The UK glamping business is feeling the lack of a cohesive trade association at the moment, as sites take to social media to try and find answers to questions concerning job retention and funding.
Glamping Business has consulted with the Tourism Alliance and the BH&HPA to see what advice is being given to their wider membership and how it can benefit you. However, we urge you to contact us directly with any specific issues, and we will do our best to find some answers for you.
The Job Retention scheme will only affect those sites who have full-time employees. This may not apply therefore to many of the smaller businesses out there. The BH&HPA has also highlighted with the Chancellor – the issue of seasonal workers who currently cannot be furloughed if they started on or after March 1. They are pleading the case that these workers can be put on furlough and have 80% of their pay provided by the Government, particularly where there is auditable evidence of their employment prior to 28 February, 2020.
For those businesses who have already put staff to furlough because there is no income to pay for their employment, there is also an issue surrounding the fact that they should not undertake any work during this time. Of course, it is necessary that sites carry out maintenance in order that they may welcome back guests when the time comes. Therefore, the BH&HPA are asking the government for some flexibility to allow for grounds maintenance and security.
Perhaps most importantly of all for you is the fact of lost income. We do not know when sites will be able to open again in the summer. Because you have seasonal businesses, which should already be generating an income now, you will have lost a significant part of your annual revenue and will have to survive the winter before starting again next year. Therefore, the BH&HPA and Tourism Alliance are calling for the Government to support seasonal tourism businesses even after business goes back to a ‘new normal’ sometime over the coming months.
We urge you to support the work of the BH&HPA and Tourism Alliance by using the hashtag #ProtectTourismJobs on your social media which will add to the trend and will be visible to MPs.
