope. No one I know wants tourists coming down this year.

Can you please tell the holiday agencies that and suggest they refund payments in that case?

We're supposed to be going to Cornwall in September (moved from May as rebooking was the only option given to us) but we really don't want to go because of the hostility from the locals. We can't get a refund so we're either resigned to losing £700 or risking a miserable holiday somewhere we're not welcome.

I also find the hospitals argument a little dubious- those hospitals cope with the millions of visitors every summer getting food poisoning, having car accidents, heatstroke, drowning etc. plus moving people to Manchester or Bristol if they really did get full isn’t actually that far - in the USA they wouldn’t think a 2-4 hour transfer to a bigger hospital as anything out of the ordinary. Those areas rely on all these visitors every summer and manage to service their health needs, and very few tourists would deteriorate so much in a week from coronavirus they needed to go to hospital rather than go home.

There seems to be a lack of comprehension that visitors support businesses and local services that would otherwise cease to exist and be available to the local population.

Of course people understand that, but that doesn't change the fact that we still don't have the infrastructure to support millions of potentially infected people.

For starters, how can you social distance when the population goes from 0.5 million to 15.8 million? All these people are going to need to buy food and petrol. They're going to want to go to the beach, the local takeaway, the cafes - the traffic in the Lakes in the summer is horrendous - how are all these families going to stay 2 metres apart from each other? It's impossible.

Thank you, @TheSkyWasDark 🙏

THIS

TheOnlyAletheia Sun 26-Apr-20 16:40:33
There seems to be a lack of comprehension that visitors support businesses and local services that would otherwise cease to exist and be available to the local population.

We will be in dire straits if the visitors dont come back. Our lovely shops will go to the wall, we get to enjoy them all the year round, whether visitors are here or not.

Yes, I think UK holidays will be going ahead by then. Not sure about flights but if you're driving then yes.

and very few tourists would deteriorate so much in a week from coronavirus they needed to go to hospital rather than go home

So fuck all us locals who have to stay here then?

Look it sucks for everyone but treliske is a hell hole on a normal day. We dont need tourists coming down, making everyone sick and then buggering off. There are 10 beds. 10. We have a massive population of elderly people. Businesses are not more important than people dying.

I also find the hospitals argument a little dubious- those hospitals cope with the millions of visitors every summer getting food poisoning, having car accidents, heatstroke, drowning etc. plus moving people to Manchester or Bristol if they really did get full isn’t actually that far - in the USA they wouldn’t think a 2-4 hour transfer to a bigger hospital as anything out of the ordinary.

Except food poisoning, car accidents and drowning aren't problems that spread around the population in the same way Covid does! One person getting in a car crash doesn't cause hundreds of other people to get into a car crash a week later.

Also, we're not in the US. Comparing our infrastructure with theirs doesn't achieve anything because we're not set up in the same way.

A lot of them are being well supported by locals. Cafes and pubs may be shut to sit-in customers but many are doing a roaring trade in takeaways and home deliveries.

I doubt they are doing a roaring trade. They may be scraping by, as they are in our area (also touristy), but some local takeaway service is nowhere near the level of tourists eating and drinking out every day. Not to mention all the accommodation!

Covid has not hit Cornwall badly - or at all, you might argue. So why the rush to put up signs telling us your county is closed. Keep out! Don’t tell me there’s not some other agenda.

It hasn't hit us badly as yet, but there have been COVID deaths in Cornish hospitals; 66 deaths as of three days ago, and 436 cases. If we get an influx of tourists that number will rocket, and in Devon and Cornwall we have a more elderly population. Resources are sparse down here as pp have said, and for this year we cannot cope if the holidaymakers cause a spike in COVID cases. We either use Treliske at one end of the county, or those of us nearer the Tamar, use Derriford in Plymouth. It wouldn't take much to overwhelm those hospitals.

There is no other agenda, we just want to avoid being hit and overwhelmed by the virus, and would quite like our elderly, often that's our parents, to stay alive.

I don't know if anything will be open. I volunteer at a local NT place, and am not expecting it to be open much before September. We had thousands of visitors the week before lockdown, and not much chance of social distancing either.

There seems to be a lack of comprehension that visitors support businesses and local services that would otherwise cease to exist and be available to the local population.

