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Support UK Tourism First ?

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Annik

Annik

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I keep reading on here and on other forums where people can't wait to get away to France, Italy etc.. when lockdown is lifted fully.

Why don't we all enjoy our own country first and support all the small businesses that are close to going bust.
 
While I understand that sentiment I think we need to be extremely careful about getting into a mindset that ends up becoming nationally isolationist. That was one of the main reasons why the Great Depression got so severe and protracted. International trade will be crucial to economic recovery and tourism is part of that.

I will be holidaying again on the continent when it's safe and responsible to do so and I hope our continental neighbours will be able to come in the opposite direction.
 
I keep reading on here and on other forums where people can't wait to get away to France, Italy etc.. when lockdown is lifted fully.

Why don't we all enjoy our own country first and support all the small businesses that are close to going bust.

I would happily support UK tourism if they would make the effort to support us. I've been retired for 15 years and have not spent any time at all in the UK due to the unsympathetic nature of most local councils to providing facilities for camper vans and motor homes. The UK is light years behind Europe in this respect. By their nature, most owners are not long term stayers, a majority are looking for overnight stops or short stay facilities with toilet emptying and water supply. In a lot of towns it's not even possible to find parking!
I know that the clubs provide a range of options, the best for me being CLs, and things like pub stops are becoming popular, but anyone who has travelled in Europe will, I think, confirm that we are much better catered for there. It makes sense to me; when I stop, I will buy all the immediate supplies that I need locally and probably at least one restaurant meal and I feel welcome, not some outcast who must be dissuaded from parking or, dread the thought, parking overnight.
 
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As above.

Unless I am towing my Sisters caravan and we are parking up for 9 or ten nights at a time on a campsite I feel about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit most of the time.

I don't always want to be stopping in pub car parks but they are just about the only places I know where you are welcome on a quick overnight stop. Compare that to my last stopover in France where the police moved me on .... to a better spot where it would be easier to get out in the morning!

It is getting better. Some councils have decided it is better to provide overnight facilities than run people out of town, the most longstanding being Torridge, but we are just so many light years away still from continental travel.

Apart from a couple of short visits all my stays in the foreseeable future are going to be UK based which unless my travels are going to turn into a pub-carpark crawl means stopping only where a CAMC, or less likely a CCC, club site is convenient and can offer me a one night pitch.
 
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We will do, but with some reluctance.
During the virus, a lot of ‘rural’ communities overreacted with their ‘stay away, we don’t want you here’ message, these same communities will soon be begging us to ‘support our local businesses’.
 
As above.

Unless I am towing my Sisters caravan and we are parking up for 9 or ten nights at a time on a campsite I feel about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit most of the time.

I don't always want to be stopping in pub car parks but they are just about the only places I know where you are welcome on a quick overnight stop. Compare that to my last stopover in France where the police moved me on .... to a better spot where it would be easier to get out in the morning!

It is getting better. Some councils have decided it is better to provide overnight facilities than run people out of town, the most longstanding being Torridge, but we are just so many light years away still from continental travel.

Apart from a couple of short visits all my stays in the foreseeable future are going to be UK based which unless my travels are going to turn into a pub-carpark crawl means stopping only where a CAMC, or less likely a CCC, club site is convenient and can offer me a one night pitch.

Your right about Torridge. Two sites that welcome overnight stops which are very popular, provide secure parking and are well used.


Mike
 
There were signs as you entered Cornwall, Wales and Lake district etc telling us to pi$$ off and that we were not wanted!! Don't worry Cornwall, Wales and Lake districtm, we wont be visiting you again

Bet you do though...
:Grin
 
Have to agree with the above. Where before I've happily paid for the convenience to support the local community I feel less inclined to do so now.

The Forestry Commission as far as I'm concerned can Woo Hoo right off. They won't be getting any more money out of me with extortionate parking charges and cafes prices.

I won't bother to go to Derbyshire. That's off the list. I'll still go to the Lakes but less likely to "overspend" in support of the local community
 
Just be sure to stock up on everything you need before going to these areas, they really don’t want outsiders using their shops, cafes or petrol stations. If interactions are minimised they will have nothing to complain about.
 
The problem is they were all so aggressive in their words and did not appear to think before they spoke ( even on this forum) , I really think this could back fire on a lot of touristy places.
 
I’m sure as time goes on things will return to what I hope is a new normal.

There are extremes but living in a popular tourist location I can assure people that everyone is not carrying pitch forks and manning the barricades.
As there are idiots traveling for selfish reasons there are idiot locals over reacting.

It’s important to look at it from others perspective. Many people have lost their income, they queue outside the shops and above all there pubs are shut
Compliance with the lockdown has been excellent as an example they don’t want people arriving for a weeks stay in a holiday let even if it was there livelihood.

I don’t see why we should let those on the extremes dominate the way we act. In fact I suspect most don’t.



Mike
 
The virus will still be in circulation after lockdown ends. These communities have been very clear voicing their concerns with respect to outsiders bringing the virus to their communities. Minimising interactions with locals their businesses keeps everybody safer until a vaccine is available.
 
