SCOTTISH tourism leaders have been warning for weeks that the closure of hotels, pubs, and visitor attractions to halt the spread of coronavirus would be devastating for the industry. Events of recent days have shown this has been no empty rhetoric.

The Crieff Hydro group was not the first major employer in the industry to say it will be forced to make redundancies as a result of Covid-19 when it revealed yesterday that it had begun a consultation process which could see it cut as many as 241 roles across its seven hotels.

It was the fact that such a long-established and prosperous name in the business – flagship hotel Crieff Hydro has been trading for 150 years – had been forced into such drastic action that really drove home the message that this is a crisis like no other Scottish tourism has faced.

READ MORE: Crieff Hydro rocked by redundancies as virus crisis rips through Scottish tourism industry

Creff Hydro is a business with a strong reputation for investing in its people and its properties and attractions to safeguard its survival for future generations. Now it is looking at slashing one quarter of its workforce.

The warning signs have been flashing for weeks, though. Hoteliers the length and breadth of Scotland have telling anyone who cared to listen that mass redundancies across the industry was the likely outcome as soon as the support provided by the UK Government’s furlough scheme began to taper off.

Indeed, it is no surprise that the redundancy announcements have begun to step up in recent days, as companies look to complete the mandatory consultation processes with workers before they are forced to begin making contributions to wage costs again in August.

In that regard, it was probably no coincidence that it emerged last week that staff were at risk of redundancy at the Kimpton Blythswood Square and the Grand Central in Glasgow as luxury operator InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) moved to streamline operations.

READ MORE: Scott Wright: Time running out to save summer for Scotland's crisis-hit tourism sector

The furlough scheme has undoubtedly been crucial in allowing hotels to keep staff on the payroll while the doors have been closed during lockdown. But staff costs are not the only overhead businesses face. In the case of tourism, hotel owners will have loans connected to their properties to service, and the cost of maintaining and securing buildings while being unable to trade. Some staff will have had to be retained, too.

These bills have had to be met month after month throughout the lockdown.

With no income coming in, and still no firm date for a full reopening, the simple arithmetic points to cuts being necessary for any business to have a fighting chance of survival.

Hotelier Malcolm Duck summed up the picture in stark terms on social media last night. Responding to the news of cuts at Crieff Hydro, the owner of Duck’s Inn at Aberlady tweeted: “It’s going to be horrible.”

Without urgent intervention from government, the sad fact is Mr Duck is absolutely right.