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?

We are also hoping to go away in our touring caravan (not Devon/Cornwall) at end of July/August and October, wondering if shower block will be open or if we will have to use the small caravan shower for the first time

Yes, that was our concern too!

I have family in Cornwall but the way some are behaving you do realise you might not have an economy with no tourists ? I've spoken to a few people who say they won't ever visit Devon Cornwall again
You may survive one year but not if numbers are low next
Plus what about the pub and cafe owners how do they actually feel if they are allowed to open they will need to make money do locals really think many places will turn tourists away if and when they are allowed to open ?
Also assuming when things like this are allowed to be open then infection numbers would have to be down in the first place .
Do you think when we are allowed to travel that all Cornish people will remain in Cornwall and not leave the county to holiday elsewhere or visit relatives??

We have moved our caravan break to another part of the county to Autumn, OP. Hopefully things will have settled down then. Can you do that?

It really has entered parallel universe territory when people think in 6 weeks they'll be able to use communal loos and shower blocks.

I cannot believe people give this much of a shit about 2 weeks in a caravan at this moment in time!

Whether you like it or not, you will NOT be welcome. Local people will be able to use local pubs and cafes first. Tourism will be discouraged for the summer.

Easily it’s not just CV that visitors need hospitals for, there are a host of reasons- over the years we’ve had to visit hospitals/ GPS on holiday here and abroad for quite a few things-Swine Flu( really couldn’t put dd in car and drive several hours she was grim), swimming accidents, ear infections, lost medication... Not only does it pressure on all medical services but it spreads germs.

I’m just choosing to ignore the people who think Devon and Cornwall are some sort of outlying case. I’m sure the businesses there will welcome us when it’s safe to do so, and I’ll judge that by government advice rather than MN

I don't think people are underestimating the loss of the summer season it will literally dessimate our economy in Cornwall. However people are genuinely fearful of how our stretched resources would cope. In the summer our population more than doubles our single hospital struggles to cope then. Before you consider people who not only potentially may spread COVID but also may get very poorly whilst they are here with the delay in transmission and showing symptoms. Our NHS trust has done a brilliant job of preparing but they have prepped based on local numbers modelling as all hospitals would have done. I think August is too far away to make any definitive decisions but June is probably too early. For those questioning our peak local modelling suggests that we were a minimum of three to four weeks behind London and we wouldn't see a steep spike but a longer curve so yes it is very possible we haven't hit our peak yet. Despite what is often portrayed the people of Cornwall aren't stupid and understand the need for tourism but with the current situation it really should be about coming back later. The same as those of us from the duchy won't be probably going on holiday elsewhere in the country this year.

I've spoken to a few people who say they won't ever visit Devon Cornwall again

Yeah, right.
Most businesses have the furlough scheme to keep them going. Noone wants tourists this summer.

All it will take is some sun and a few discounts and everyone will be back next year.

@ITonyah then give people there money back why do holiday places think it's ok to still be asking
Bearing in mind people booked these holidays last yet with no idea of what is happening
Can't have it both ways of Cornwall is closed then lobby your mps to tell all holiday cottages , homes , caravan parks to give people thee money back

Honestly, this thread has really changed my view about ever visiting Devon or Cornwall again. Such unwelcoming people

Why do people keep saying this? I've seen blunt messages to stay away for just about every tourist spot because the reasons are the same. I can understand it must hurt to be told to you will not be welcomed to a place you love but a lot of Cornish will have holidays booked elsewhere too and probably won't be able to go.

@ITonyah business may have furlough but what about there rent that is still accruing , loads of business will not survive this and ones in tourist areas will be harder hit as they rely on tourist money as local money alone is not enough
They may have waged covered but they won't have rent or profit ,

The SW will always be popular as it’s beautiful , has hoards of beaches and a mild climate. Next year will be heaving as many wont be taking the chance of booking foreign holidays (if it will even be possible without quarantine either side), getting insurance alone will be a nightmare.

Yes, I can't go to France this year but that doesn't mean I will never go again! And President Macron himself has told us to stay away!

We are due to go to Cornwall in August. The company have said hold off paying until we know the situation. However I'm originally from the Lake District and judging on the behaviour of people who live there Im genuinely scared I may get pitchforked! I think it's getting quite scary. The. country has become the Middle Ages again over night.

If large numbers of tourists insist on visiting this summer despite being clearly and repeatedly asked to stay away, things could get very, very ugly indeed.

How very medieval. I would hope the police would make arrests.

If people are paying ground rent on holiday homes or have booked holidays which are not being refunded then people should be allowed to have what they pay for - or their money back.

Perfectly simple. Instead of being horrible to potential visitors on mumsnet deal with the locals who still want the tourist pound.

I expect a lot of the stay away mob are incomers anyway. Hypocrites.

Also I hate to say it but as soon as places are open people will go ,the locals won't get to decide that
If the holiday parks are allowed to open they will and so will the pubs etc not many will turn anyone away

I know plenty of people here who own buisnesses that rely at least partly on tourism. Noone wants to open for tourists!! They are looking forward to opening for locals, so that they can practice social distancing measures and getting everything right for later in the year/next year.

We had exactly the same dilemma 8 weeks ago - deposit paid, balance due.... we ended up sacrificing the deposit and cancelling. Not sure it was the right move - we would have been going to Cornwall tomorrow if things were normal and obviously that couldn’t have happened atm even if we’d paid the whole thing, but psychologically we couldn’t bear to part with the full balance knowing our holiday almost certainly wouldn’t happen and also knowing that if the company went bust, we might not have got any of it back. People are still waiting for airlines to refund them for cancelled flights etc... we also weren’t sure if our travel insurance would pay up in case of cancellation due to the pandemic.

Also I hate to say it but as soon as places are open people will go

Places won't open.

@LemonPudding exactly that

*Honestly, this thread has really changed my view about ever visiting Devon or Cornwall again. Such unwelcoming people

Why do people keep saying this? I've seen blunt messages to stay away for just about every tourist spot because the reasons are the same. I can understand it must hurt to be told to you will not be welcomed to a place you love but a lot of Cornish will have holidays booked elsewhere too and probably won't be able to go.*

It's messages like this that make it sound unwelcoming

The hospitals here struggle enough during the summer with drunk tourists falling down the steps to the beach etc without this virus on top.

So sanctimonious!

@ITonyah yes because you don't have chain places in Cornwall such as Wetherspoons etc get real

Pitchforks oh perleease. It’s a ludicrous idea, hoards descending on the SW. the pitchforks accusers are spoilt entitled posters peeved at not going on holiday for one year in the middle of a pandemic. And yes we won’t be going to France or Cornwall( our go to holiday spots) either.The French are being sensible in telling tourists to stay away, we have a weaker government not doing their job properly. Hardly the fault of locals.

We’ve actually rebooked for the same week in 2021, in the same place... I now worry that that was a bit ambitious, the way things are going. Really hope things are open by next year and the locals are happy to have tourists back.

It is frustrating to be told that locals don’t want an influx of tourists (which I totally understand and support) but the manager of the Cornwall apartment we have booked refuses to change our booking to next year - even though we were totally flexible on dates. When we said that we were concerned that things wouldn’t be open and putting pressure on the health services they just told us that was the ‘new normal’.