Aberdeen hotels are suffering to recover from the Covid-19 effect, and many still cannot justify reopening.
The industry has been surprised since the start of the pandemic in March, as corporations were forced to close with immediate effect.
Four months later, the city’s leading industry figures described the scenario as “sinister” and said there had been a boom in the early era of the rest.
Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has continually suggested Scots spend a holiday in their home country, while campaigns have highlighted what to offer locally.
But despite initial hopes for a busy autumn and a prolonged season, and the strong initial reserves on many holiday rentals and caravan parks, many companies have not had a respite from the pain.
We’re still in the early stages of opening, and we still have an overview, but right now things are dark. “
Andrés Martin
Andrew Martin, director of the Scottish Tourism Centre at Robert Gordon University, until recently vice-president of the Aberdeen and Shire City Hotels Association.
He said: “I have spoken to several owners and hotel managers in the city who are in trouble.
“The stage in Aberdeen right now is not good. The profession is incredibly low.
“People are afraid of Covid and this, combined with the lack of business tourism – like many house frames – and the fact that airlines are still not working properly, means that the existing landscape is disastrous.
“I still hope that other people will start travelling to the city from our classic markets, England and Scotland, but it’s hard to say when things will improve.
“It all depends on trust and there is concern for a peak moment right now.
“We’re still in the early stages of opening, and we don’t have a review yet, but right now things are dark.”
The Siberia Bar and Hotel on Belmont Street will reopen its 16 rooms on Thursday.
The bar itself has proven popular since lifting blocking restrictions, going from “strength to strength,” but bosses say reopening the hotel aspect of the business would not be financially viable at this time.
Director Stuart McPhee said: “It wasn’t a simple resolution to take, but the numbers just don’t accumulate,” he said.
“The myth of the rise of home vacation has not come true.
“During the confinement, we had placed our hopes in the prospect that all those who had not been out for so long would follow all the instructions and stay where they could.
“It turned out that this is not the case and we are convinced that, while the appetite may be strong for other people traveling from urban to rural spaces, or even from rural spaces to rural areas, our hotel environment will not benefit. Array»
He added: “It wasn’t a simple resolution to take, we even thought of a limited operating style of discount on a service on weekends.
“But the numbers don’t accumulate.
“Our hotel is a huge asset and, as a company, we have recently invested heavily in the renovation of our room park.
“All of this will have to remain inactive until we have the trust of corporations to put it back online.”
“We are committed to our hotel to ensure that they are taken care of in the meantime and will continue to interact in the licensing program for them or move them to assistance in other departments for the time being.”
If you desperately need to book a summer holiday online, and if so, it would be understandable, why not do so in Scotland this year and help our own tourism sector at a time when you probably never needed that help again? “.
Nicola Sturgeon
Accommodation providers and tourism companies across Scotland have set their hopes on the national holiday message at home since the closure began to decline.
In her daily briefing before this month, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon suggested Scots to local businesses when necessary.
“If you’re desperately looking for a summer vacation, and if that’s the case, it would be understandable, why not think about booking them in Scotland this year and going to our own tourism sector at a time when you probably never needed more,” he said.
She subsidized this in the following days by telling her 10-year-old husband, and SNP general manager Peter Murrell to set up a stay.
Across the north and north-east, initial signs were positive, with restaurants reporting strong bookings, and some caravan parks logging calls from hundreds of interested visitors in a matter of days – many of them local.
The north has noticed an industry namely, physically powerful in some areas, which has led some to an elegant end to the summer and an autumn boom that would bring comfort.
But elsewhere, there are symptoms that the road to recovery can be very long, as Siberia is the only company in Aberdeen that wonders what the long term will look like.
Hotel Atholl, at the door of the King of Aberdeen, reopened on Friday in a very changed market.
Owner Gordon Sinclair believes that the city’s major industries, which are changing lately, want to do so before the hotel industry can do it.
He said: “It’s a very close call to know if the reopening would be financially viable or not.”
“We operate at a lower capacity and we don’t even satisfy it. We’re not even partially full.
“We’re on the way out and I think we still have a lot to do.
“It’s hard, but that’s what it is, and we’re doing everything we can to get out of it.”
The Scottish Tourism Alliance’s managing director, Marc Crothall, said that “the hotel sector is worrying,” with some major hotels in the city centre adding Aberdeen, operating at just 8-9% of their capacity.
The Hilton DoubleTree hotel on Beach Boulevard closed in May, saying it “is no longer viable” to continue operations.
The Highlands and Islands were known last year as the usual place to live in the country.
National figures revealed that there were 5.5 million overnight trips across Scotland from the British, in addition to the Scots, between January and August 2019, and household remains are estimated to have boosted Scotland’s economy by 1.5 million pounds.
The Highlands and Islands proved popular with visitors, with 2.1 million trips to the region in the first 8 months of the year, tied with Edinburgh and Lothians as the most popular destination.
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