Scots visitor attractions will need financial help to survive for as long as social distancing measures are in place, according to a new survey.
Research carried out by the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism at Glasgow Caledonian University has found that 85% of attractions believe that reopening with two metre distancing would impact on their ability to operate at an economically sustainable level.
Just under 60% of operators said the introduction of a government-led scheme similar to Eat Out to Help Out would be beneficial to attract domestic visitors back to venues.
The sharp decline in international visitors this year is expected to have a major impact.
Almost 20% of attractions are anticipating a drop in turnover of more than 50% this year as a result.
More than 200 sites took part in the survey, commissioned by the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA), in February and early March.
Members are calling on the Scottish and UK Governments to provide new grant support to the industry, reduce physical distancing restrictions, and increase funding for national marketing targeted the domestic audience.
Gordon Morrison, chief executive of ASVA, said: "The continuation of two metre physical distancing will have economic consequences for the majority of the attractions sector.
"For as long as physical distancing restrictions are in place, it is highly likely that our sector is going to need financial assistance to survive.
"The lack of international visitors in 2021 is going to have a considerable economic impact on our sector.
"This highlights the vulnerable position that many our sector is likely to be in this year and the need for continued support."
However, Mr Morrison said there was a "palpable increase in optimism" from members following this week's announcement of indicative dates for reopening.
He added: "The fact that travel restrictions are likely to be relaxed in line with the re-opening of much of the attractions sector on April 26 is particularly heartening.
"Ongoing travel restrictions would greatly inhibit the sector from being able to viably reopen, so the news about the relaxation was very positive."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here