24 June 2020

Dear all

Welcome to this week’s round up of intelligence and data from across VisitScotland’s network of contacts and sources.

Things are beginning to pick up pace as we receive new guidance in Scotland and England regarding the easing of lockdown restrictions, and in particular the opening up of tourism businesses.

Internationally, cross border travel remains limited in many countries, but again we will see changes in coming weeks. That said, the consumer sentiment tracker indicates that people are realisingwe’re in this for the long haul.

Within Marketing, we are finalising our plans for our Recovery marketing campaign, starting with very localised Facebook adverts for Scots, and then rolling out across Scotland and the UK. More detail can be found in our revamped Covid-19 marketing response section on visitscotland.org.

Finally, I will be hosting an update on our marketing strategy at 9.30 on Thursday 25 June. Sign uphere, or if you missed it, it will be available on visitscotland.org early next week.

As pace quickens, keep an eye on visitscotland.org, check out Malcolm’s blog on Linked in and follow us on Twitter @VisitScotNews.

Stay safe

Vicki

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption to travel and tourism, bringing world destinations and outbound markets to a standstill. As we begin to see globally the reopening of the tourism offering, the UNWTO's latest World Tourism Barometer highlights the impacts International tourism has witnessed globally.

International tourist arrivals saw a decrease of 44% in the first four months of 2020 over the same period of last year, according to data reported so far by destinations. In the month of April 2020 alone, International arrivals declined 97%, reflecting travel restrictions in 100% of all destinations worldwide, amid measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Europe recorded the second strongest decline with 44% fewer arrivals.

As the last three months of global lockdown see the gradual lifting of restrictions in some countries, together with the creation of travel corridors, the resumption of some international flights, enhanced safety and hygiene protocols are among the measures being introduced by governments as they look to restart tourism.

In many countries, particularly in the developing world, tourism is a major supporter of livelihoods and economic growth. As in Scotland, small businesses make up 80% of the tourism sector and like Scotland have received targeted assistance including initiatives to protect jobs and promote training and skills, market intelligence initiatives and public-private partnerships, as well as restarting tourism policies. As this next phase of recovery begins, we should listen to the advice of UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili who believes it is vital that we restart tourism in both a timely and responsible manner to create a sustainable future for tourism.

Source: https://www.unwto.org/news/new-data-shows-impact-of-covid-19-on-tourism

Vicki MillerDirector of

Marketing & Digital

24 June 2020

Please find below a summary of the UK Covid-19 Consumer Tracker Report for week 4, based on fieldwork from 8-12 June. The full UK report can be seen here https://www.visitscotland.org/research-insights/trends/uk-holiday-intentions

As has been the case over the past few weeks, the nation’s overall optimism continues to struggle in some respects, with significantly fewer giving their mood a 9 or 10 rating, and the proportion of people expecting normality to return by September also subsiding. Furthermore, while tourism intentions appear to be resilient, there’s little evidence they’re increasing, perhaps suggesting additional reassurances are still needed before the majority will be prepared to fully commit.

• 31% now believe the worst has passed regarding Covid-19 which is a significantly higher proportion than last week (27%). Significantly fewer also consider the ‘worst is yet to come’.

• There continues to be little expectation things will be returning to normal anytime soon, with just 23% expecting ‘normality’ by September (versus 29% last week) and 49% by December (compared to 52% in week 3).

• The ‘Appetite for Risk’ score is unchanged at 2.33. Using public transport continues to be the activity (among those asked) people are least comfortable in undertaking.

• Confidence in the ability to take a domestic short break or holiday continues to gradually improve over time, but it’s still just 23% in August, rising to 40% by September but remaining at under 50% by the end of the year.

• Main reasons driving this relative lack of confidence are virtually identical this week, again led by restrictions on travel by government (52%), fewer opportunities to eat or drink out (50%) and concerns about catching Covid-19 (46%).

• When asked to compare to last year, 41% of U.K. adults expect to be taking fewer domestic short-breaks, while for holidays the corresponding figure is 40%. These proportions remain stable week-on-week.

• The proportion expecting to go on a domestic short-break or holiday by this September is also stable, with the trend over the past three weeks being 22%, 23% and 22% respectively.

• In terms of region/nation to be visited between now and September, the South West still leads (19%) followed by Scotland (12%), but as per last week there’s little to separate the places ranked 2-5. The South West and Scotland also lead for visits planned from October onwards.

