Self catering holidays

There should be a risk based approach taken to opening the economy. Options like early opening of holiday cottages / cabins should be considered sooner to start to ease economic pressures and support self employed.

Why the contribution is important

Boost economy and support self employed whilst carefully managing risk

by Danny187 on May 05, 2020 at 01:20PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 3.6
Based on: 96 votes

Comments

  • Posted by tom26 May 05, 2020 at 13:25

    completely agree, shoudl be stipulated that self quaranting is not permissable here and any signs of symptoms and people shoudl be in their primary residence.

  • Posted by Belladonna May 05, 2020 at 13:26

    How do you manage the risk involved here in travel to different areas, outwith your own 'local' area?

    How do you ensure social distancing from people in campsites/holiday villages?

  • Posted by Switchqueen May 05, 2020 at 13:27

    This seems simple, but involves people travelling and requires strict cleaning between customers.

  • Posted by kenmac May 05, 2020 at 13:27

    Providing appropriate cleaning is carried out between visitors, why not?

  • Posted by Fifewifey May 05, 2020 at 13:28

    We have moved our holiday to 2021, which I think is the safer option

  • Posted by Ranger2dog May 05, 2020 at 13:29

    Only outwith major cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen.

  • Posted by Thegrieves May 05, 2020 at 13:33

    I work in the east neuk of Fife in a business geared towards tourism . I employ three staff. If my business is to remain viable it is vital self catering is re opened at thesame time as we are permitted to re open . Without this then there is no business and no work for staff

  • Posted by Clayton41 May 05, 2020 at 13:37

    NO

  • Posted by Lcinglis May 05, 2020 at 13:38

    I think this would work particularly if you consider that many self catering cottages across Scotland are in fairly remote areas. All social distancing guidelines should be maintained during any stay both at the property and in the local area. There should be additional focus on ensuring properties are cleaned to even higher than normal standard following each stay. For example cleaning all door handles, remote controls, light switches etc.

  • Posted by richardbrown May 05, 2020 at 13:47

    Owners of 2nd properties should be allowed to travel to homes so long as they can still comply with social distancing rules. The associated risks would be minimal so long as with increased social interaction is minimised.

  • Posted by FG May 05, 2020 at 13:48

    I have to disagree as there is a clear safety issue with one family leaving and another arriving, and so safety is wholly dependent on cleaning habits which are variable. Sadly we cant put the rights of owners from an economic stand point ahead of the safety of visitors, its too risky right now.

    Also, if visitors are concerned for their safety, pre booked stays would not be covered by insurance if the decided not to go as they feel the risk is too high,.

  • Posted by Piefke May 05, 2020 at 14:26

    My concern is that a lot of self catering places are in remote areas that have very limited medical facilities. So if someone arrives asymptomatic but then becomes ill it places a huge burden on that location. Maybe restrict bookings to maximum number of 6 days and stipulate 24 between guests arriving and leaving. So people less likely to become ill enough to need local medical services during their stay. Gives more time for thorough cleaning. Also virus degrades on surfaces over time, so even if something has been missed when cleaning transmission is less likely.

  • Posted by Carole64 May 05, 2020 at 14:55

    Totally agree with this. Restrict bookings, allow time to fully clean, the virus degrades on surfaces overtime anyway, if you allow 24 hours between guests there would be no concern of the virus transferring if something was missed during cleaning. If people want to travel and have a holiday, they should be allowed to do so. Many are struggling just now and a break in the countryside would do them good and help kick start the tourist industry again in Scotland. This is vital

  • Posted by Ann May 05, 2020 at 14:58

    I think stand alone self catering properties ie not holiday villages would be a pretty safe option as long as cleaned to a high standard between clients . What’s the difference going to supermarket , walks etc on holiday as opposed to at home

  • Posted by ADD22 May 05, 2020 at 15:15

    Not limited only to Scotland but UK wide. It should be feasible to allow travel to self catering cottages, which are usually privately owned but let through companies. Guidance on localised restrictions would apply such as beaches, and as it is likely that restaurants etc will be the last to open up it is literally self-catering.

