Managing return of Visitors to Isle of Mull

We have a number of vunerable people on the island with a large number of small businesses relying on tourism for income.
I would suggest a strattergy of staged return with guidelines for tourist businesses not just on Mull.

We, as well as many others in Scotland run self catering cottages which could starting point to welcome visitors back with carefull management. The cottages themselves are often remote or naturally Isolated and can be deep cleaned/ disinfect when the changeover is done weekly with the use of PPE.

At some point we will be opening up to visitors and I belive this could be done with a managed approach. As well as guidelines and an open plan of the new normal.

My Idea would be to offer a service for shopping to self catering visitors. A shopping list could be emailed to the store or an individual prior to arrival. Collected by either an individual, the cottage owner or the visitor themselves on arrival. To avoid bottle necks this could be managed by staggering deliveries /pickups. This would keep them away from the small compact shops and not over crowding.

There is currently and exellent voluntery service in place for shopping/ medication deliverys and some buinesses are offering deliverys around the Island. This means there is already a structure in place.

I think this could be a temporary funded job for one or two persons to be a focal point for orders, collection and delivery? This would make it more manageble for the stores and less contact reducing the impact on the residents of Mull.



Why the contribution is important

The idea is important as our stores on the Isle of Mull have limited spaces. Currently there is a well managed queing system allowing a set number in the stores. This is working well at the moment. However currently the weather is dry, standing outside for a length of time in the pouring rain will effect things.
Raising the number of people arriving will take things to a different level. The shops I am sure are missing the income boost and the staff will be on less hours. A large part of the Mull economy relies on our visitors for its seasonal income.
This Idea would help reduce the contact with local people from the virus via external vistors while achiving sales through local businesses. Allow the Island to begin to welcome visitors back in a manged way giving some confidence when we welcome our off Islander visitors return. Also providing funded work for locals.

by Jacfereday on May 10, 2020 at 10:20AM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.2
Based on: 9 votes

Comments

  • Posted by SteveR57 May 10, 2020 at 11:07

    I think this should be possible. The challenge would be expting disease from the urban areas to the remore islands. On a positive side the islands would allow people to stay isolated pretty well. Lots of space
  • Posted by Ideas81 May 10, 2020 at 11:42

    Do same for the other islands
  • Posted by Villager1 May 10, 2020 at 13:12

    Too complicated. Either stay in lockdown or open up fully.
  • Posted by Jay32 May 10, 2020 at 16:37

    No, it's far too early to risk importing the virus into areas currently unaffected. Anyone could be asymptomatic and carry the virus.
  • Posted by JoeReade May 10, 2020 at 18:15

    Staged re-introduction of 'modified' tourism is inevitable, involving the kind of thing you suggest. But all the measures should apply evenly in all areas. Overburdened shops and food delivery etc will be a problem in all tourist destinations. So it's not a *Mull* regime that is needed, but a *scottish tourism* regime.
  • Posted by DotStewart May 11, 2020 at 21:13

    I agree that we should be thinking about how and when we can start to open up to tourism safely across Scotland (not just on Mull). Villager1 states above that we should either stay in lockdown or open up fully - I disagree with them. There is a long haul ahead before we can get back to anything like normal and we need to start taking steps - slowly.
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