When do you think tourist attractions will reopen?

[catsears1]

Such as theme parks, castles, museums, zoos, heritage railways, National Trust properties etc etc

The rumoured guidelines mention everything but places like this. Would they fall into the pub and restaurants category or be even later than those?

I'm worried out the local tourist attraction that are animal sanctuaries as they rely on visitors to fund their charities.

I am also thinking that tourist attractions have the potential to be busy if they are able to open due to people not being able to travel on holiday.

@Tfoot75

NT places will NOT be open by next week. They need to see what Boris says and take time to react. Next week is not possible.

2037

I think by July. Efteling in the Netherlands is opening in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure how bad they have had it there.

Well after schools! You can't justify large gatherings in a theme park yet say schools aren't safe. So if they don't open until September that would give an indication.

Germany have reopened zoo’s .. I think they have potential at some point this summer on limited numbers..

Theme parks etc, no chance. Which I’m gutted about. Couldn’t go last summer cos pregnant, sigh.

I'm still working but wouldn't choose to spend money on going to a them e park even if they were open. I'm saving as much as possible in case I get made redundant!

Anything that's able to operate entirely out of doors (farms, zoos, NT parks etc) might be quite quick now. Toilets could be an issue. I wonder if they'll start to sell tickets for an hour or two hour's entry only so that more people can visit in a day and eating, drinking and using the toilet are kept to a minimum.

Well after schools! You can't justify large gatherings in a theme park yet say schools aren't safe

You can't justify large gatherings any time soon, if places do open there'll have to be strict control on numbers and social distancing rules put in place.

I suppose with zoos, they have costs regardless, as the animals cost to keep. So even running at 25% capacity would be more money coming in than they have now.

At least with a theme park they just shut the gates and furlough the lot. No animals to feed.

Interesting to see responses. I work at a tourist attraction and the owners are preparing to be closed until spring 2021 which is very worrying from a job perspective as no income coming in. I doubt the government will keep furlough scheme running past June let alone for another 9 months

Interesting to see responses. I work at a tourist attraction and the owners are preparing to be closed until spring 2021 which is very worrying from a job perspective as no income coming in. I doubt the government will keep furlough scheme running past June let alone for another 9 months 

Sorry to hear that, it's a worrying time isn't it?

I think without knowing the exact nature of the tourist attraction it's difficult to say.

A lot of places might choose to close their doors because financially they'd run at a loss if they had to observe social distancing rules. For a lot of places though I can imagine that there would be scope for some sort of opening over the summer and early autumn months. Can you help your employer to start coming up with creative ways to open parts of the attraction in a safe way?

@trappedsincesundaymorn

I like the image, along with the legoland people who clean the figures putting little lego men on some of the rides.

I haven't got round to thinking about Thorpe Park yet.

I am not sure its going to be as simple as everything opens all at once, I think its going to be a phased entry, but I don't think venues like legoland can open properly without their hotels opening as well.

I do agree with PP that outdoor places like zoos and farms will probably open first, but I can't see theme parks opening till after the summer and then they have missed their main profit

I would have thought outdoor places like NT might theoretically be able to open soon if we are, as they are reporting, able to soon drive to exercise and go out to exercise/picnic/sunbathe so long as socially distanced. They would have to limit numbers and may close inside spaces. I think one challenge in these places would be hygiene in loo facilities which could be a key area of virus transmittion.

Not a chance of June!

So when then? You clearly have a crystal ball

DD works at a theme park. The owners (the company has several high-income entertainment venues in the country) said last week to staff that if they aren't open by the start of July staff will be let go, and likely venues will begin to be sold off.

Hopefully not long for zoos because I hate the begging videos from Twycross on my Facebook feed.

So many attractions are going to fail. Some will close whatever happens, perhaps after a last hurrah. Some that are very seasonal won't make it through if they can't open soon.

Together with the high street, a post CV social and economic landscape is going to be very different.

Bernadette a lot of theme parks have animals too, Drayton Manor springs to mind plus a couple of smaller ones locally.

The local ones here are selling gift cards with no expiry date to keep some income coming in while they are shut. I've bought one which ill use for tickets when they reopen

SimplySteveRedux is that merlin?

I can't imagine them opening before September, maybe not until next year

Part of our business is a very small tourist attraction. However we wouldn't be able to enforce a 2m distancing. I can't see us opening at all this summer.

Even if theme parks open with social distancing, surely most people will avoid them until this is open? So they will have staff and running costs but a comparatively small income. The true scale of this recession will only become apparent in the coming months. It’ll take us probably most of my lifetime for our country to recover.

I’m not sure what the govt will do because lockdown too hard and the economy tanks and we will just run out of money. Lockdown too lightly and deaths become even more hideous. There’s not an easy answer. In an ideal world with no money comsiderations I think we would be locking down hard then closing borders to everything possible to keep it out u TIL there is treatment or cure. If they are too lax at this point they will pay for it with nhs costs, deaths, people unable to work because of illness etc.

Whatever, we’re pretty screwed for a long long time.

DD works at a theme park. The owners (the company has several high-income entertainment venues in the country) said last week to staff that if they aren't open by the start of July staff will be let go, and likely venues will begin to be sold off.

Unfortunately this will be the case for many tourist attractions. Their whole business model relies on being full to the brim through the high points of the season. They can't make a profit on social distancing numbers and so will quickly fail. I hope people are able to find some creative solutions to keep these places open but I'm not sure what really.