How the lifting of lockdown restrictions will help a Tysoe holiday business after it lost more than £100,000 due to coronavirus

The owners of a boutique glamping retreat in Tysoe say they hope a ‘surge in ‘staycationers’ will help them bounce back from a three-month lockdown that is forecast to have cost the business more than £100,000.

Jo Carroll and Steve Taylor are now ready to welcome back guests after taking comprehensive steps to make their holiday homes COVID-secure.

Winchcombe Farm Holidays, in Tysoe, is preparing to throw open the doors to its luxury lodges as they emerge from a damaging three-month lockdown following today’s (Tuesday's) Government announcement allowing holiday accommodation in England to reopen on July 4.

Steve said: “It goes without saying the last few months have been catastrophic for the tourism and hospitality sector as a whole.

"We’ve had to delay our expansion plans and have spent the last few months just fighting as hard as we could to stand still.”

The entrepreneurs received emergency support from the Government’s Hospitality Grant Scheme – which covered all their basic utility bills – plus free business rates for this year, but fell into the ten per cent of workers who didn’t qualify for any personal financial help.

Steve said: “The business was set up as a partnership and we were self-employed. As all the profits we made are poured straight back into the company, we couldn’t claim a Self -Employed Grant. Neither could we furlough ourselves as we aren’t PAYE”.

Winchcombe is opening to a busy calendar of bookings and re-bookings for the summer months but fear that concerns around a possible second wave of the virus is deterring longer term enquiries.

Jo said: “We would normally have a bursting diary for the autumn months too, along with a waiting list for cancellations; however, we’re just not seeing that this year.

Certification from Visit England’s ‘Go to Good’ Scheme and the AA’s COVID Certification Scheme - both aimed at building consumer confidence in travel – should offer reassurance.

Jo added: “The housekeeping regime between guest stays is rigorous but essential in the current climate. It includes dishwashing the entire contents of the kitchen and treating carpets and soft furnishings with virucidal disinfectant mist, with our housekeepers changing their PPE each time they enter a new room.

“We’ve had to double up on staff, spend a fortune on PPE and extend check in times, so we can complete the level of sanitary clean that is required to make us compliant.”

“There’s obviously a huge cost implication, however, it’s better to be able to open again and welcome in guests than remain closed.”