UK govt says Britian to resume hospitality and tourism sector from July 4

England's hotels and restaurants have announced July 4 as their reopening date after Boris Johnson announced the first Saturday in July as the proposed date for the hospitality sector to return, the dates, however, are yet to be finalized. With three weeks of notice, the UK government has confirmed that the hospitality sector can resume with adherence to health safety measures as many establishments opened reservations in advance amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  

However, according to reports, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to make an official announcement about the resumption hospitality venues, mostly, bed and breakfast outlets, hotels, pubs, restaurants, and hairdressers. While the final decision is yet to be made by the UK administration, according to a UK daily report, the tourism industry with proper new guidance on how to welcome guests back safely by the end of next week will resume in July. It was also reported that the two-meter protocol for social distancing is expected to reduce to one next week. This comes as UK’s coronavirus alert level was reduced for the first time since the start of the pandemic. 

Former environment minister Owen Paterson was quoted as saying that to have any hope of saving this summer season for the UK’s tourist industry, the Government must announce this week what the arrangements will be for reopening on July 4. Further, she added, the ministers couldn’t leave out the holiday parks, hotels, and pubs in the dark any longer. Chief executive of Visit Britain, Patricia Yates, was quoted saying that the official announcement needed to be made and the lack of Government guidelines and that uncertainty around the date was causing a great deal of consternation within the industry. 

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Setback of over £42 billion

While the tourism industry in the UK suffered a setback of over £42 billion this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, AA has launched a COVID Confident accreditation scheme for the hospitality industry to restore public confidence in tourism. Businesses were asked to apply this week, although the final accreditation would be on hold until the industry was asked to reopen by the UK government on 4 July. 

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