Coronavirus in Scotland: Physical distancing on Arran ferries 'unrealistic' for tourism
- Published
Physical distancing measures have cut the numbers of passengers aboard each ferry
Businesses on the Isle of Arran have warned about the impact on tourism if travel to and from the island remains difficult for visitors.
The ferries, operated by CalMac, cannot carry as many passengers as normal due to rules on physical distancing.
There are concerns that without tourists, the island will not benefit from what is left of the summer season.
The ferry is the only way to get onto Arran and the local economy is heavily reliant on tourism.
More than 1,500 jobs on the island depend on visitors coming from the mainland and the lockdown has shut off a major source of income for many people.
Changes to the layout of the Arran ferries mean there has been a cut in how many people can travel
'No guarantee they'll get across'
David Millar lives on the island and rents a holiday home out on the shores of Lamlash Bay.
He had been fully booked from February until September but all reservations have been cancelled since the end of March.
Mr Millar said people are not booking to come to Arran because of concerns about the ferries.
David Millar said the ferry situation is keeping visitors away from the island
"The issues have been that people can't get over to the island," he said.
"Booking levels have definitely been down and people have cancelled because there is no guarantee that they'll get across to the island or indeed back again after they've visited the property".
'Summer is when we make money'
And for Gordon Kinniburgh who owns the Arran Cheese Shop, the prospect of finishing the summer season with few tourists before heading into another winter is a daunting one.
"Our business is 95% tourists. We've been losing money over the last three months and the summer is when we make money," he explained.
"January, February, March, it's generally it's a loss making situation.
"We do alright in the lead up to Christmas because we wholesale a lot to the mainland, but the summer is when we make most of our money that keeps us going through the year".
Business owners like Gordon Kinniburgh are worried about missing the remainder of the summer holiday period
These concerns are echoed by the Arran Ferry Action Group.
Gavin Fulton, who chairs the group, said that Scotland's tourism industry is opening back up but Arran is "to a certain extent remaining locked down because of the ferry".
He explained: "Now obviously safety comes first and there should be reduced numbers on the ferry, but the levels to which they have been reduced seem a bit over the top.
"The ferry has a capacity of 1000, and we're down to 100, maybe going to 200 seems unrealistic when the whole island is heavily dependent on tourism".
'A big step forward'
Businesses may be worried about the limits on visitors coming to the island but Islands Minister Paul Wheelhouse said things were moving in the right direction for tourism.
He also said that CalMac had managed to sustain demand with the inside capacity of the ferries and that not to resort to placing passengers outside.
"We have seen a big step forward moving from 2m to 1m because of the layout of the seating we are now able to see much more of the tables in the canteen area used for passengers to sit and we have also have the option for outside tickets when the weather is fair, passengers can use that," he explained.
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- Published10 June 2020
