Information, Advice and Guidance on Covid 19
Useful Links
- Government’s Visitor Economy Guidance Updates
- National Weekly COVID Report
- VisitEngland/Britain – National Tourist Board
- Business Support
For research on the impacts of Covid, please see our webpage 2020 Covid Research here.
Financial Support – January 2021
There are grants available for businesses that have been required to close due to, or have been affected by, National or Local Lockdown restrictions.
These grants remain available all the time Torbay is affected by; National restrictions, Tier 2, Tier 3 or Tier 4 restrictions.
There are currently grants available covering;
| Period | Payment status |
|---|---|
| National Lockdown: 5 November to 2 December | £2.4m+ has now been paid |
| Tier 2 restrictions: 3 to 30 December | Top up payments are currently being paid for this date range and expected to be completed by 29 January |
| Tier 3 restrictions: 31 December to 4 January | Payments will be combined with the instalment for the 5 January national lockdown |
| National Lockdown: 5 January onwards | One instalment will be paid for a 6-week period covering 5 January – 15 February. Payments will be starting 27 January. |
| January Lockdown Grants: One off payment of £4k – £9k | Payments are expected to start as soon as possible. A further update will be posted before 1 February. |
Please see Torbay Council’s website for more information.
Good To Go
It is absolutely essential that we make our visitors feel safe. The English Riviera is leading the way with this with an impressive 327 local Tourism and Hospitality Businesses already accredited through this scheme and promoting themselves as COVID secure. This free accreditation actively promotes that you are ‘safe to visit’ and was introduced by the ERBID Company working with VisitEngland. For any business that has already not done so I strongly recommend that you do apply for free accreditation now using this link. COVID-19 is not going to go away fast and taking action now will put you in a stronger position for 2021. The market has changed and those businesses that have adapted and have faired the best through this continuing crisis. The ERBID Company are promoting the ‘We’re Good to Go’ much more heavily now on the official English Riviera website to put us in the strongest position moving forwards.
For a guide to using the Good To Go Industry Standard, please click here.
Lobbying on your behalf
The ERBID Company invited to meet with Tourism Minister to discuss impacts of COVID.
The ERBID has been lobbying the government on your behalf. Please see below a selection of the work we have been doing:
- Letter from Tourism Minister – 28th April 2020
- Councillors Briefing – 18th May 2020
- Heart of the South West – The Tourism Industry in Devon – 22nd May 2020
- The South West Visitor Economy Key Asks
- ERBID – Torbay Together Letter – 1st September 2020
- Nigel H Visit Info on the people the Minister will be meeting with – 17th September 2020
- GSWTP MP Paper – 23rd October 2020
The Great South West Tourism Partnership (including the English Riviera BID Company) current key asks to Government are:
- Allow October half term holidays to take place, do not instigate a ‘national circuit breaker’ at this time.
- Extend the Job Support Scheme to also cover businesses that are not able to open due to Government Guidelines, not just those closed due to legal restrictions and also to those businesses whose customers are unable to travel due to local/ international lockdowns.
- Support to be offered to businesses who have suffered direct cancellations as a result of last-minute lockdown restrictions
- Review the Rule of Six in England to exclude children.
- Review the 10pm closure for hospitality venues in Tier 1 areas.
- Maintain the 5% VAT reduction rate and business rates relief to Sept 2021.
- The Government reviews the structure and funding of all DMO’s nationally for the long term and in conjunction with Tourism Sector Deal ambitions.
ERBID Recovery Marketing Campaigns
Welcome Back Campaign
On 23rd June 2020, following the Prime Minister’s confirmation of the 4th July re-opening date, the ERBID launched the Welcome Back campaign targeting both Day and Stay visitors. The campaign was purely digital and used Google Search, Google Display, Facebook and Instagram advertising. The campaign received 9.6 million impressions and resulted in almost 100,000 clicks to the English Riviera website. You can read the end of campaign report here.
Golden Ticket Competition
On 30th July 2020, the ERBID launched a new attraction-specific campaign, in the form of a competition. The ‘Golden Ticket Competition’ gave one winner 14 one-time-entry family tickets to English Riviera attractions and activities. The campaign consisted of digital adverts and a radio advert on The Breeze. The campaign received 3.7 million impressions with 3,768 entries to the competition. You can read the end of campaign report here.
Enjoy Summer Safely (with Visit South West)
The South West was awarded £300,000 to promote domestic tourism during August 2020. Working with other regional DMO’s, Visit South West was launched. The Welcome Back, Enjoy Summer Safely campaign was seen on TV, Radio, Out of Home, Local Press and Digital. You can see the full schedule here.
Autumn Adventures Await
The Autumn Adventures Await campaign went live on 1st September and will run until 31st October. This is a digital campaign with adverts on Facebook, Instagram, Google Display and Google Search. At the time of writing (22nd October), this campaign has received 3.5 million impressions.
If you have any concerns, please contact carolyn@englishrivierabid.co.uk