PRIME Minister Boris Johnson announced further lockdown easing for England last week in what was a huge leap forward in terms of unlocking the tourism sector south of the border.

News that the two-metre social distancing rule will be reduced to "one metre plus" as a result of the recent review of the measure came just a few hours after the Scottish Tourism Alliance had published its research into the economic viability of businesses within the hospitality sector under the two-metre physical distancing rule.

The two surveys, which ran between June 16 and 21, focused on accommodation providers and restaurants which are two of the largest employers within the hospitality sector in Scotland. The primary purpose of the surveys was to highlight the potential impact on businesses and job loss should the two-metre physical distancing rule remain in place on account of scientific data.

The surveys were also conducted to highlight the scale of longer-term financial support that will be required to protect businesses from total collapse and build a picture of how many businesses will be able to open from the indicative date of July 15.

Twenty per cent of Scotland’s hotels responded and the findings made for a pretty stark read; almost a third surveyed confirmed they were not planning on reopening from July 15 and put this down to the two-metre physical distancing restrictions making it economically unsustainable for their business to operate.

83% of hotels surveyed said that their business would be financially unsustainable if they were required to trade at two metres physical distancing without any additional support beyond the next two months. This could result in there being up to 25,000 job losses from those surveyed alone (if we look at the higher end of full/part time employment figures submitted by those businesses).

87% of the 400 restaurants surveyed said they would lose more than 50% of turnover with 23% saying that they cannot afford to continue if the physical distancing restriction is not reduced to one metre, and 85% restaurants said that their business would be financially unsustainable if they were required to trade at two metres physical distancing without any additional support beyond the next two months. This could result in there being up to 8,900 job losses from those surveyed.

The surveys confirmed what we had been hearing around our virtual tables and Zoom calls for the last few months and underline just how crucial the Scottish Government’s current review of the two-metre physical distancing rule is within the context of the health and economic crises.

However, a cautious and careful approach is the right one and our industry very much welcomes the publication of the sector guidance for reopening and fully supports all recommended measures to ensure the safety of employees, visitors and our communities.

We are just over a couple of weeks away from the provisional date for reopening and days away from the announcement of the two-metre physical distancing review.

Getting the balance, distance and timing right has never been more important; we need our employees, visitors and communities to feel safe, reassured, protected and confident. A great deal is at stake – the health of our nation, our economy and indeed the reputation and sustainability of our tourism industry.

While the STA has been instrumental in gathering data and evidence and numbers and projections to highlight the economic impact of government decisions, we must not lose sight of where we have all been over the last few months.

It is incumbent on us all to proceed with caution, to look after ourselves and each other.

People make tourism. Recovery will be slow but with a measured approach, bright optimism, careful ambition it will strengthen us, stand us in good stead for the long term and ensure that we put all of those pieces of our tourism jigsaw back together in the right places at the right time.

It is going to remain very tough for many months to come and never before is the support of Scottish community holidaying at home needed to help save our industry.

Marc Crothall is the chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance