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Cairngorms Tourism Partnership - March 2021

Meeting details

Date:

Cairngorms Tourism Emergency Response Group - Via Video-Conference

Cairngorms Tourism Emergency Response Group
15th March 2021, 11am.

1.Welcome & Apologies

Present: Mark, Laurie, Murray, Pete, Heather

Apologies: Janet, Grant, Alistair, Rhona, Chris F, Colin, Rhona, Chris T, Geva

2.RESPOND

Business Support update

Alistair sent an update on business support from Aberdeenshire Council. The 1st and 2nd wave of B&B fund applicants have been contacted and the 3rd wave applications for those not included in earlier rounds open tomorrow.   They are still in discussion with government over some large B&B not on assessors’ list.  A paper on the Discretionary Fund is being considered this week regarding distribution of additional funding.  Applications are slowing for the Strategic Framework Fund which is likely to be extended to June.

Key issues from DMOs

Laurie and Mark confirmed that business support seemed to be running fairly smoothly.  However clarity for re-opening is urgently needed from tomorrow’s government announcement.

CBP have an open meeting with Fergus Ewing tomorrow morning in advance of the government announcement, and have set up a series of sectoral re-opening meetings over the next few weeks.

MoraySpeyside are also having re-opening conversations with businesses.  They have been invited to input to a new Northeast Resilience group.  Chris F is also involved and has flagged up the key role of CNPA in Deeside.   It was agreed that Murray would chat to Rhona Gunn to improve contact between CNPA and Moray Council staff.  Pete advised that Moray Council had windfarm funding for a new Speyside Way website.  CNPA preference would be for DMOs to lead on that.

3.RESET

CBP operational readiness survey results (attached)

There are few surprises in the survey results.  Key issues were again identified as Covid restrictions, cash flow, staff availability and the time required to train new employees and furloughed staff.

The results have been circulated to Fergus Ewing, Scottish Chambers of Commerce and Scottish Tourism Alliance.

4.RESTART

Visitor management issues in light of slight easing of restrictions 12/03

At the CNPA board meeting last week there was a discussion as part of a budget paper on the employment of full time rangers, which was approved.  Eight seasonal rangers are already employed and started training today.  They will be on the ground from end March.  FLS, NTS and NatureScot will also have more staff on the ground.

In terms of ranger communications:

Re-opening with Confidence – #cairngormstogether community meetings 01/03/21

Mark said that the meetings went well, but this needs wider PR to get the message out to local communities.  CNPA already plan to put out a blog from Janet, and some tourism infographics, but some wider press would also be good. Heather and Pete to discuss with Olly.  CBP will also do some PR around the sector meetings next week.

National and local visitor management groups

VS have organised a visitor management summit on the 19th March.  Mark and Olly will be attending the Education and Marketing group on Thursday before that.

Laurie advised that FLS in Moray are planning to continue their campervan provision project into 2021.

Messaging for Easter and re-opening. 

Mark and Olly will today be discussing final messaging.

5.RECOVER

N/a

6.Any Other Updates

N/a

7.Date of next meeting

Monday 29th March 2021 @ 11am

Meeting resources

This document contains the results of the Cairngorms Business Partnership (CBP) Operational Readiness Survey from March 2021. The survey, conducted between 25 February and 6 March 2021, gathered 145 responses from CBP members and other businesses, with 88% of respondents being CBP members. The survey explored how long it would take businesses to reach full operational capacity if restrictions were lifted, identifying that adapting to new Covid-19 regulations was a key barrier and that supply chain issues, recruitment, and lack of working capital were also significant concerns. The survey also touched on customer lead times, future employment trends, and the need for continued support to help businesses recover to pre-pandemic levels, particularly given the importance of tourism in the area.
Please be aware that this summary has been generated using AI.
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