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?

I think it will be mid 2022 before things feel 'normal' again.
I want to be very very wrong about that.

Do you think all the residents of other holiday destinations are ecstatic to see the holidaymakers? They're not really.

I live in a holiday area and I like the tourists! It doesn't get as busy as Cornwall and we tend to get campers rather than hen parties, so perhaps it's not comparable, but the tourists are usually in a good mood because they are on holiday and they remind me that I live in a beautiful place and make me feel as though I am on holiday, even though I have just popped out to walk the dog.

However, whether they are locals or tourists, people who are grumpy and thoughtless tend to be louder than everyone else.

Of course, no-one in Cornwall & Devon is allowed to leave the counties as they may have to travel back. 😉

Understandably, the many towns/cities in C&D that rely upon the unholy mix of holiday visitors & university students to keep the money sloshing through the tills of local businesses will face some very challenging times.

We are told that the socio-economic impact of lockdown & economic depression will have a considerable impact on the physical & mental health of the nation. Having lived through a number of economic depressions & downturns since the 1970s, this is not a prospect to nurture.

But the hostility to tourists is quite disappointing

The people of Cornwall feel just as ambivalent towards tourists as anyone else - including Londoners. We like the good ones and dislike the fucking rude and entitled bad ones.

I have several friends who have holiday cottages, and they have some guests who come back year after year and who are like friends. We know that tourism is vital to our economy but the sheer numbers of people who come do cause some quite severe problems in the summer, and a bit of extra investment from the government to take that into account would ease matters a bit.

I live in a beauty spot so no problem for me not going away this summer. We liked to get a spot of sun January/February which we did not this year because of the virus. I think living rurally we visit cities and think wow how many people there, how noisy, and are glad to get home after a bit. So why shouldn`t people who have this most of the year not want to get away.

Highly unlikely. Cornwall is much leas densely populated than other areas. Rate of infection will always be much slower and lower than say London or Birmingham

Less densely populated out of season, yes, but during tourist season the population increases massively. People will be travelling in from all over the world and potentially bringing the virus with them. They'll then be hanging about on crowded beaches, using the same petrol pumps and shops, and spreading the virus around like wildfire. It just takes a handful of carriers to bring it down for the entire county to be overwhelmed.

I really hope so to op, we have spent all year saving really hard to pay off our summer holiday in the vale of york, our dd has sen so weve stopped going abroad due to dd poor health and it's to physically demanding on us so once a year we book 10 days 14 days in the UK usually in a light cabin designed for wheelchair acsess, it gives us as parents a break because dd is occupied by the change in scenery so she is usually on her best behaviour, if she is bored she becomes the demon child! We also got told the best the company can do if they are still shut is to rebook us in no refund! £3000 potentially lost. Its taught me to always use insurance for this kind of sh1t happening.

Rate of infection will always be much slower and lower than say London or Birmingham Having said that South Devon had cases days before Birmingham. Torbay was really early but it seems it was well contained, schools closed, contacts traced etc.

Yes, but you're not all the residents of that place, are you, merrymouse? I bet there are some people you know who grump about tourists.

North Devon has 1 hospital, there is a hospital in Exeter and a hospital in South Devon. North Devon and Cornwall are two of the most economically deprived areas in the country. Whilst we rely on tourists to boost the economy year on year, this summer we need tourists to stay at home

We’re supposed to be in Cornwall in very late June/early July. I don’t want to go now, there's no way things will be ‘normal’ by then. I’m just hoping there’s clear guidance so I can get the air b&b deposit back.

@1forsorrow
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 am sorry you feel you'd be unwelcome, but it is true that Cornwall would struggle to cope with any outbreak of a serious contagion. Resourcing is based on permanent population numbers so an extra half million visitors, which is normal but triples the population, could overwhelm the local health services quite catastrophically. I imagine the Lake District would write something similar. Please do come next year, vaccinated.

act t

I live in Falmouth and had a walk today - town is empty, the Police were monitoring beaches. It’s actually really quite unnerving not to have the holidaymakers and students here doing their thing. I suspect several of my friends will lose their businesses on the back of this. So to say all Cornish hate tourists and don’t want them here isn’t right.

But there isn’t the infrastructure to cope with COVID-19 like there is up country. Great that there will be a Nightingale in Exeter - the same Exeter that is 2 hours drive (without queues on the A30 which invariably happen in the holiday season).

Can we take a minute to remember it's not Cornwall vs. Rest of the UK, or even rest of England. Plenty of people in Cornwall will have holidays booked in the UK and have the same questions.

@TheNotSoGoodWife can you go to the beaches as a local or are they closed?

I also find the hospitals argument a little dubious

I’m guessing you have never been treated, or set foot in, Treliske then!

There were people rockpooling, playing frisbee and just walking. A couple of people swimming, but no paddle boards, kayaks, picnic blankets.

The Police were patrolling and chatting to people. None of the beaches were busy and all the toilets and cafes are shut.

So not closed but you wouldn’t be able to go to the beach for the day like normal. It’s kind of in keeping with the daily exercise rules I think.

I've got a holiday booked for November in Cornwall- I'm not going if there isn't a vaccine

I'd be very upset if the country was open and travel was deemed to be fine and people were rude to us

Ah, name change fail

@PinkSparklyPussyCat my first post was replying to you

Access to some of our beaches are difficult now, car parks closed but if you can walk to them you can use them once a day, however, you have to be out and back within a reasonable time. They are changing rules weekly which is causing a lot of confusion in Wales.

"What do the new rules on exercise say?
That it should be taken "as close as possible to the home".

You should not drive away from home to exercise, with no journeys "of any significant distance".

How often can you exercise?
Once a day. The time limit is not spelled out, but the rules say four or five hours is out of the question. You should stay two metres apart from other people.

Does this apply to everyone?
Some people with health or mobility issues may not be able to exercise directly outside their homes. They may drive to the nearest convenient spot.

Those with conditions or disabilities, such as autism or dementia, can exercise more than once a day."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-52416541

I'm thinking maybe Cornwall ought not to cut their nose off to spite their face. At the end of the day, tourism is a big money earner and all the vitriol about tourists descending on them and angry villagers etc. would seriously make me think twice if I owned holiday accommodation there

Thanks @OnceABadMum. I'm glad the beaches aren't closed completely as it would be sad to have them so close but not be able to use them for exercise.

In all honesty Cornwall will be bankrupt without tourism. I've been living here for 30 years and I work in a hotel.

All the locals saying visitors aren't welcome till next year aren't looking at the bigger picture. Yes, we only have Treliske, yes we have an aging population but without tourism will have nothing - even with the armed forces & a university...