I have turned up in the new forest in the past for two nights (pre-booked) and was given a dressing down for wanting to extend my stay by one night because they were “very busy”. They magically managed to extend our stay, but it was not a nice experience particularly with others waiting in queue behind us. This has been one experience of several. campsites are not cheap in the uk. It has been many years that i only travel to Europe for holidays... if we remain in lockdown, i would prefer to remain in my own home this year, rather than book an overcrowded ‘grumpy’ uk campsite once restrictions are lifted..
 
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I have never understood the mindset of some tourist reliant councils, residents & national parks.
Foot & Mouth taught the lesson tbat theres no money in hillfarming unless subsidised so campers that spend money should not only be tolerated but positively helped.
First rule of business: don't make it difficult for customers to shop with you!
 
There were signs as you entered Cornwall, Wales and Lake district etc telling us to pi$$ off and that we were not wanted!! Don't worry Cornwall, Wales and Lake districtm, we wont be visiting you again
Thank heaven for that.;)
 
I keep reading on here and on other forums where people can't wait to get away to France, Italy etc.. when lockdown is lifted fully.

Why don't we all enjoy our own country first and support all the small businesses that are close to going bust.
Until there's a vaccine the more we spread ourselves around the longer the problem. We all need to look at the bigger picture
 
I keep reading on here and on other forums where people can't wait to get away to France, Italy etc.. when lockdown is lifted fully.

Why don't we all enjoy our own country first and support all the small businesses that are close to going bust.
No please don’t. Those of us who live in our vans are living in fear and dread of being mobbed out in the uk this year. We live in our vans to get away from people
 
There were signs as you entered Cornwall, Wales and Lake district etc telling us to pi$$ off and that we were not wanted!! Don't worry Cornwall, Wales and Lake districtm, we wont be visiting you again
Really?
 
Actually, and not wanting to lob a grenade into the debate, I can comment as one who is living - and working in the NHS - in the Lake District.
There aren’t many signs saying you’re not welcome as you enter the National Park but to be honest we do have our fair share of nitwits in the community. We even had four tyres of a district nurses car slashed. She was staying at a friends empty holiday cottage to isolate from her family so she could carry on working and some plonker thought she was on holiday!
We were really worried about hoardes coming up here and swamping our hospitals. With a total population of less than a million in Cumbria, just under an average of two million enter the national park every weekend when it’s sunny. We really want you to come but just now, with only three acute hospitals and often a thirty-plus trip to the nearest ED we couldn’t cope.
Tourism is the life blood of the county and so many in the hospitality sector are losing their livelihoods just now. Yes, you can moan about feeling unwelcome but it’s a first world problem for you and you’ll get over it.
On a totally different matter, I’d be happy to keep the Great Whites out of the park. You block our roads and I can’t get past you on my way to the ED! (Maybe the pin came out of the grenade after all!).
 
Yes really. There were road blocks on the roads into the Lakes and reports of second home owners having tyres slashed and one car had paint thrown over it. My brother had a letter from the local council telling him not to go to his house in Coniston even though it is his main residence, so he’s had to stay in his rented room in London which he only uses for work.
 
Actually there haven’t been ‘road blocks’. This ain’t Texas! That would be illegal. But friends of mine in the Police (I used to work in the service) were involved in roadside checks looking for obvious holidaymakers from outside the area. Really interested to see a letter from SLDC to your brother in a rented room (how did they know where he was?). Actually if he’d moved back when the restrictions were announced no problem but once they came into play it would be foolish for him to travel back. Tough times for all but this will pass.
 
Actually, and not wanting to lob a grenade into the debate, I can comment as one who is living - and working in the NHS - in the Lake District.
There aren’t many signs saying you’re not welcome as you enter the National Park but to be honest we do have our fair share of nitwits in the community. We even had four tyres of a district nurses car slashed. She was staying at a friends empty holiday cottage to isolate from her family so she could carry on working and some plonker thought she was on holiday!
We were really worried about hoardes coming up here and swamping our hospitals. With a total population of less than a million in Cumbria, just under an average of two million enter the national park every weekend when it’s sunny. We really want you to come but just now, with only three acute hospitals and often a thirty-plus trip to the nearest ED we couldn’t cope.
Tourism is the life blood of the county and so many in the hospitality sector are losing their livelihoods just now. Yes, you can moan about feeling unwelcome but it’s a first world problem for you and you’ll get over it.
On a totally different matter, I’d be happy to keep the Great Whites out of the park. You block our roads and I can’t get past you on my way to the ED! (Maybe the pin came out of the grenade after all!).

My spiritual home and normally one of the most welcoming places. However my memories of it are the 60's and 70's when it was a lot less busy.

I do remember during the F&M epidemic of 1967 there sometimes being a less than welcoming attitude but totally understandable given the ravages on peoples livelihoods taking place.

I for one am not put off by the natives but more by the visitors.:)
 
I understand why people living in areas with limited healthcare might worry, but surely day and weekend visitors at least aren't going to be any real issue?

No-one catches C19, becomes symptomatic and then needs urgent hospital treatment in the same day, or in the space of a weekend. If a visitor starts feeling a bit ropey then surely in 99 percent of cases they'll go back home, phone 111 and if necessary escalate from there.

Week-long visits, holiday home users etc might be a different thing but even then it seems unlikely that owuld seriously threaten local healthcare resources, at this stage in the epidemic.
 
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