    This could also be extended to lodges in parks which do not have other facilities (ie not Center Parcs).

    Benefits are the economy, support self employed and small business but also mental health and well being.

  • Posted by Donald May 05, 2020 at 17:03

    Agree this should be one of the first type of accommodation to open. Self catering is like self isolation but would allow people to visit country areas easily.

  • Posted by morningsidemusings May 05, 2020 at 19:23

    Once the R Number is seen to be under control for a period I think this would make sense. It would also potentially provide relief for key workers who have been shouldering the burden of this virus impacted period. Should not be used for self isolation. Perhaps restrict to a week and issue cleaning guidance.

  • Posted by trixie May 05, 2020 at 21:46

    Disagree. It is not the time for people to be travelling to holiday homes, especially those that are remote. There is not the capacity in the hospitals to cope with tourists. There’s time enough for holidays when the R is right down.

  • Posted by Stephaniekeachie May 05, 2020 at 23:11

    Totally agree. We have three cottages. All are self contained. Check in time is late afternoon check out time is 10am. Which gives plenty of time for the house to be cleaned. Guests being their own sheets towels and pillow cases and duvet covers are changed and washed after every guest (some guest even bring their own duvets) most of our guests are hill walkers or fishermen. Both activities ideal for social distancing as they can walk to the river from the cottage and won’t see anyone apart from a few deer

  • Posted by JennyBee May 06, 2020 at 14:45

    I think there would have to be some management around wether or not the holiday lodge/cottage etc was on a shared site, with common areas, such as garden, shared courtyard in a barn complex, but absolutely support the idea of opening ones where a small family group can get away for a few days if there's no common access, and cleaning can be scheduled in between a longer gap between guests. tourism is so important, and you could stipulate shorter stays ,booked at the llast minute, within a certain distance of home, so that guests could easily return home to self isolate if they developed symptoms.( then there would be no concern about rural facilities being overwhelmed )

  • Posted by jrob May 06, 2020 at 15:30

    Completely agree.

  • Posted by Toffee May 06, 2020 at 16:42

    I understand the worries about rural cottages in the Highlands and Islands, and the risk of bringing the virus into areas which have no hospitals etc, but there are some areas of Scotland eg Fife, Tayside, Glasgow, Edinburgh where this would not be an issue. I don't necessarily think it's a good idea for Airbnb type accommodation in blocks of flats where there are lots of other residents, but properties where there can be absolutely no contact with the owner, or other people would be possible and would have a very beneficial effect on people's well-being as well as helping to re-start the Scottish Tourism industry.

  • Posted by RobertDG May 06, 2020 at 17:25

    Rural self-catering offers a perfect way to kick start the Scottish tourism sector again.

    With properly certified cleaning procedures and strict guidelines for guests we can bring much needed revenue to the hard-hit tourism sector.

  • Posted by Kintyre May 06, 2020 at 19:02

    Absolutely not. I live in a rural village with an ageing population. The last thing we need is people bringing the virus here when we currently are clear. You have to shop, buy fuel. The notion you can turn up and have no contact with the local community is not one I’d buy into. If you’re not going out, you may as well stay at home. We have no facilities here to cope with an outbreak, small local hospitals cannot cope. Weeks of us sacrificing our freedoms to keep it out could be blown in one go with someone asymptomatic turning up and spreading it about. You can not rely on people respecting these vulnerable communities, we’ve had people turn up during lockdown to use their holiday homes with no consideration whatsoever for the local people living here.

  • Posted by Sorcha2222 May 06, 2020 at 19:40

    No way should this be allowed, restricted travel should be forced, only travel within 10km of your own home.

  • Posted by Debrastorr May 06, 2020 at 21:02

    Possibly.
    I run a holiday let on the west coast of Scotland and refunded all my booking in mid March for 2020, inviting them to rebook for 2021.
    I’ve serious considerations before I reopen.

    My housekeeper : I’ve a duty of care to her.
    The community : I’ve a duty of care there too.
    Guests : if they became ill while staying. Would it be safe for them to return home? What to do in practice do about following guests? How fast can I do a deep clean -72hours before I send my housekeeper in and then .... ?

