Latest Lockdown Survey Results Slide Deck
VisitAberdeenshire industry.visitabdn.com
Lockdown Impacts Survey: Key Findings
January 2021
Visit Aberdeenshire
Survey Background
- On 5th January, mainland Scotland moved from Level 4 to a temporary Lockdown, running until at least the end of January*
- In response, VA issued a survey to businesses in the region
- Survey focused on:
- the impacts of current Lockdown: cancelled business and further impacts beyond cancelled business
- the impacts of cancelled bookings from February to Easter 2021
- optimism levels short and longer term
- Research period: 11th – 15th January 2021
- Overall Sample = 145 (8% response rate)
*at time of survey, Lockdown period was 5th to 31st January. Questions, and responses, were framed in this context
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Key Findings (1)
VisitAberdeenshire
- Over 7 in 10 responding businesses were located in Aberdeenshire
- Top responding sectors: self-catering (27% of sample) and hotels (22% of sample), mirroring October business survey
- Just over 7 in 10 businesses stated that they have had to cancel business due to the current Lockdown
- For the current Lockdown period the cancelled business was valued at £1.78 million (based on details from 75 businesses)
- Businesses are experiencing many other impacts at this time: “temporary closure for the Lockdown period” and “furlough staff” were those selected most frequently by the sample, at 70% and 50% respectively
- Just over half the sample (54%) stated they have received cancellations for the period 1st February to 19th April
- Cancellations received for 1st February to 19th April were valued at £782,096 (based on details from 43 businesses)
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Key Findings (2) VisitAberdeenshire
- We questioned respondents on their optimism for the next 3 months, and also for the next 12 months:
- Unsurprisingly, the majority (84%) are not very/not at all optimistic regarding the next 3 months
- This drops to 52% when the respondents considered the next 12 months
- The final, open-ended, question prompted many responses, the most dominant themes were:
- Criticism of financial support (lack of funding and timing)
- Business survival/closure
- The “invisible loss” associated with the lack of new bookings being made
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Where were responding businesses located?
8,5% 31, 22% 104, 73%
October 2020 business survey
12,8% 35, 23% 107, 69%
■Aberdeen ■Aberdeenshire ■My business covers both areas
Q: Please tell us where your business is based? N=154
Aberdeen Aberdeenshire My business covers both areas
And which sectors did they represent?
Visit Aberdeenshire
Self catering Hotel Visitor attraction/experience Guest house/Bed & Breakfast Restaurant, café, food and drink experience Activity operator Tour provider Holiday park
Golf club/resort
Retail
Pub/Bar
0
38 30 13 12 10 9 7 5 4 2 2 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Base Sample: 139
Industry sector by business location VisitAberdeenshire
Self catering Hotel Visitor attraction/experience Guest house/Bed & Breakfast Restaurant, café, food and drink experience Activity operator Tour provider Holiday park Golf club/resort Retail Pub/Bar 0
38 3 30 15 15 13 9 3 12 9 3 10 7 2 9 5 3 7 4 0 3 0 4 3 1 2 2 0 2 2 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Total Aberdeenshire Aberdeen
Have you had to cancel business due to the current Lockdown? (5th January – 31st January)
22% 7% 71%
Visit Aberdeenshire
Yes No Not applicable
Base Sample = 132
Current Lockdown: Value of Cancelled Business VisitAberdeenshire
Accommodation Non-Accommodation* TOTAL
Number of businesses providing details Value of Cancellations 51 £1,267,297 24 £508,000 75 £1,775,297
- 75 businesses provided cancellation details, stating that for the current Lockdown period the cancelled business was valued at £1.78 million.
- Impossible to capture full value, several respondents stating:
- they could not put a figure on their lost business
- bookings were unusually low in comparison with previous years, this is not captured within the figures above
*Non-Accommodation: restaurant, café, food and drink experience; visitor attraction/experience; tour providers; public house; activity operator; golf club/resort; vehicle rental
Further impacts as a result of the current Lockdown? Visit Aberdeenshire
Temporary closure for the Lockdown period Furlough staff Cancelled orders within the supply chain Wasted stock Reduced staffing levels for the Lockdown period Closure for a longer period of time Reduced orders within the supply chain Reduced staffing levels of permanent basis Redundancies Permanent closure Other Not applicable
Other: Fixed costs; Emotional strain; Loss of business from bookings not made; Delays to planned refurbishments
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Base Sample = 128
Have you received any cancellations for the period 1st February to 19th April?
12% 54% 34%
Visit Aberdeenshire
Yes No Not applicable
Base Sample = 128
1st February – 19th April: Value of Cancelled Business
Visit Aberdeenshire
- In the previous question, 69 businesses (54%) stated they had experienced cancellations for the period 1st February to 19th April.
- Of those 69 businesses, 43 were able to put a value on those cancellations
Accommodation Non-Accommodation* TOTAL
Number of businesses providing details Value of Cancellations 32 £539,846 11 £242,250 43 £782,096
- Not the full picture:
- Several respondents couldn’t put a figure on their lost business
- Traditional number of bookings haven’t been received in first place
*Non-Accommodation: restaurant, café, food and drink experience; visitor attraction/experience; tour providers; public house; activity operator; golf club/resort; vehicle rental
Optimism Levels Visit Aberdeenshire
Will you please share with us, how optimistic you are for the next 3 months (taking in Easter weekend and school holiday period)?
Will you please share with us, how optimistic you are for the next 12 months?
70 66 60 50 40 30 25 20 10 40 40 13 26 6 34 1 1 0 Not at all optimistic Not very optimistic Neutral Quite optimistic Very optimistic
3 month outlook 12 month outlook Base Sample = 126
Any final comments? Visit Aberdeenshire
Dominant Themes
- Criticism of funding support: lack of funding and timing
- The “invisible loss” from bookings not made in the first place:
- significantly down when compared with previous years
- Business survival/closure
- Lack of clarity: Lockdown timings and pathway to recovery
- Impact on the economy and businesses not being managed by Scottish Government
- Booking patterns have altered:
- Advanced bookings almost non-existent:
- Customers leaving it to the last minute when they will have greater certainty
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Any final comments?
The uncertainty of the pandemic and the worry of these other variants of the virus from abroad. Lack of realistic financial support if things are no better by summer, I will be forced to close the doors permanently! Loss of vital facility for the rural community and 18 people losing their jobs and my own personal financial position will cause its own issues
VisitAberdeenshire Aberdeenshire self-catering Rural tourism should hopefully pick up in the summer . The cities have been and will continue to be a disaster zone
Aberdeenshire hotel
For 2021 we have no forward bookings. Strictly speaking our business is financially bankrupt. We can only keep it going by using 100% of my pensions to pay the overhead bills like Community Tax, etc. plus funds from past savings
Aberdeen self-catering
We are a visitor attraction so do not expect many visitors at the moment but this is usual for this time of year. We will notice it more if there are still restrictions in April Aberdeenshire visitor attraction
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VisitAberdeenshire industry.visitabdn.com
Deirdre O’Donnell Insights & Evaluation Manager deirdre.odonnell@visitabdn.com