• For the summer period, countryside/village and traditional coastal/seaside town destinations continue to lead with 32% and 30% shares respectively. Cities move into joint second place for trips scheduled from October.

• For the June-September period, there is a broadly even split between the leading four accommodation types, although from October hotels/motels/inns take a clear lead, with caravan/camping moving down the rankings.

• As restrictions lift, outdoor areas and activities (e.g. beaches, trails, theme parks) look set to attract higher than usual levels of visitors than normal, while predominantly indoor activities/venues (e.g. restaurants, spas, museums, galleries) are likely to face a lengthier period of subdued demand.

24 June 2020

As tourism restarts around the world, society is faced with ensuring ongoing safety andcompliance of both visitors and residents. While work continues to find a vaccine that willhopefully allow us all to return to normality without physical distancing other innovations arebeing implemented across a range of disciplines. One example of this is in the role of townplanning and urban design.

Consumer sentiment analysis has shown that future visitors are initially favouring rural andremote destinations. Traditionally cities and urban arears have formed the foundation of mostdomestic and international trips to Scotland. Wunderman Thompson have examined the trendsin "Sanitary Cities" and how designers and urban planners are rethinking city living.

Over four billion people currently live in urban environments around the world—and this isprojected to increase to two-thirds of the global population by 2050, according to the UN WorldUrbanization Prospects. But with more waves of COVID-19 and other possible epidemicspredicted, cities are starting to rethink their infrastructures to protect the health of theirresidents and visitors.

As lockdowns ease and public spaces like parks, city centres and plazas gradually begin toreopen, designers are developing creative visual indicators for proper social distancing.

• Caret Studio, an Italian design firm, has installed a series of painted squares within a towncentre in Vicchio, Italy to indicate the correct amount of space people should maintain fromeach other while in public.

• Brooklyn’s Domino Park has painted white circles on the grass to help visitors keep physicallyapart.

• Grove Park in Birmingham, England, park maintenance have only cut the grass every twometers, creating wide channels to show suitable distancing.

Other cities are repurposing public space.

• Lithuania has effectively turned its capitol, Vilnius, into an open-air café. The city has givenmuch of its public space over to hard-hit bars and restaurants, allowing them to serve patronswithout fears of overcrowding.

• Rotterdam-based Shift Architecture Urbanism’s new Hyperlocal Micro Markets concept aimsto reopen local food markets while maintaining physical distancing. It's based on a three-market stall in a grid structure which can be set up in any public space. According to thedesigners, spreading these mini-markets throughout a city will allow for better crowd control.

With disruption to mass public transportation systems the world over, major urban hubs arereallocating space for pedestrians and cyclists.• Bogota opened 47 miles of extra bike lanes to reduce the city’s dependence on public

transportation. The city is looking at making these permanent to ease future congestion.

As cities open back up, they are consciously permitting access to public areas while also keepingtheir citizens safe. Designers are rethinking how public space is used and innovating urbanlifestyles in the process.

Based on the article "Sanitary Cities – Wunderman Thompson"

24 June 2020

MarketBusinesstype

Company Activity

Germany Government N/A

The federal government launched its “Corona Warning App”. The app is designed to help determine whether someone has come into contact with an infected person and whether there is a risk of infection in a certain area. It uses Bluetooth short-range radio to measure close contacts between people and issues a warning should one of them later test positive for COVID-19. The government is hoping that the app will help to break the chain of infection faster. Downloads are free and completely voluntary, no personal data is stored or shared with third parties. So far, the app is counting approx. 12 million downloads (June 22).

France NTO Atout France

Atout France launched a new campaign on the 18th June, #CetÉteJeVisiteLaFrance aimed at promoting staycations, reassuring visitors about their health & safety protocols that have been put in place, what is open, as well as regional information and inspirational content: https://www.france.fr/fr/campagne/cetetejevisitelafrance?utm_source=redirection&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=cetetejevisitelafrance

Portugal NTO Visit Portugal

Visit Portugal published a wide range of FAQ on their website for people who wish to travel in and out of the country, with very detailed information for all the scenarios including - health and safety instructions and a dedicated section to Madeira and Azores islands. This includes helpful infographics to show the measures visitors need to take and all of the reopening plans. https://www.visitportugal.com/en/node/421175

Canada Airlines WestJet

WestJet has announced its ‘Safety Above All’ hygiene program for passengers. These include reduced contact at check in, enhanced safety screening, wearing a face covering during travelling and only serving food and drink on flights over 90 minutes. https://www.westjet.com/en-gb/travel-info/safety

GermanyPublic transport

Blablabus

From June 24, long-distance coach travel is possible again, the company 'Blablabus' is restarting by connecting German cities, and from the 9th of July other European destinations like Prague and Amsterdam will be included. As a security measure, only every second seat is bookable.

