July 2020 - Page 2 of 9

Update your VisitScotland.Com Listing

Posted on July 23, 2020October 22, 2023 by Fiona Campbell

Scottish tourism is once again welcoming visitors, with many businesses having recently reopened and taking tentative yet vital steps towards recovery. They have worked tirelessly to adopt extra measures to ensure a welcoming, safe environment for all.

Demand is growing and visitors are keen to know which businesses are equipped to welcome them – visitscotland.com can highlight this information for all businesses that are open and Good to Go.

To provide visitors with the reassurance they are looking for, VisitScotland (VS) is asking you to update your web listing to reflect the current state of play.

As a reminder, there are three changes VS recommends you update on your web listing via your Extranet:

Let visitors know you’re good to go | tick the new box provided to confirm to visitors that you have completed the national self-certification scheme We’re Good to Go.
Let visitors know what to expect | update your description to provide COVID specific information, highlight the COVID-safe measures you’ve put in place and what else is open nearby.
Let visitors know you’re open | when your business reopens, tick the ‘We are open” box so that we can promote you, and visitors will know they can book with you.

How do you do this?

Your Extranet

Changes to your visitscotland.com web listing are simple to action and need to be made direct via your Extranet. If you’ve forgotten your password you can reset this yourself.

Extranet Guide

The Perfect Online Listing

There’s a lot of information out there, so VS has created some tips on how to make the most of your VisitScotland web listing. Make sure your web listing stands out from the crowd and convert customers using these top tips.

The Perfect Listing

Guidance for Shared Stairwells

Posted on July 23, 2020July 25, 2020 by Fiona Campbell

The following Parliamentary Question was answered today, 23rd July, regarding guidance for shared stairwells.

Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, how it will ensure that conditions in shared tenements with properties that are let will not impact on (a) residents’ and (b) community health. (S5W-30569)

Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has taken action throughout the pandemic to ensure that people are protected and that appropriate steps are taken to suppress the spread of the virus. Enclosed spaces present challenges and we have published guidance that has taken account of Public Health Advice on the need for communal cleaning. The guidance is available on our website:https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19- physical-distancing-and-hygiene-advice-for-multi-storeys-and-high-densityflats/

The guidance makes it clear that regular cleaning should continue to be provided during the pandemic in line with Public Health Advice. We expect everyone with responsibility for cleaning communal areas to carry this out and ensure that any staff carrying out cleaning are able to do so safely, with appropriate PPE. It is important that everyone plays their part in continuing to suppress the spread of the virus. Where a tenant has concerns about conditions of their tenement close then they should approach their landlord in the first instance.

Press Release: Free Stays in Short-Term Lets for NHS Worker

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Fiona Campbell

Edinburgh’s short-term rental operators have played a key role in supporting frontline NHS staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey has found.

According to the statistics, published by the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, nearly one third of respondents said that they had welcomed NHS staff to stay in their properties at a heavily discounted rate or free of charge during Scotland’s fight against the virus.

Many key workers took the agonising decision to self-isolate away from their family and loved ones in order to protect them.

While the market was closed to tourists, 30 per cent of the city’s short-term let operators opened their doors to health service staff to give them a comfortable and convenient place to stay while carrying out their vital work.

The figure represents the latest positive contribution that the sector, worth £723million to the Scottish economy, has made to the concerted effort to beat COVID-19.

Self-catering was one of the first sectors to voluntarily close down as the country went into lockdown and has also led the way in getting Scotland’s tourism economy back to work by opening back up again on 3 July.

Despite the misinformation and carping from the side-lines that has come from those with a grudge against self-catering, Scottish self-caterers have continued to show that they are an important part of life in Scotland, from supporting NHS staff to working closely with government and others to form effective policy that works for all.

ASSC Chief Executive, Fiona Campbell, said:

“Edinburgh’s self-caterers, despite being derided by doomsaying and ill-informed voices, have shown that they care about their community.

“That nearly one in three respondents have welcomed our hardworking and dedicated NHS staff into their properties for free at this trying time is a testament to their community spirit, social conscience, and commitment to others.

“Our entire sector joins with the rest of Scotland to say a clear, emphatic, and heartfelt thank you to our NHS and we hope that, once life returns to normal, that we will have the chance to welcome them back for the breaks that they rightly deserve.”

ENDS