Impact of Covid-19 on Coastal Tourism

Since the initial lockdown on 23^rd March 2020 the NCTA have been undertaking regular business and industry surveys as well as gathering research and data from external sources on the impact of Covid-19 to coastal tourism.

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Update 10th February 2021

Download the updated Impact of Covid-19 on coast to date [February 2021]

View our Summary of the impact of Covid-19 and asks for government here

Letter of response from Nigel Huddleston MP [February 2021]

Key headlines:

Coastal Tourism pre-Covid was valued at £13.7bn in England and £17.1bn for Great Britain. 32% of all visits take place in July and August, 84% between March and October. As such, the Covid-19 outbreak happened at the worst possible time for Coastal Tourism.

• To date at least 7% of businesses have already permanently closed on the coast
• The 2021 forecast predicts a £5.23bn loss in tourism spend (vs pre-Covid-19 levels), which is 39% increase on 2020 performance
• 53.7% of businesses say it will take more than a year before they can return to a profit.
• A wide range of independent reports have also highlighted the vulnerability of coastal communities to the economic and health impacts of Covid-19.

To support recovery of the sector, the NCTA have prepared a three-year recovery programme and presented this proposal to the Chancellor and Tourism Minister – read our letter and responses from government here.