Edinburgh’s recovery from Covid will require gargantuan effort – Steve Cardownie

The coronavirus outbreak has wreaked havoc on Edinburgh’s economy and the city’s recovery will not happen overnight, writes Steve Cardownie.

The High Street is usually packed in August (Picture: Lisa Ferguson)

Covid-19 has provided the city with an unwelcome experience of how Edinburgh would fare without our annual programme of summer festivals and the picture is by no means rosy.

Compared to last year, we have witnessed a two million drop in August footfall as the usual 25,000 performers have been prevented from showcasing their talents throughout the city. Hotel occupancy was choc-a-bloc last year but this year the hotels are half empty and small businesses have been trading at a “fraction of normal levels for August”.

There are 30,000 people in the city who work in the tourism industry who have not had the employment stability that has usually been provided by the festivals and their prospects of continued employment in the sector are hanging by a thread.

The International and Fringe festivals have operated since 1947, establishing Edinburgh as the world leader in the cultural field. The festivals’ offering may well evolve to reflect Edinburgh’s aspirations but there is no doubt that the city has placed a fair deal of reliance on them to help make our economy more robust than most.

Make no mistake, this virus has wreaked havoc on the financial resources of Edinburgh and it will take a gargantuan, joint effort to reboot our economy – but that it will not happen overnight.

In an effort to lend its weight to this work, this paper has launched its “Recovery Edinburgh” campaign to garner views “from a wide cross-section” of different people who will be tasked with providing their answers to the question: “How can Edinburgh and the Lothians best recover from the coronavirus crisis?”

This welcome initiative will no doubt provide insights and proposals that will indeed play a part in helping this city to recover.

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