    It’s a minefield. Easier than catered accommodation with the close contact that entails but not easy.

    Would you book if I wrote in my T&Cs that I might cancel at zero notice if previous guests were unwell?

  • Posted by Staysafeforlonger May 06, 2020 at 21:17

    It’s a difficult balance for rural areas - the local economy relies on tourism but local healthcare would not be able to cope with a significant outbreak. It’s hard to see how this would work in practice as self catering visitors would still need to buy food (and shops have enough difficulty getting supplies) and wouldn’t be contributing to local economy if cafes and restaurants are not open. Would want to wait longer before allowing holiday travel to rural areas. There is also the impact of travel to consider - road accidents take healthcare staff away from looking after hospital patients.

  • Posted by Littld May 07, 2020 at 06:48

    This is a reasonable idea in principle but places a strain on both rural residents who would interact with visitors and urban residents in city centre apartments bumping into strangers in their building. I would be supportive of this from July with an announcement a month before to allow planning and preparation,

  • Posted by NKTC May 07, 2020 at 10:56

    Not a good idea - unless strictly restricted to folk holidaying within their own local area. Otherwise it will involve people travelling and spreading whatever they carry with them into another area, increasing transmission (as the holiday makers will go out and about touching things, need to go shopping, get fuel for their vehicle, etc), putting a burden on the health service and infecting other people who are trying hard to stay safe. Rural and remote areas have done well to minimise covid-19 cases by carefully following stay at home advice - they should not be subject to increased risk of illness and death for economic reasons.

  • Posted by aerdman May 07, 2020 at 11:17

    Any self catering operating in residential flats e.g Airbnb cannot be allowed to start operating again as it poses a huge health and safety risk to the tenants, never mind that many of them operate illegally to begin with.

  • Posted by LizLew May 07, 2020 at 14:17

    Not a good idea for islands. They have worked really hard to protect their environment and opening up their self catering and camping facilities just opens up the chance of the disease being brought to the island as happened when someone visited their 2nd home, became ill, died and now their family are unable to leave the island to travel to their main residence as it is too far away to be allowed to travel. Please keep our islands safe so that when this is eventually over we can all enjoy them once more.

  • Posted by Halca May 07, 2020 at 18:27

    I completely disagree. This would be have disastrous consequences.
    Our island has no confirmed cases of Covid19 due to Loganair and Calmac imposing a ban on recreational visitors.
    Our excellent medical services receive no extra funding for people not registered here.
    Our businesses,including self catering, have closed.
    To put all this sacrifice at risk for someone to come on holiday Is just daft.

  • Posted by ecameron May 07, 2020 at 22:11

    Tourism is a hugely important contributor to the economy and, like any sector, should be opened up as far and possible, with steps in place to open it up in the safest way possible.

    Self-catering is a far safer type of accommodation than hotels or B&Bs, and it seems to me should be opened up first, but it come with some risks:

    Infection across households who decide to holiday together - the solution to that would seem to be simply prohibiting multi-household holidays.

    Infection from contact with contaminated surfaces - cleaners are most at risk, and guidelines need to be in place to minimise their exposure, e.g. leaving 24 hours before they can enter a vacated property, requiring use of gloves etc., and subsequent guests are also at risk, but hopefully by then 48 hours will have elapsed and the property well cleaned

    Infection spreading across regions - this is tricky, essentially people have to shop / live wherever they are, so the risk to the country is no greater if they are doing so at home vs elsewhere, however to those who live in a low-infected area the issue is real, and highly political. I would suggest a localised approach, with prioritisation based on:
    1 - the current volume of traffic to / through an area, there is no point protecting an area where there are already people moving around
    2 - the potential economic benefits of opening the area to tourism
    3 - potentially some form of test certification, confirming that travellers are uninfected (or perhaps have an “immunity passport” if there is any evidence that’s possible, even for a short while)

  • Posted by Purple23 May 08, 2020 at 00:16

    NO

  • Posted by Bogmyrtle May 08, 2020 at 10:21

    Allow short breaks with 2 days between to allow safe cleaning. Restrict it to local, business - ie people whose livelihoods depend on tourism to begin with, (ie not second homers who let out their houses to just to cover costs).

