GT Passport

The Cabinet Minister for Rural Economy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing, has announced his intention to re-open the Scottish tourism sector for business from the 15th July. As such Scottish businesses in the sector are now being advised to prepare to open, with strict adherance to government guidelines and with all appropriate safety recommendations in place, on or after that date.

The tourism industry in the UK has been hit hard with shops, hotels and restaurants being asked to closed down virtually overnight when it became clear the deadly strain of Coronavirus was sweeping through the country unhindered. For some, the government’s unprecedented furlough scheme has brought a measure of relief and will ensure the business will still be able to open again, but the full impact of the safety recommendations on infrastructure and staffing levels, remains to be seen.

For GT Passport, the lockdown had severely impacted the ability to engage with businesses along its Grand Touring routes in the UK and EU. Now that the sector is begining to see a new dawn approaching, GT Passport will, once again, be reaching out to businesses around the South of Scotland, The Midlands, East Anglia, Wales and the Southern England, to help support their engagement with staycationers and road-trippers. The pent up demand for these kinds of holidays has the potential to create a boom in domestic travel. GT Paspsort aims to ensure that the rural and remote economies which are so often bypassed by tourism agencies will also be able to enjoy an uptick in visitors.

Of course, increased visitor numbers can also create problems for some communities, and for a few, a growth in visitor numbers may be unwelcome. GT Passport’s goal to support the local businesses, by increasing foot-fall along the promoted routes, includes a willingness to engage with these local communities to understand how best to mitigate the negative impacts of tourism, while still drawing out the enormous benefits of attracting visitors.

But in the mean time, as Scotland prepares to re-open for business, GT Passport is preparing interactive guidebooks for both “The High Road” and “South of Scotland” grand touring routes and invites businesses that have a presence along these routes to get involved and secure a full-page listing inside the books and on the GT Passport website.

For more information of the GT Passport touring routes in Scotland, England & Wales, and the EU, visit GTpassport.com. Alternatively, you can email info@gtpassport.com or send a Direct Message to Skinidin House Media via LinkedIn.

Throughout June and July, @GTPassport will be posting a virtual tour of the routes on Instagram starting with the South of Scotland. Please follow to see more.

Main Image: The South of Scotland grand touring route [photo: Visit Scotland/ Cut Media]