New quarantine rules: how bad will they be for Bath's tourism sector?
Members of Bath's tourism sector say the new quarantine rules for overseas visitors may wipe out most of their summer income.
As of 8 June, virtually everyone arriving in the UK must self-isolate for 14 days, or face a £1000 fine. There are exceptions for people like medics and farm workers, but in Bath, which depends heavily on overseas visitors, it could make an already difficult situation worse.
At the Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street around half its 150,000 annual visitors are international.
Like most attractions, it might be able to reopen on 4 July, but it is now unlikely to get the visitor numbers it needs to secure its future.
It is relying on crowdfunding to survive.
Adge Secker is another example.
He runs a one-man business offering bespoke tours and airport transfers - 99% of his clients are (or were) American. He has had to mothball his company completely, and has found temporary work as a hospital driver.
Even Bath & North East Somerset Council is not immune. It owns, and was drawing a large income from, the Roman Baths, Pump Rooms and Fashion Museum - three of Bath's most popular attractions.
But even before the introduction of quarantine it was facing a £50 million shortfall due to loss of tourism income.
With very few overseas visitors likely this summer, that shortfall could get worse, and have implications for the whole area.
At the Royal Crescent Hotel though, managers are more sanguine. While overseas enquiries are down, they have seen a surge in domestic ones.
They hope that, with most Britons are unable to travel abroad, we might spend our holiday money in the UK instead.
With its Roman heritage, Georgian elegance and Jane Austen connections, Bath normally attracts visitors from all over the world.
But in 2020, it can only hope that the British staycationer undoes some of the damage to its summer season.
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