24 June 2020

• The ‘R’ rate in the UK is between 0.7 and 0.9 and in Scotland is between 0.6 and 0.8.• The Covid-19 alert level for the UK has moved from level 4 to level 3 (epidemic is in general

circulation) as there has been a steady decrease in cases across all 4 nations.• Reminder, the UK Government (England) moved to step 2 of easing lockdown restrictions on 1

June. Day trips to outdoor spaces are permitted with no limit on distance. From 13 June, people who live alone could form a ‘support bubble’ with one other household. From 15 June non-essential shops/outdoor attractions e.g. drive-in cinemas, zoos and safari parks could re-open and face coverings became mandatory on public transport.

• Step 3 (from 4 July if all criteria are met) is when hospitality businesses such as restaurants, pubs and accommodation can re-open and the UK Government has announced from 4 July in England a ‘one metre plus’ rule will be introduced for physical distancing

• Reminder, NHS Test and Trace service has been implemented allowing anyone who develops Covid-19 symptoms to be tested and contact tracing to be carried out.

• Reminder, the UK Government are advising against all non-essential travel abroad and from 8 June all passengers arriving into the UK are required to complete a contact locator form and self-isolate for 14 days, to help limit the spread of Covid-19. Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man are exempt due to the common travel area.

• Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland administrations have outlined their own phased plans to easing lockdown.

• Scotland began moving into phase 2 of recovery on 19 June. Phase 2 will be introduced in stages and messaging has changed from ‘Stay Home’ to ‘Stay Safe’. From 19 June, you can meet two households outside but should continue to stay in your local area (5 miles). Those living alone can form an ‘extended household group’ with one household.

• From 22 June, face coverings are now mandatory on all public transport and are advisable where physical distancing is difficult e.g. in shops. From 29 June, street access retail and zoos/gardens can reopen for local access only (5 miles).

• The Scottish Government have set a provisional date of 15 July for when tourism businesses can resume operations, dependent on progression to phase 3. Phase 3 will allow driving beyond your local area for leisure purposes and meeting with people from more than one household indoors. Pubs and restaurants will be able to open indoor spaces with physical distancing/ increased hygiene and there will be reduced restrictions on accommodation. Public transport will be operating full services, but at reduced capacities.

• The Scottish Government has published guidance for tourism businesses outlining steps to reopening safely. 2 metre physical distance is currently still in place but in review (2 July).

• OTA insight is showing increased domestic searches for Scotland for the coming months.• UK airline routes; Loganair began relaunching UK routes from 1 June and easyJet from 15 June.

Ryanair are planning for 40% of normal schedule to commence from 1 July and BA domestic routes are planned to recommence in July.

• Increased hygiene measures are being implemented across transport operators (air, rail and ferry) including limited capacities, enhanced cleaning and mandatory face coverings.

• The Coach Tourism Association continues to liaise with UK wholesalers and coach operators with advice and support. Many businesses have furloughed staff. Of those still operating, there are signs of interest in product development for future tours (2021).

• Shearings, UK operator that was in administration has now been acquired by Leger Holidays. • UK travel media is focused on domestic travel and seeking stories from the tourism industry.

24 June 2020

Social listening – Global English (predominantly UK)VisitScotland is monitoring social media conversations using Brandwatch social listening tool. This gives us an understanding of discussion points, sentiment towards holidaying and view of holiday intentions. This tool does not monitor all social media conversations therefore insight should be understood as a guide or indication of main topics and trends on a subject.• During the last 7 days, we identified around 5,000 relevant conversations about holiday

intention from the UK. General chatter about this topic increased by 12% compared to the previous week.

• The main conversations were people feeling disappointed about missing this year’s summer holiday; hoping to go on holiday later in the year and wondering whether the situation will normalise after the summer period. A percentage of users showed their excitement about booking holidays for summer 2021.

