`Lockdown longing’ for Surrey’s tourist attractions offers ray of hope for sector

29th May 2020

In the midst of English Tourism Week (May 25-31) Visit Surrey, the county’s official tourist board, is calling for local people and politicians to champion the sector to ensure its future.

Tourism has been one of the hardest hit industries due to the COVID-19 lockdown, with Surrey’s museums, visitor attractions, gardens and historic homes closed to the public.  

Visit Surrey chairman, Christine Howard, says: “It has been a really hard time for our sector. The Government’s furlough and business loan schemes have been a lifeline for many businesses in the county, but many tourism and hospitality businesses are still fearful of their future, with the on-going social distancing measures making income generation difficult for the foreseeable future.” 

Tourism industry chiefs, Sally Balcombe, of Visit Britain, and Hilary McGrady, of the  National Trust, attended a government select committee last week which highlighted the perilous state of the sector, and described the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on English tourism as having “three winter seasons in a row”. 

Tourism in Surrey is worth more than £2 billion to the country's economy and, according to the Office of National Statistics, it accounts for 6% of the total employment in the county.

Guildford is seen as the county’s economic hub for tourism, with the industry being the area’s fourth largest employer. New MP for Guildford Angela Richardson, says: “Tourism was the first sector to feel the economic impact of this pandemic, and it will be the last one to recover from it too. I will do all I can to help the industry through these unprecedented times, so it can continue to contribute to the economic well-being of our area in the future."

However, in recent weeks, Visit Surrey has witnessed, through its social media engagement, an ever-increasing desire by the public to be out and about in the county again.  

“We have noticed a` lockdown longing’ for Surrey’s attractions and countryside,” says Howard. “Enforced isolation at home seems to have given people time to become more aware of just what is available in their local area but which they had been too busy in the past to notice. That particularly includes our beautiful countryside, which many people have really craved to get out into during lockdown. However, we do urge people to do their research before they set out, with many attractions introducing pre-booking systems, and to follow guidance to avoid crowding and keep everyone as safe as possible.”

The tourist board has also seen visits to its visitsurrey.com website more than doubling, with particular interest in its online virtual tours showcasing the county’s exceptional museums, galleries and gardens. 

An overwhelming love of Surrey’s unique tourism gems was evident during the recent Surrey Day celebrations on May 2, which became one of the biggest `virtual’ events of its kind across the county. Throughout the day, #SurreyDay was trending on Twitter and unprecedent engagement was seen on Facebook and Instagram. Visit Surrey has once again turned to social media to showcase the very best of the county for English Tourism Week.

The sector has also been buoyed by three recent developments: the announcement from culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, to allow `staycations’ to be up and running by early July; the relaxing of rules about visiting gardens and other public spaces; and the National Trust opening its car parks for public use. 

A weekly national survey*, which has been tracking consumer sentiment on the impact of COVID-19 for the past nine weeks, also offers a glimmer of hope for Surrey tourism. It has reported that `the desire to visit attractions generally and in the next three months are both at their highest levels since the research began. And a quarter of those interviewed intended to visit an attraction by the end of the summer’. 

This is much needed good news for the industry, says Howard, but there is still a long way to go.

“We will continue to work with tourism businesses to raise the profile of our county’s wonderful tourism offer and the need to support it and will continue to encourage the public to share their love of their county via social media. Tourism is so important to Surrey’s future economic prosperity, and the well-being of all of us who live here.”