Following the Government’s briefing on new conditions for lockdown, Castle Howard re-opened its Garden Centre to the public this week. After a period of closure the Garden Centre reopens from Wednesday 13 May, Monday – Sunday, 10am -5pm.To protect staff and customers with social distancing measures the Garden Centre is cashless, and there will be [...]
The Sordevolo Passion Play is a performance with two centuries of history, played every five years in Sordevolo, a beautiful hill village in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, which is famous for its cultural treasures, unspoiled nature and many wine and food specialties. The Passion Play is a unique show of its [...]
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum has been awarded Scotland’s ‘Best Heritage Tourism Experience’ at the Thistle Awards National final in March. The museum is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland and is perfect for groups. Visitors can see the 16th century thatched cottage where Robert Burns was born and explore the modern museum [...]
The Royal Collection Trust has announced that due to the operational challenges of social distancing, it has decided not to open the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, Frogmore House and Clarence House to the public this summer. All pre-booked tickets for visits to Buckingham Palace between the dates of 25 July and 4 October 2020; to Frogmore House and Clarence [...]
Although it’s not possible to visit in person at the present time, the Old Royal Naval College, part of Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site, has ensured that the public can still marvel at the iconic Painted Hall. A free 360-degree interactive virtual tour of the Painted Hall has been launched to provide visitors with [...]
Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is to provide emergency funding to support local retail, tourism and hospitality businesses impacted by Covid-19. Working in partnership with Visit Herts and Crowdfunder, a Small Business Innovation Fund, has launched to support small and micro businesses within the tourism, leisure, hospitality, retail, arts and cultural sectors. In Hertfordshire, the [...]
Members of Devon’s Top Attractions are all currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there’s no date yet when they can re-open their doors for the season, but there’s still plenty going on behind the scenes and the member attractions have been active in supporting their local communities. Before lockdown, Devon’s Top Attractions were [...]
Wembley Stadium has announced new visitor enhancements including free coach parking, new onsite photography and new changing rooms, which will all be in place when the tour re-opens later this year. The additions, which were undertaken before social distancing was put in place, are part of a range of enhancements initially intended for the Euro [...]
CTA member National Garden Scheme has launched new films to help demonstrated the powerful and positive benefits of gardens to health and wellbeing. The campaign is led by gardening broadcaster and National Garden Scheme ambassador, Rachel de Thame, with a film telling how her garden was crucial during 2018 and 2019 when she was diagnosed with and underwent treatment for [...]
The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, 9/11 or the Boxing Day Tsunami…our subconscious is littered with poignant dates that shaped the world and many others beside that are deeply personal! Forever etched with the when, our whereabouts and what we were doing! Covid-19 will make the shortlist too and for the bus and coach [...]
The Department for Transport has today (12 May) released new and revised guidance for Transport Operators to help them ensure they provide safer workplaces and services for themselves, their workers and passengers across all modes of public transport. The Department expects that individual transport providers translate the principles and examples in this guidance into specific [...]
CPT is calling on the Government to provide a support package worth £65million each month for the coach tourism industry. CPT has warned that the industry is in a fight for its future because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the spring and summer being the peak period only 2 per cent of coaches that are [...]
COVID-19 Updates - week commencing 04/05/20 More updates of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance. Go to date: 4 May 2020 4 May 2020 ... CTA members can access the latest webinar and presentation from Elman Wall: Elman Wall had more than 350 registrations and after a marathon 3¾ [...]
CTA has joined with a range of trade associations in issuing a joint letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking him to urgently change civil servants’ interpretation of his Coronavirus Business Rates Relief Scheme, launched to support the UK’s hospitality and leisure industries. The letter is summarised in the following joint press release: Tourist [...]
The Competition and Markets Authority has made a statement today (30 April) that should be noted by tour operators. The CMA has responded to what it claims is an increasing number of complaints regarding cancellations and refunds. The CMA says: “4 out of 5 complaints being received into the Taskforce so far include concerns about [...]
The body representing bus and coach industry passengers, Bus Users has written a strong letter to the local government minister to support the coach industry’s case to be regarded as part of the leisure sector when it comes to consideration for government support during the crisis. Bus Users Claire Walters said in an open letter [...]
CTA member Maynes Coaches has completed what it believes is one of the longest key worker transfers by coach with a round trip from Aberdeen to Falmouth! Maynes Coaches reports: “We were called in again to head to Falmouth to ensure key workers were returned back to Scotland over the weekend. “The passengers were transported [...]