• Customer services questions from users to travel agents about the possibility to amend/cancel bookings without extra costs was also a main topic during this week.

• Most of conversations take place on Twitter (76%) where users express their views and feelings about the current situation and their desire to book a holiday for next year (2021). Trending hashtags about holiday intention in the UK are: #staycation, #roadtrip and #travel.

• Chatter on forums has increased from 15% to 18% since the previous week. Users turn to forums to ask if it's safe to travel by plane this year, where to book a future holiday and whether to cancel upcoming holidays and rebook for later in the year. The top forum for conversations on holiday intention is mumsnet.com.

• Online sentiment about holiday intention in the UK is neutral (40%). Positive conversations (33%) are driven by users planning their holidays for 2021; whilst negative chatter (27%) is driven by users expressing their disappointment over missing a summer holiday and poor customer service from airlines and travel agencies.

• A zoom-in into online conversations about travelling to or holiday plans in Scotland showed that people are talking about places they’d like to visit in Scotland; their upcoming holidays to Scotland and looking for information on whether they will be able to travel to Scotland in the next month or two. There is also an increase in conversations about staycation in Scotland.

• The Irish Government have accelerated their roadmap to recovery, now 4 phases, instead of 5. • Phase 2 began on 8 June. Messaging is ‘Stay Local’ and people can travel anywhere inside their own

county instead of being limited to 20km from home. Groups of up to 6 people can meet indoors or outdoors and groups of up to 15 can meet for outdoor sporting activities. All retail can re-open and people are encouraged to shop locally, shop safely and support businesses in your community.

• Reminder, outdoor spaces and tourism sites (e.g. beaches, mountains) were permitted in phase 1.• Phase 3, planned for 29 June will allow for bars, restaurants, hotels and B&Bs to reopen.

Restrictions for domestic travel within Ireland will also be lifted. Mass gatherings will be limited to 50 people indoors and 200 people outdoors. Phase 4 is planned for 20 July. If the presence of the virus remains low, mass gatherings will rise to 100 people indoors and 500 people outdoors.

• 2m physical distance is in place and people are encouraged to wear a face covering in situations where social distancing is not possible, e.g. shops and public transport.

• Irish Government advise against all non-essential travel overseas and a 14-day quarantine period is mandatory for all passengers arriving at Irish ports and airports (extended until at least 9 July).

• Airlines are planning for recommencement of domestic routes and implementing increased hygiene measures.

• Travel media is focused on domestic trips/ holidays.

24 June 2020

• Germany's R rate was reported 2.76 on June 22. Daily estimates of the reproduction numbers were between 2 and 3 over the course of the last few days. This is mainly related to local outbreaks, especially the outbreak in a meat processing plant in North Rhine -Westphalia, where over 1,500 workers were tested positive. Since case numbers in Germany are generally low, these local outbreaks have a strong influence on the value. Further developments need to be monitored closely during the upcoming days, especially regarding whether case numbers are increasing outside of local outbreak context.

• Airline carrier Lufthansa continues to fight for state aid. On June 25, the airline’s shareholders will need to agree to the proposed package of €9 billion. If there is no majority of votes in favour of the funding, Lufthansa is preparing to enter administration in order to fend off grounding of operations.

• Cologne’s group travel trade fair RDA published its new concept for the fair in August: Due to limitations of numbers of participants, only buyers from bus companies, tour operators and DMCs can be admitted as trade visitors.

• According to the German Holiday Home Association, occupancy rates for self-catering accommodation along the German North-and Baltic seacoasts are approaching 90% during German summer holidays.

• The Caravaning Industry Association (CIVD) reported that more than 10,000 new motorhomes have been registered in Germany since the Corona restrictions were relaxed - an increase of more than 30% compared to May 2019. CIVD puts this down to caravanning being one of the safest forms of holiday at this time - because only people from the same household or the same ‘social bubble’ travel together, which makes it easy to isolate.

• 25% of TUI’s summer programme is booked. The first two flights from Germany to Mallorca started on 15 June, 20 more are to follow in the next few days. More destinations are to follow in July, a start date for their UK programme has not been mentioned yet.

