Will Devon & Cornwall be ok to go to in July?

[EinsteinaGogo]

We are in a real dilemma.. We have to pay the balance on our holiday in the next couple of weeks which is about another £800 on top of the £400 deposit already paid.

We've gone for a self catering holiday flat on the Devon / Cornwall border for last week of June /
first week in July.

Don't really want to go if the touristy places we'd usually go to aren't open but our holiday company are only offering a reschedule so will lose our money if we cancel. We have a family wedding next year (hopefully) so we don't want to rebook.

We were pretty sure we'd still be in lockdown and be able to get a refund but now that the new rules are in place, I don't know if we are or aren't allowed to go.

AIBU to think we should be able to get our deposit back?

You won't be able to get your deposit back unless the rules in place mean they can't accommodate you.

If you're just going to choose not to go then you really should be forfeiting your deposit.

Why can't you just reschedule?

Please don't come. Nothing is open and our hospitals can't cope with an influx of tourists.

Not sure. We are still booked for ours. Self catering cottage though.

Self catering in 8 weeks time, I would have thought you would be ok based on the current plan.

What are the new rules saying?

I think it'll be very different, hairdressers, pubs and restaurants aren't planned to reopen until July are they? Not sure much will be open and it'll be not much of a holiday IMO.

I would cancel.

I think there's a good chance things will be open enough that you could go. Whether you do or not is a different issue.

@DartmoorChef you need to hope things open enough for tourists otherwise those hospitals will be dealing with a mental health crisis. Economic disaster kills more people than Covid.

I don't think it'll be open in June, I think it'll come under the July rules.

Hmmm I would reschedule. Very unlikely things will be open much by end June

My holiday in isles of scilly is for first week July. I'm hoping it will still be ok. We are in self catered and have young children so would not be eating out. The things we had planned to do don't really "close" - the beach, walks, various ruins.

We would hope to still support their local economy by buying food & souvenirs in shops to take away - I'm worried that a place so dependent on tourism will really struggle if tourists are permitted but don't go.

I live in Devon. I doubt any touristy things will be up and running by then to be honest.

No I don't think you'll be able to go and in all honesty I think people should respect the people that live there and stay away until at least next year if they're only going on a break and not to visit family etc.
I don't think you'll get your deposit back, sorry OP

At the moment the rules are that you should not be staying away from home. That's what I saw on bbc news. That is unlikely to change until July 4th at the earliest.

I would lobby the company for a refund. Right before the lockdown, there was a similar issue with holiday companies, and they did refund in the end.

I live on the border and it's very anti-tourist at the moment. Lots of signs in house and car windows telling tourists to go home, I was even yelled at in the street because someone didn't recognise me and thought I was on holiday. It's honestly a lovely place, usually packed with tourists in the summer! And the area does rely on tourism, but if shops, restaurants and pubs are all closed, there's not much benefit at all. Not to mention that a lot of holiday homes are owned by people who don't live here anyway. It's difficult to think ahead to July but I think holidays this summer are just a write-off.

Just to add - maybe you could reschedule for winter or Christmas if you don't want next summer? Always lots of tourists down this way at that time of year.

How does anyone think this is the plan for July?! The government dates are bollocks. We will keep having lockdowns every few weeks once the hospital admissions vet high enough. Cases are not going to be on a declining trajectory! The government just say that to give people hope but it isn’t how it will work?!

@SpillTheTeaa.
I agree. People living in tourist hotshots don't want holiday tourists at the moment so you would be made to feel quite unwelcome. A friend lives in a real tourist area of Cornwall and the locals are petrified of people coming on holiday any time soon. They have had village meetings looking at ways to deter people or make it clear they are not welcome.

I know everyone is tired if this lockdown but please just stay at home for the time being. Perhaps October or later you maybe able to go away but July is way too soon!

We're not allowed to stay overnight anywhere yet.

Please don’t come until it’s safer to do so. A large proportion of our population is elderly and we have fewer hospitals than many other counties. (Cornwall really only has one equipped to deal with Coronavirus). A neighbour (I’m in Devon) who’s a GP explained to me recently that it’s believed Devon has not yet had its peak.

I think it’s highly unlikely stuffs going to be open last week of June/first week of July. Even by the government’s tentative ‘plans’ July was the earliest date that might be suggested.

No don’t go. You won’t be welcomed.

Nobody is allowed to stay away from home right now. People who live in Devon and Cornwall are overly very protective of their counties at the moment. I love Cornwall, it's my absolute favourite place to be, but some of the comments from locals on social media are pretty vile and nasty and putting me off wanting to go again tbh.

I'd like to think they'd be open again then OP but I wouldn't get my hopes up

@Wearyandbleary - I agree with what you are saying, but the government guidelines inform the industry in terms of their own insurances etc. I was due to go on a SC break in the UK just before Easter, and the place insisted they were still open until the government said they should close, even though it was obviously not safe prior.

Please don't come. I've been told our hospitals won't cope with an influx.

Likelihood is you’ll need to reschedule OP, since hospitality (which I assume includes holiday accommodation) is quite far down the list of government planned phased reopening.

So sadly it will be reschedule, or forfeit your deposit. Not a great situation and just one of many ways this pandemic is hitting people in the pocket.