COVID-19 Updates - week commencing 27/04/20 More updates of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance. Go to date: 27 April 2020 28 April 2020 29 April 2020 30 April 2020 27 April 2020 ... Transport Committee invites contributions on impact of coronavirus on UK transport The Commons Transport Committee [...]
CTA member Alpine Travel’s Chris Owens reports on the company’s successful re-focusing of its work towards supporting its local community: “When this pandemic started to hit mid-March it was very apparent that we were going to have a large number of fantastic loyal people within the business with very little for them to do, and [...]
CTA member Anu Desai from ITO Tours has sent the following message to CTA coach operator members: “Since I sent out my email to all of our group bookers saying ITO Tours UK were open during these challenging times, I wanted just to let you know how things are going. “We have been fortunate that [...]
CTA member Edwards Coaches showed its support for the Royal Glamorgan Hospital last week when they took part in the weekly Clap for Carers. Nine coaches and buses, including the Red Dragon coach which is used by the Wales rugby team as well as luxury Red Dragon Holidays, arrived at the hospital with Edwards staff [...]
Windermere Lake Cruises are donating food and drink from its vessels and pier cafes to Morecambe Bay’s hospitals, as a gesture of goodwill to the frontline NHS key workers working to keep local people safe. In line with government instructions not to operate due to the Coronavirus crisis, the attraction is donating snacks and beverages [...]
Castle Howard has been named winner of the award for 'Best Large Attraction' at the Visit York Tourism Awards 2020 which were broadcast live on Minster FM on 23 April. The awards celebrate achievements by businesses who contribute towards the tourism offer in and around York. Castle Howard was shortlisted along with the Jorvik Viking [...]
CTA member Waddesdon Manor has enabled a little escapism with a new virtual tour, which might be exactly what's needed at the moment. From stories about the Manor's past and about the Rothschild family to information on how the collections are managed and are still growing, there is a wealth of content to delight and inform. You [...]
A survey by Cumbria Tourism predicts that by the end of May, the Coronavirus pandemic will have cost the tourism industry in the county £1.45billion in revenue – almost half of tourism-related income for the county for the year. Hundreds of tourism businesses reported an average 91 per cent cancellations for May, June and July [...]
WTM has launched a new virtual platform, Global Hub. WTM organiser Reed Expo says: “More than ever, it’s important to stay connected, so we’d like to introduce a brand new virtual hub to help you keep the conversation going”. The WTM Global Hub gives access to exclusive webinars with industry experts. The first one will [...]
COVID-19 Updates - week commencing 20/04/20 Here is a further update of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance. Go to date: 20 April 2020 21 April 2020 22 April 2020 23 April 2020 24 April 2020 20 April 2020 ... CPT operational updates: CORONAVIRUS JOB [...]
CTA members raised a fantastic £1,423 at a raffle during our Conference in February (doesn’t that seem a long time ago!). The money was donated to Martin House in Wetherby and we have just received a lovely reply from the hospice which demonstrates how timely this donation was, given the challenges for the sector with [...]
CTA members have been fielding a huge volume of enquiries from their customers and contacts and here’s an excellent example of how to communicate from one of our members, ITO Tours: Dear Group Organisers “The message today is that WE ARE OPEN all day, and every day from today onwards. We will phone as many [...]
COVID-19 Updates - week commencing 13/04/20 Here is a further update of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance. Go to date: 14 April 2020 15 April 2020 16 April 2020 17 April 2020 14 April 2020 ... Update from Tourism Alliance: The DCMS Select Committee have launched an inquiry [...]
COVID-19 Updates - week commencing 06/04/20 Here is a further update of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance. Go to date: 6 April 2020 7 April 2020 8 April 2020 9 April 2020 6 April 2020 ... Received from Tourism Alliance: Tourism Alliance has been working with the Local Government [...]
CTA is supporting an initiative launched by ABTA which aims to highlight the plight of the tourism sector to MPs and decision makers and accelerate measures to support the sector including relaxation of the PTD. The website www.savefuturetravel.co.uk is already up and running and generated more than 10,000 emails in the first day of operation. It is [...]
Lauren Hogg, VisitScotland has sent the following message to coach operators and wholesalers: “We hope you are all keeping safe and well in these strange and unsettling times. “This week we should have all been mingling, networking and talking all things Scotland at Expo in Aberdeen. Even though that's not the case, it's important to [...]
