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?

Where were you going, bedsheets?

Nobody really knows how things will pan out at the moment, there could be another panic situation later. I suppose if you go on your holiday. you will just have to put up with any unusual happenings,

Not necessarily targeted at you oky but more those posters who are affronted by rude online comments and on that basis decide not to holiday in Cornwall, as if it's some sort of payback.
Cornwall is a delightful place; the Cornish are no more a delightful 'people' than anywhere else in the country, but the tourist-hating stereotype keeps on rearing it's head.

According to an article in the Daily Mail online Devon and Cornwall have the 2nd highest R figure for the virus in England, with London being the lowest. Maybe Londoners ought to worry about the plague ridden Cornwall folk leaving Cornwall. Sounds like we should barrier them in the south west!

Gosh I’ve just read that the R number is higher in the SW than where I live!

I wouldn't mind a 'Don't leave your home county for your summer holiday' rule for 2020.
Don't know if it is economically sustainable though.

Thing is Jacobreesmogadishu none of us cornish people are even considering travelling to London to spread the covid so we can have a holiday. My dd lives in London and I'm desperate to see her but understand it would be selfish.

Daffodil we had booked north Devon . I just don't see the point . I'd also re-book early if you are thinking of doing so . I think all being well next year . Places will be very busy . I'd get in early .

I’m not going anywhere apart from my local shop and back. I haven’t been to Devon or Cornwall for 20 years and can’t imagine I’d ever bother again virus or no virus. I prefer other places in the U.K. but no under current conditions I wouldn’t go anywhere.

This may be completely wrong, but I wonder if Cornwall has actually benefitted so far from having so many second home owners

I'm not sure 'benefitted' is right, but certainly relieved that fewer have come.

Because healthcare resources are planned only on the basis of the permanent resident population, who are registered with a local GP. So any overage, caused by holidaymakers or second homers, puts straight on the system beyond its planned capacity.

(This is the same for every area of the UK, but clearly areas with large proportions of second homers and holiday accommodation are more obviously affected by it).

Of course there were plenty of second home owners who DID come, the weekend before lockdown was formally announced, and have stayed, which hasn't been popular.

It’s ok, I cancelled a foreign holiday and booked Cornwall. Certainly not moving it now.

80% refund or rebook next year if we can’t go. I’m perfectly happy with that. Interestingly just bumped into a family I know who’ve got a new holiday booked in Cornwall. Also they got new terms and conditions, full refund now if cancelled. I’m guessing the tourist industry is sufficiently keen to have us that some are offering favourable terms to those who are willing to place their faith.

Well I’m hoping to be able to visit my parents who live in the SW at some point though I fully accept that this may not be possible. We would likely need to self isolate for a while in advance to protect my father. But it will also depend on what work my mother has been doing as a doctor. I know most people in their village so I would be very surprised at any abuse shouted in the street! They would probably just be pleased to see our new baby

All the 'don't visit, you won't be welcome' posts make me chuckle- what exactly is new about that?!

I've had some lovely holidays both in Devon and Cornwall, but they're not exactly the friendliest of places are they?

That’s really hard, Iving. I’m guessing they have seen your baby at all?

The R0 rate is supposedly lower in London because 15% of citizens have already had it.

Of the top 10 areas of the U.K. none are in the SW. The NW figures may reflect higher testing rates.

I've had some lovely holidays both in Devon and Cornwall, but they're not exactly the friendliest of places are they?

This is just about as tiresome as the old trope that 'Londoners aren't friendly'

You may find it tiresome, but it’s true. And actually no, I’ve always found Londoners to be much friendlier than the stereotype.

Oooh stop squabbling. Good and bad everywhere.

I think you spectacularly missed the point there @AlanBrazil.

I'm not sure there's anywhere that populations can be generalised as 'friendly' or 'unfriendly'.

@rhea9009 what are you talking about? I have said nowhere that I have ever been on holiday in Cornwall or indeed ever intend to holiday there in the future (not likely actually, Cornwall is my idea of hell - give me a deserted Scottish moor anyday). I don't know what you think my 'attitude' is or why you seem to think I reckon that the whole of the UK should flood Cornwall right now. What I said is that if you start sounding like pitchfork-wielding yokels, then you are doing your tourist industry no favours for the future.

Devon and Cornwall people get so defensive on these threads it's funny....but also I think people should just forget as put x as my holiday as it won't be a holiday anyway...with social distancing still in place, places shut etc. I do think the attitude of Devon and Cornwall people will damage the tourist trade anyway...and a lot of places will close for good, these places are poverty ridden ghost towns without the holiday makers. I agree with them it's safer not to come, but the attitude with it is shit.

@NoClarification

If you put out the messages that outsiders are unwelcome for the foreseeable future (and we'll make sure you know it),
Nice 🙄

Nobody said outsiders are unwelcome 🤣🥴 we are just very aware that an influx will Cripple our hospital. It's the only reason we are asking this. No need to talk about killing our industry because we don't want more to die of covid.

these places are poverty ridden ghost towns without the holiday makers

This is thankfully so far from the truth to be hilarious.

Although I agree that the whole Emmet/Grockle thing is pretty off. There's all too frequently a nasty undertone to it for it to be brushed off as humour.

I pulled someone up on it yesterday actually, as I walked the dog and a local builder was having a rant about all the 'emmets' in the beach car park. With all likelihood they were just people from the nearby towns inland, after all, who have taken the opportunity to come to the beach for a walk because they can now.

I'm not sure why Devon and especially Cornwall are receiving all the hate for not wanting tourists to visit during this global pandemic. My own National Park is the same. It's not just residents saying this either. I have just read strong comments of 'we are closed to tourists, do not come here' from all the organisations such as local councils, police, mountain rescue, RNLI, minor injuries units, hospital trusts and tourist boards representing the Lakes, Peak District, North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and so on. Do you really trust the sloppy hygiene and advice of Boris and Dominic Cummings over everyone else? The pitchfork-wielders are thankfully in the minority and I certainly do not support or condone them, but I understand the frustration and fear behind it. Everyone needs to stay local until it is safe to do otherwise. Lives are more important than one holiday or days out. Holidays can be taken later, days out can be had locally, but lives are precious one-offs.

I know! I was merely suggesting that mentioning torching tourist cars and suchlike doesn't really do the Cornish tourist industry any favours longer-term. But from the vitriolic reply from rhea you'd think if suggested a national campaign called 'Got a Cough? Drive To Cornwall Today!'