• On June 15, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) launched its new ‘Germany - Dreams Become Reality’ campaign to encourage consumers from European core markets to visit Germany this summer. Key themes include off-the-beaten-track experiences, road trips, nature, art & culture, castles & palaces, hiking & cycling, food & drink, and meet the locals. GNTB is actively promoting this activity through their organic channels as well as programmatic advertising, e-news (to businesses and consumers), PR and paid social activities, using the hashtag #GermanyAwaitsYou.

24 June 2020

Social listening – GermanyVisitScotland is monitoring social media conversations using Brandwatch social listening tool. This gives us an understanding of discussion points, sentiment towards holidaying and view of holiday intentions. This tool does not monitor all social media conversations therefore insight should be understood as a guide or indication of main topics and trends on a subject.• Between 15-21 June, there were over 800 relevant conversations about holiday intention

from Germany. General chatter on the subject decreased by 12% compared to the previous 7 days.

• Germany reopened its borders and travel warnings for 27 EU and Schengen states were lifted on 15th June, which had a significant impact on the topics discussed online. The main conversations were about people: looking forward to travelling again (both domestically and within Europe); actively planning their summer/autumn holidays and sharing their frustrations over cancelled trips and refunds.

• The top trending hashtags on twitter are #supportyourlocals, #urlaub, #deutschland.• Online sentiment is neutral (35% of total chat) to negative (also 35% of total chat) as the

conversation is dominated by users' concerns over future holidays and frustrations over cancelled trips and refunds.

• From June 22, with the official start of phase 3 in France, the countrywide lockdown continued to ease. It is now mandatory for pupils of primary and secondary schools to attend class with physical distancing in place (1 metre) or with compulsory wearing of masks if physical distancing can not be respected. Nurseries can now welcome all children (previously it was a max. of 10 with priority given to key workers’ children). Cinemas can re-open and team sports can resume nationwide. Stadiums remain closed until at least July 11, at which point a max. of 5,000 spectators should again be allowed to attend sporting events.

• On July 11, France will end its official state of health emergency.• The French government continues to support the tourism and hospitality sectors with

financial aids: short time work/reduced hours will be compensated up to 100% until September and the state’s solidarity fund is now accessible to businesses with up to 20 staff and turnover up to €2 million.

• TUI announced a restructure of its loss-making French subsidiary. Job cuts of around 600 (60% of total headcount) will impact both the French head office and their network of agencies. TUI France is likely to focus on its ‘flexi-package’ offering in the future. TUI sur-mesure, their FIT tailor-made division, with which VisitScotland collaborated in the past, is to close at the end of the summer.

• Atout France (France’s Tourism Development Agency) launched a new campaign #CetÉteJeVisiteLaFrance (This summer I visit France) on June 18, aimed at promoting staycations and reassuring visitors about the health & sanitary protocol in place, informing what is open as well as providing regional and themed inspiration.

• Media have been pushing regional French stories over the past few weeks. Although it has been recommended by the French government that people stay in France this summer, the appetite for press visits and TV crews to Scotland has been growing rapidly since phase 1 of lockdown last month.

24 June 2020

Social listening – FranceVisitScotland is monitoring social media conversations using Brandwatch social listening tool. This gives us an understanding of discussion points, sentiment towards holidaying and view of holiday intentions. This tool does not monitor all social media conversations therefore insight should be understood as a guide or indication of main topics and trends on a subject.

• Between 15th and 21st June, there were over 2,028 relevant conversations about holiday intentions in France. Conversations on the subject increased by 22% compared to the previous week. This could be due to the fact that the summer holiday season starts at the end of June in France.

• Road trips remain a popular choice for holiday in France and abroad and Scotland starts to appear as a trending hashtag on holiday related conversations in France, along with Canada and New Zealand.

• Mentions about Scotland as a holiday destination increased by 20% compared to the previous week. This increase is driven by users talking about past holidays and sharing their experience for inspiration. A few new conversations mention the slow release of lockdown in Scotland which could indicate an increase in interest towards Scotland as a destination.

• Online sentiment remains positive on weekly basis with more than 50% of positive chatter.

• The ISO / TC228 Tourism and Related Services Committee, an international organisation in charge of developing tourism standards at a global level within the International Standard Association, has decided at its XV Plenary Meeting that anti-COVID protocols for tourism, which were prepared by the Institute for Spanish Tourist Quality (ICTE), will be taken as base for a proposal document to develop ISO tourism standards worldwide.

