Isle of Man heritage sites 'will not fully reopen in 2021 without tourists'

Peel Castle is one the sites that opened on reduced hours again in 2021

Uncertainty about when the Isle of Man's border will open to holidaymakers means its historic sites will have limited opening in 2021, the island's heritage body has said.

Manx National Heritage (MNH), which relies on tourist income, scaled back plans in 2020 after the border was closed to non-residents on 23 March.

As a result, its takings were halved.

MNH said returning to normal opening hours without a full tourist season "would be a waste of public funds".

The organisation has seen the £1.5m in revenue typically generated annually slashed in half in 2020, leading to the allocation of £800,000 of additional funding from the Treasury.

Those financial pressures have meant that since social distancing rules were lifted on 15 June, the organisation has scaled back the opening of its sites with a renewed focus on attracting locals.

The Laxey Wheel is one of the most popular sites for holidaymakers

Director Edmund Southworth said the situation had "reminded us that we've got to give people reasons to visit the sites, but also reasons to engage".

He said MNH had "re-engaged with our community" as a result.

"We focussed a lot more on local events and we managed to get people back into sites they've not visited," he said.

He said despite the pressures, there had been positives in 2020, including the increase in virtual interaction with other heritage organisations across the world, which had put the island "back on the map" internationally.

The experiences during lockdown had also led to an acceleration of the drive to make more digital content available to the public, he added.