If Scotland ‘builds a wall’, it risks its reputation for hospitality

Fear of coronavirus has prompted ‘tourists go home’ signs, but a sensible compromise is for visitors to stick to social-distancing rules while receiving the same friendly welcome, writes Stephen Jardine.

Tourists investigate a kilt at Edinburgh Castle in the days before Covid

“The friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers,” is how the website Dictionary.com defines hospitality. As an example of it in action, they say “Scotland is famed for its hospitality”. Yup, a global dictionary uses little old us as the measure of how to welcome people.

So how does that square with the “Tourists Go Home” signs that have sprung up in some places in recent weeks? With the hospitality and tourism sector just reopened, that is something we quickly need to work out.

Alongside all the gloom and despondency, there is a unique opportunity right now to connect with a domestic audience who’d never previously contemplated Scotland as a destination – but only if we get it right.

Fear is something to be expected. With over 11 million confirmed cases and half a million deaths worldwide, Covid-19 is a terrifying scourge of our times. Tough medicine was required to make us stay home, save lives and protect the NHS. But as the worst of the pandemic passes, the impact of the public messaging lingers, particularly in places that escaped the virus.

Most of rural Scotland avoided the worst of Covid-19 but now the vulnerable in those places fear visitors arriving will lead to a second wave of infection. Much of the worry is misplaced. Visitors arriving in cars, maintaining social distancing and keeping themselves to themselves are much less of a risk to public health than the crowds we’ve seen packing into beaches, beer gardens and public spaces. However, the only way to avoid any risk whatsoever is to go into quarantine, like New Zealand. So we could put up more keep-out signs, build a wall around rural communities and minimise all contact to keep Covid out. But then what? That’s the problem New Zealand is facing right now. In a country reliant on tourism income for nearly 20 per cent of its GDP, economic problems are piling up.

Similarly, in many parts of rural Scotland, tourism is the bedrock of the economy. Take it away and there is little else and even fewer reasons for young people to stay. Across Scotland, tourism employs eight per cent of the population but that figure doubles in places like Argyll and Bute.

That is the root of the tension that has developed in recent weeks. In general terms, those who rely on tourism for their income want to see visitors returning while the rest want the solitude to continue. Compromise is the only way ahead. Any visitor to rural Scotland needs to be aware of the sensitivities and behave accordingly. In local shops, bars and restaurants, social distancing and hygiene matter just as much as in the city.

With that in place, visitors should be able to expect the kind of welcome Scotland has always been famous for. Those erecting the stay-away signs don’t own the countryside or the view or the mountains. Scotland is here for us all to share in a safe and responsible way.

When we visit our wild and wonderful places, we should only leave behind footsteps. That applies to rubbish and campfires but it also applies to a deadly virus. If we follow the advice, we can all stay safe and continue to enjoy everything this country has to offer us all, including that famed Scottish hospitality.

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