Borders tourism groups awarded shares of £500,000 handout

Tourism destination and sector support fund handouts are to be paid to groups including the Tweed Valley tourism business improvement district team, Visit Kelso and Newcastleton Business Forum.

The fund, closed on May 22, was originally given a £400,000 budget but that was increased by a quarter after almost 100 applications flooded in requesting help to the tune of £1.6m to partially make up for lost membership income.

Scottish Government tourism secretary Fergus Ewing said: “The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for Scotland’s tourism sector.

“Throughout, I have been engaging with businesses and listening to concerns to explore how we can best help them navigate this unprecedented crisis.

“We have a long way to go, but this funding package will be a welcome boost for destination management organisations and sector groups.

“It will enable them to keep working with VisitScotland, tourism businesses and local communities to build a strong and safe recovery, welcoming visitors again in phase three of the routemap out of lockdown.”

Riddell Graham, director of industry and destination development at VisitScotland, added: “This funding package for destination organisations and sector groups will hopefully go some way towards supporting them through this challenging time.

“We are pleased to have been able to increase our original funding pot to enable us to provide some funding for all eligible applicants.

“Even then, it is unsurprising that the number of applications has been in excess of what is available and, as such, difficult decisions have had to be taken.

“Recovery will require our collective efforts, and this fund represents a great opportunity to enable a collaborative approach to meet the massive challenges set by the pandemic and ensure the best possible outcomes for the whole of the visitor economy.”

The handouts from the national tourism promoter have been welcomed by those set to land payouts.

Visit Kelso chairperson Tina Newton said: “We find ourselves in very strange times, and we at Visit Kelso are still doing everything we can to promote the town and district.

“It is important that we remind both locals and visitors what an amazing place Kelso is to visit, whether it is for the day or a fortnight, or even longer, when the time comes back to welcome them.

“Visit Kelso can only exist due to its members and their subscriptions.

“As many businesses have been shut for a number of months, and some will be closed or suffering from lack of footfall for many more, we feared that the subscription fee would not be high on people’s lists of priority spending, so we applied to the destination and sector support fund.

“We are very happy to have been recognised for what we do to promote the town and district, especially as we can imagine there would have been a large number of applicants, all of whom would all see themselves as deserving of funds.

“Visit Kelso would like to thank VisitScotland not only for the money but also for informing us so quickly.

“This money will really help with our shortfall in renewals and help to keep Kelso in the forefront of people’s minds.”

Catherine Maxwell Stuart, chairperson of the Tweed Valley tourism business improvement district scheme, added: “We are very appreciative of the funding support from VisitScotland, which is a vital contribution to allow us as a group to support tourism businesses in the Tweed Valley.

“Now more than ever, it is important for businesses to work together and support each other through these challenging times.

“We hope to be able to showcase our region to visitors for future visits and provide one-to-one support for individual businesses to prepare for when we can all reopen and set in motion our plans for a full recovery.”