• According to a consumer survey conducted in June by Spain's Centre for Sociological Research (CIS), only 27.2% of Spaniards plan to go on holiday this summer. From this percentage, 9 out of 10 will stay in Spain, mainly spending their time in coastal towns and rural locations. 58.5 % of those who plan to travel believe it is necessary to implement additional health and safety measures, such as limiting capacity at beaches and swimming pools. 79.5% support the compulsory use of face mask and 69% would accept an app to trace chains of infection. For this study, 4,200 people were interviewed between June 1-9. The survey was carried out a week after the official announcement by the Spanish Prime Minister that residents could go sightseeing from late June.

• Italian visitors, communicating on social media pages dedicated to Scotland, have expressed their concerns about not being welcomed or even being feared once they are allowed to visit Scotland again. Several already have their holidays booked for August, but are considering to postpone trips to 2021 due to this worry.

• Visit Portugal published a wide range of FAQ for people who wish to travel in and out of the country, with very detailed information on health and safety instructions, with a dedicated section on Madeira and the Azores Islands. The infographics include re-opening plans and easy-to-understand guides for visitors.

24 June 2020

BENELUX• DFDS extended its service suspension for the Amsterdam - Newcastle route up to and

including July 7 (from Ijmuiden) and July 8 (from Newcastle).• Tourists from the Netherlands can now holiday in 16 countries in the EU and/or Schengen

area. Travel advisories for the UK, Sweden and Denmark are expected to stay orange throughout the summer. This means that holiday travel to these countries is not recommended.

NORDICS• Overall, the travel sentiment of Nordic visitors remains positive. Danish and Swedish tour

operators are not yet cancelling autumn tours as they are hoping that clients will resume travels in September and October.

Social listening – Dutch speaking countriesVisitScotland is monitoring social media conversations using Brandwatch social listening tool. This gives us an understanding of discussion points, sentiment towards holidaying and view of holiday intentions. This tool does not monitor all social media conversations therefore insight should be understood as a guide or indication of main topics and trends on a subject.

• Between 15th and 21st June, there were 569 relevant mentions about holiday intentions in the low countries. There aren't major variations in volumes compared to the previous week.

• The main conversation topic focuses on users planning their upcoming trips, mostly staycations, and booking holiday abroad later in the future.

• Belgian holidaymakers share tips online and show their enthusiasm about their staycations in the country. There is also some enthusiasm about going on holiday abroad, although most people prefer to stay in the country in the immediate future.

• Online sentiment is neutral with an even split of positive and negative chatter.

• Positive sentiment (25%) is driven by users planning their holidays, most of which are staycations.

• Holidaymakers also consider travelling abroad to European countries with a "safe travel advice", in particular those that can be easily visited by car, such as France, but also Germany, Austria and Croatia (amongst those looking for a camping holiday).

• Negative chatter (19%) is driven by users' concerns over their upcoming holidays to countries without a "safe travel" advice being cancelled.

24 June 2020

• Reminder: The US Government is still advising against all international travel.• All 50 US states have begun to reopen their economies however approaches vary on a state

by state basis.• In the US, 23 states seeing a rise in new reported cases compared to the previous week, according

to data from Johns Hopkins University, led by California, Texas, Florida and Arizona. In California, the number of people hospitalized with coronavirus is the highest it's been since the beginning of the pandemic.

• Alongside this, 17 states are reporting a decline in new cases. They are Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont.

• Analysis by Tourism Economics shows national weekly travel spending 7% to $10.3 billion last week (about four times its level in late April), but remains severely depressed at less than half of 2019 spending levels.

• Reminder: MMGY Global has launched its new Travel Safety Barometer — a sentiment tracking tool created for the travel and tourism industry — to monitor American travellers’ perceptions of how safe it is to engage in specific travel behaviours as the country embarks on its reopening and recovery efforts. International travel currently holds a score of 22/100.

• Reminder: The US CARES Act directed $58 billion to US airlines out of the $2 trillion economic stimulus package. Airlines must not cut pay or jobs through Sept 30 as a condition of the grants.

• The leading tour operator associations in the US, Canada, and Europe have collaborated on a set of health and sanitization guidelines specifically for their tour operator members called TOURCARE Guidelines for Tour Operators. The guidelines establish recommended procedures for tour operators to provide protection for travellers against the transmission of COVID-19.