Following the transformation of the NEC, Birmingham into a temporary NHS 'Nightingale' Hospital for patients with Coronavirus the British Tourism & Travel Show has been rescheduled again to 22-23 October 2020. The British Coach Tourism Awards will now take place on the evening of 22 October at the National Motorcycle Museum. Lloyd Jones, event manager, Diversified [...]
Following a suggestion from Diane Richmond, we are aiming to compile a list of closures of events and attractions in order to help tour operators plan their remaining programmes for 2020, and to plan ahead for 2021. While most attractions that have contacted have had to close till further notice without any specific dates in [...]
COVID-19 Updates - week commencing 30/3/20 Here is a rolling update of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance. Apologies for the length of the updates, but since this is critical information, we have not edited the submissions from other bodies and have included them in full. Go to date: 30 [...]
CTA is active with a range of bodies and organisations during this challenging period and working to provide information and links to useful sources for all our members. CTA chair John Wales says: "I want to assure you that we are doing all we can to join in with conversations and represent our sector in [...]
Coach drivers from Bakers Dolphin are to work as ambulance drivers following the cancellation of all national and international travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ten drivers who would normally be taking people on holidays this week began retraining for their new role after an agreement was struck between Bakers Dolphin and Bristol Ambulance Emergency [...]
VisitBritain has collated the following key items on support and advice following recent government announcements: “Following the Prime Minister's announcement yesterday outlining further steps to tackle the spread of COVID-19, including a three-week closure of non-essential businesses and premises, we wanted to share some links and guidance which you may find useful in these challenging times. • [...]
The Government has confirmed support for hospitality and leisure businesses, including the introduction of a business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England for the 2020 to 2021 tax year. Businesses are eligible for the business rates holiday if they are based in England and the business is in the retail, hospitality [...]
CTA member Edwards Coaches is offering free travel on its local bus services to NHS staff during the coronavirus pandemic. The services run between the Pontypridd area and Cardiff, including a direct route to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. Edwards works closely with its local community, and this offer follows an initiative to provide free transport [...]
The Chancellor announced various measures on 20 March to support businesses during the Coronavirus crisis. These include a scheme to pay 80 per cent of the salaries of ‘furloughed workers’ and deferral of VAT payments. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is available to all UK businesses and HMRC will reimburse 80 per cent of the [...]
In the light of the significant legal and contractual challenges that the Coronavirus crisis has caused, CTA has negotiated an agreement for our operator members to have access to the helpline that is operated by CPT for its BCH members. This may help some members with having access to some initial expert advice in dealing [...]
John Wales, CTA chairman writes: “The travel industry has demonstrated an admirable ability to adapt to some of the most severe conditions. These have ranged from natural disasters to attacks by terrorists. The international pandemic of the Coronavirus COVID-19 does however represent the greatest challenge our businesses have had to face for several generations. At [...]
CTA member Alpine Travel is responding to the current crisis by launching a scheme to help those who are vulnerable and self-isolating in the North Wales coastal region. The company says it aims to avoid compulsory lay-offs or short-time work so Alpine Travel and daughter company Jones Holidays has taken the bold step to maintain [...]
CTA is working through the TIER group, along with other organisations including ABTA and BCH, to urgently request that the government temporarily relax some of the obligations under the Package Travel Directive in respect of refunds to customers in the event of tour cancellation. The organisations are arguing that since these are extraordinary events, there [...]
The Department for Education has clarified the roles that are considered critical to the COVID-19 response, and the process that key workers should follow to ensure their child can continue in education during this period. The key worker roles include Transport, which is defined as: “those who will keep the air, water, road and rail [...]
ACAS are running free webinars for businesses on how to handle the impacts of Coronavirus. The free webinar will provide practical advice for employers to help manage the impact of Coronavirus in the workplace. It includes: steps that can help reduce the spread of the virus effective ways of communicating with employees self-isolating, time off, sickness [...]
The Department of Health and Social Care has announced changes to the Fit Note, now called a "self isolation note”. Employees who are unable to work for more than seven days because of COVID-19 will now be able to obtain an isolation note through a new online service. The isolation note will give the employee [...]
The Senior Traffic Commissioner has issued guidance to operators in respect of various licensing obligations which may be impacted in the short term. FINANCIAL STANDING A traffic commissioner would normally require tangible evidence to show that financial standing can be met in the future but, given the exceptional and short-term circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, [...]
