Edinburgh residents hold key to Capital's economic recovery from coronavirus

Eating out and visiting sites will boost business

Eating out will be one of the ways Edinburgh residents can help kick start the Capital's economic recovery

THE start of the Capital’s economic recovery from coronavirus will depend on Edinburgh’s own residents eating out in the city centre and visiting key attractions when the lockdown is lifted, a business leader has said.

Roddy Smith, chief executive of Essential Edinburgh, warned there was little likelihood of international visitors flooding back to the city in the near future.

And that meant focusing first on attracting people from the city itself and other parts of Scotland, he said.

“People who live here are going to do things in Edinburgh more quickly than people who live in the Far East and North America, so initially we have to look at domestic tourism and getting people back into using Edinburgh.”

Mr Smith took part last week in a video meeting with leaders of the tourism and hospitality sectors, chaired by council leader Adam McVey, to discuss a recovery strategy for the city.

He said when the lockdown was lifted people would be desperate to get out of the house and meet friends and go to places.

“When the city can reopen, let’s make sure our residents especially, and then people in Scotland, come back into Edinburgh and start enjoying it. People need to go and have meals in the city centre and visit the sites.

“Then at the same time we can start looking at the long term which is the international tourism market. Everyone realises it’s going to be a gradual comeback. No-one is expecting the city to be hugely busy over the next six months.”

And he said the Capital could become a destination for Scots from outside the Capital reluctant to travel abroad immediately.

“People who were going to go away to a beach in Spain on holiday probably won’t, so we should persuade them to travel in Edinburgh. Let’s entice from outwith Edinburgh to come here for a short break or a come for a week and see what’s going on.”

He said in the short term, as soon as people could start moving again, the city needed to send out a message about its attractions. But he said the recovery would be difficult because of the timing, at what would normally be the busiest time of year.

“If you walk round the city centre there’s going to be so many bars and restaurants and hotels looking for business and wanting people in, we have to make sure we do everything we can to support them.

“No-one is underestimating the problem, especially given the time of year this is affecting Edinburgh. If it was January or February it would be a different environment rather than our peak tourist season which is when people come and stay in hotels and come for a couple of weeks. The situation will take a while to recover.

“We have to be realistic enough to realise we’re not going to see lots of international tourists in the immediate short-term.

“Internationally people are going to take a long time to star travelling again - no-one’s anticipating people going on long-haul holidays any time soon.

“But the one thing that hasn’t changed is our history and heritage - that’s why most international tourists come to the city. The castle is still there, the museums are still there and our world heritage site is still there.

“What we need is steady recovery once people start travelling internationally again.”

But he said the approach to the recovery would have to be guided by the city’s new tourism strategy. The strategy has a new emphasis on sustainable growth, reducing the environmental impact of tourism on Edinburgh and managing the city better.