Many gift shops, cafes, restaurants and holiday attractions won't be able to open anyway, due to being impossible to be viable when adhering with social distancing. So even if people travel there and can get accommodation, they'll be very limited as to what they can actually do once they're there.

And so why can’t the people who live there go here, for example? I know everyone in an ideal world would like to avoid infection forever but that just isn’t going to happen and the economy cannot support shutdown for 12 months plus.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-52430855

No, think people are really under estimating how long it is going to be before things go back to normal.

Thank you noSoap for your understanding.

We can't even go to the beach ourselves (unless we live within spitting distance) and have been told No Surfing either. Despite being on the priority list, we're having some difficulty with supermarket deliveries (and Ocado don't even deliver round her in normal times) and I can't get my usual health checks done as the risk of going to the GP is too great (according to the GP!)

So under normal circumstances we DO you want you to visit our lovely area, now just isn't the time.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm stuck on my patio too!

Some restrictions may have been relaxed by then. Who knows? Appreciate the residents of Cornwall may still be reluctant to welcome visitors, but if the Government allow it, then they really should get over it. Finding the attitude from some people living in popular tourist spots in the U.K. a bit unnecessary at the moment - appreciate people should not travel to those destinations during current lockdown situation, but some people are using it to express their dislike for people going there, lockdown or not.

I don't think you're going to know until much closer the date. You'll have to wait and see. No point speculating about it.

some local takeaway service is nowhere near the level of tourists eating and drinking out every day

Of course not, but at least it means they're surviving and it also means people can maintain social distancing and stay well - something that would be impossible if all the tourists flocked down as usual.

Ambleside and Windemere in the summer are heaving - you can't walk down the road without touching other people. There is just no way you can social distance in the tourist season, so with social distancing being in place until at least December, just how is it going to work?

I feel a bit uncomfortable with the stay away mentality - especially post lockdown. It's a kind of "we're ok Jack - screw you" attitude. I wonder that if WW2 happened now and people wanted to send their kids into the country for safety that people these days would refuse - in case it put them at more risk of being bombed! I have every sympathy for those who live in London who wanted to move out to quieter locations when things were getting difficult. I really feel that Covid has brought out a lot of selfish attitudes. And in case anyone wonders - I live in a quiet area myself!

I think that, even if government guidelines allow it there will be less to do, fewer places to stay and fewer people visiting.

I wonder how everyone would feel about staying somewhere when you don't know who was there before you, whether they werewolf and how thoroughly the place was cleaned between lettings.

We have a relative who has a holiday let on her own property in Cornwall. She is having cancer treatment and cannot risk contracting the virus. A lot of the local cleaning staff will be as anxious about doing their work as they are about their financial circumstances, but as it is minimum wage work they may well opt not to risk catching the virus. There won't be the usual seasonal workers to pick up the shortfall in local workers either, so some holiday companies may not have enough staff to open.

Appreciate the residents of Cornwall may still be reluctant to welcome visitors, but if the Government allow it, then they really should get over it.

Yeah, fuck their health and need to social distance - just so long as the tourists are happy!

I can't see it won't be open...the country will be bankrupt if it doesn't start opening up by mid May.

In any event, this so called lock down is breaking down. This weekend been seeing cars full of families visiting others and people down by the river canoeing and paddling etc. Shops reopening along with drive throughs

Our lovely shops will go to the wall

Even if visitors go, most of your smaller "lovely shops" won't be viable due to social distancing, so won't be open anyway. The govt will scale down their furlough and small business support grants and target them at the businesses that are impossible to open whilst social-distancing remains in place. Bigger shops and other businesses that can apply social distancing will lose their support/grants to encourage them to open. Until there's a vaccine and/or herd immunity, a lot of small shops, cafes, etc won't be opening this year.

Interesting typo. That should read "whether they were well"! Werewolves are probably less of a concern than the virus right now.

I don't know if some travel will be allowed, though I doubt it, but certainly nothing like normal tourist season in Cornwall can happen. The changes needed to allow social distancing, it would be unrecognisable.

It's a kind of "we're ok Jack - screw you" attitude

But isn't that the same as all the rich wanting to flee London? Fuck the ones we leave behind, we just want to get away to our pretty holiday home.