    Encourage visitors to order from local shops and arrange delivery. Avoid touching gates etc.

    Guests could bring own linen, clean up themselves on departure, put rubbish out.

  • Posted by Obanne May 08, 2020 at 10:42

    I don't think it is a good idea . We have a cottage booked in remote areas it was booked for a family holiday meaning five households from around Scotland coming together. Sounded great at time of booking but not in the near future.

  • Posted by Obanne May 08, 2020 at 10:44

    I don't think it is a good idea . We have a cottage booked in remote areas it was booked for a family holiday meaning five households from around Scotland coming together. Sounded great at time of booking but not in the near future.

  • Posted by BeataK May 08, 2020 at 14:04

    Yes! Allow self catering holidays. We have a cottage we often hire in a middle of nowhere. We take shopping from glasgow so no pressure on local resources. In a week in our cottage we will see maybe a handful of people from a distance. Why are we not allowed to go there?

  • Posted by rodderss May 08, 2020 at 14:41

    Not yet.i own 3 self catering property's.complete loss of income.but not yet.maybe 2nd phase and only travel in your region to start with.
    Hordes heading to highlands in camper vans can't happen

  • Posted by wildone May 08, 2020 at 15:50

    This idea shows a complete lack of consideration for the communities in the holiday areas.
    Stay in your own area for the forseeable future - forget about tourism for 2020

  • Posted by HighlandLass May 08, 2020 at 18:14

    Travel 1 hour from your home location only this will restrict numbers but allow the business to have some sort of income

  • Posted by Dave May 09, 2020 at 00:04

    If travel to/from holiday cottages/cabins is limited to 1 hr max in-conjunction with the T.T.I app then fair enough - There are carriers who show no symptoms and are spreading the Virus which could force us back into tighter restrictions.

  • Posted by waxwing May 09, 2020 at 14:34

    Agreed. Self-catering involves little increased transmission risk as renters operate as family groups. There is often no need for them even to meet the landlord at the accommodation.

  • Posted by Lanaiya May 09, 2020 at 16:33

    No! Absolutely not! Self catering requires the visitors to obtain their own food, therefore visiting local shops and putting the local community at risk.

  • Posted by Susanallen May 10, 2020 at 12:46

    Restrictions should be placed on properties where access is shared eg flats.
    Need:
    Separate access
    72 hours empty between lets
    Thorough cleaning between lets
    Local community risk assessment

  • Posted by Islophile May 11, 2020 at 11:02

    A sensible step for self-contained self-catering properties in rural or semi-rural areas, and only allowing family groups who live in the same household anyway. If social-distancing is maintained and the property is thoroughly cleaned between groups of guests then the risk of spreading any new infection is minimal. And we need to remember that the UK has about 220,000 known cases of Covid-19. Sounds a lot, but it is less than 0.5% of the population. The rest of us (99.5%) have not got it!

  • Posted by Amyrm61 May 11, 2020 at 16:33

    I believe Scotland will need some local tourism such as travelling 100 miles at most living in self catering properties such as caravans , cottages or lodges .Staying within your own locality and also providing business for your own country
    It would provide a haven for people like myself who are working and need a break.

  • Posted by Bethany18 May 11, 2020 at 16:42

    A good idea - allows people to have a holiday whilst maintaining a reasonable safety measures

  • Posted by DHenderson May 11, 2020 at 17:03

    It is unrealistic to open up these businesses until a vaccine is found. There is just too much risk, even in detached properties. We can facilitate the virus moving between communities.

  • Posted by sandraed May 11, 2020 at 20:35

    In the next phase, I think self catering cottages would be a good solution for people to get away from home but not meet with others from other households. The cleaning regime would have to be transparent and more time given for changeover times. It would also help those who own properties, to make income from them.

  • Posted by Glasgowgirl May 11, 2020 at 21:12

    I think it would be very risky to open up the self catering industry!! Who is going to be sure that places are properly cleaned? How can we be sure that those coming didnt bring the virus with them? Who will police them to make sure they don't break social distancing rules? Too many risks!!
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