Coronavirus: Overseas groups postpone Stratford-upon-Avon trips

John and Janet Ford have run Tudor World museum and tours since 2007

A tourist attraction in Stratford-upon-Avon says some overseas school groups have said they will not be returning to the UK for two years.

All bookings the French and Italian groups made to visit Tudor World this year have now been cancelled, because of the pandemic, owner John Ford said.

French school groups informed him that Covid-19 meant they had postponed their UK visit until 2022.

Mr Ford said he hoped for a "good summer" to get him through the winter.

He has had four members of staff on the government's furlough scheme, but reopened to visitors on 4 July.

"The buzzword is Staycation and we're hoping that the home market will flock to tourist attractions in the UK," he said.

"I had no income for three months. People are not going out as much and I've heard use of car parks [in the town] is down 74% on last year."

About 2,747,000 visits were made to Stratford-upon-Avon in 2018

Seven Italian and about 20 French school groups cancelled prior to lockdown, with some French groups stating they would not be travelling to the UK for the next two years.

"This is due to making sure the Covid-19 has been cleared, also we think it's something to do with Brexit customs control that might come in shortly," he said.

"We were getting to the point of turning bookings away [before lockdown] as this year was going to be so busy, so you can imagine how we feel now."

Visitor numbers have recently started to pick up, but Mr Ford said he was cautious about the long-term and had depleted his reserves, despite getting a £10,000 grant while the business was closed.

In April, the Centre for Progressive Policy think tank said it expected Stratford-upon-Avon to take among the biggest economic hits in the UK.

Since lockdown started, the district council has handed out more than £32m in grants to small and medium sized businesses.

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