Cornwall estimated to have lost £1.2 billion once ALL Covid restrictions are lifted
Tourism bosses have been reacting to the Prime Minister's roadmap out of lockdown
Last updated 24th Feb 2021
Tourism bosses say the roadmap out of lockdown is going to hit Cornwall really hard.
Self-contained holiday lets could reopen from the 12th of April and the same goes for beer garden pints.
Pubs, however, will not be able to serve meals and drinks INDOORS until at least the middle of May.
Some have told us this will have a devastating effect on their Easter trade and might not be able to afford to open at all until May.
Malcolm Bell heads up Visit Cornwall and says while the devil is in the detail, they need more detail!
"There will be some day traffic around and day visitors over Easter but obviously the vast majority of tourism accomodation will be locked down.
"So it's probably increased the losses to the Cornish economy, for the whole of the Covid period, to nearer £1.2 billion pounds and delayed the 33,000 people on furlough getting back to work.
"But if that's the price we have to pay - that's the price we have to pay.
"We are pleased that as self-catering is reopening, the pubs, the attractions and outdoor eating will be allowed. Obviously we will be hoping for decent weather in April because it's still quite a cool time of year but we do see that as a positive gesture.
"What we were dreading was self-catering being able to open but with nowhere to go to eat or drink so by and large accepted, but, again, we're looking for some of the detail to make sure that it is absolutely pinned down exactly what can happen and people are absolutely sure.
"A lot of the devil's in the detail but we need the detail".
Malcolm Bell, Visit Cornwall
The roadmap out of lockdown will begin with the reopening of all schools in England on the 8th of March.
The four-stage process will be subject to tests at every stage, including the progress of the vaccine rollout.
However, we will not be free of all restrictions until June the 21st at the earliest!
You can find the full breakdown for the government's roadmap out of lockdown here.