• Major US airlines members in the industry group, Airlines for America, have announced they intend to more strictly enforce mask wearing aboard their planes, including potentially banning passengers who refuse to wear a mask.

• American Airlines became the first major airline to show the stronger enforcement of mask standards on flights. The airline removed and banned a passenger from flying with the airline after the passenger refused to wear a mask and then argued with flight attendants

• Increased interest from US tour operators requesting information on when Scotland will be open for business.

24 June 2020

• Reminder: PM Trudeau announced on Tues 16 June that the CA-US Border will remain closed for a further 30 days, until 21 July to all but essential travel. A 14-day quarantine rule still remains in place for essential travellers arriving in Canada. Those arriving in Canada must provide basic information using the ArriveCAN mobile app, an accessible web-based form or paper form and undergo screening by a border services officer or quarantine officer to assess symptoms.

• Reminder: It's estimated that Canada's R rate is currently below 1 and has been for the last 3 weeks suggesting that the public health measures in place are being effective.

• Update: In response to an open letter from 27 CEOs including those from Air Canada, WestJet & Porter Airlines, PM Trudeau is treading very carefully about reopening for international travel. He recognised that there are tourism operators and airlines wanting borders to open but doesn’t want to move too quickly, and if not absolutely certain on what they are doing at every step, run the risk of getting in to a second wave of infection seen happening in other countries, noting that such an outcome would reclose the economy and put everyone back into lockdown. He added, this decision will be difficult for some people and didn’t reveal an exact date on when Canada could potentially reopen to international travel. Will be keeping a close eye on this as we move towards 25 July with the resumption of Transat’s Toronto – Glasgow service for which tickets can be bought.

• Update: Mandatory Temperature checks is now in place for all airline passengers. Policy brought in first for those entering Canada, then for departures and then for flights within Canada. Masks must be worn at all times for air travel and advised for other public transport travel.

• Reminder: Further easing of restrictions are happening across the country albeit at different timings depending on provinces and territories. Still no inter-provincial travel permitted yet other than for essential work. Ontario has eased further restrictions including in Toronto. Quebec has also reports lowest number of new cases and no new deaths for the first time.

• Reminder - Airline refunds: Still on-going with no formal decision in place. WestJet have recently announced that they are offering refunds for flights from CA to the US/UK which were cancelled due to Covid-19, the first airline to do this rather than offer the 24month voucher scheme. Transat CEO is calling on Ottawa to provide financial aid as it would help the carrier and tour operator refund passengers whose trips were cancelled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

• Update - IATA: Not strictly just Canada but reported in Canadian trade media…an IATA survey conducted during the 1st week of June, revealed 45% of respondents have indicated they will travel within a few months of the pandemic subsiding with a further 36% said that they would wait 6 months. There has been a few of these types of surveys and travel intention percentages seem to change on a weekly basis. IATA has also said that it is wishing to suspend the 80-20 rule (use it or lose it) on the allocation of airport slots. We may see some new airlines or more of some airlines in the future. Its also calling for financial aid from governments to airlines, in a manner that will not increase the level of indebtedness of the industry, to be continued saying that airlines are going to need sustained help from governments to survive the difficult winter months.

• Scotland content is very much desirable for the Travel Advisor community as they continue to absorb dream now, travel later messaging.

24 June 2020

• Australia has seen a slight spike in cases, which in the context of global numbers is still very small. This has mostly been contained to Melbourne in Victoria, and for the most part can be traced back to specific family gatherings. It has raised concerns in Australia around the potential of a second wave of infections and has led to the re-introduction of some of the social distancing restrictions that had been in place previously in the affected areas.

• There have now been over 6.1million downloads of the Covid-Safe App which allows for contact tracing but many states have not reported any new infections for some time and have had no need to use the app.

• Australia continues to plan for Trans-Tasman travel bubble, albeit currently not willing to commit to a timescale on this, with both countries requiring a sustained period of zero infections before quarantine free travel can be allowed.

• Globally more and more countries are targeting Australian visitors due to their Covid-safe status. Countries including Greece, Israel and Japan have suggested they will open up borders for Australians. Currently the outbound travel ban in place in Australia only allows for essential travel, which does not include tourism.

• Qantas and Virgin Australia have re-grounded their remaining international passenger operations after government funding for the handful of overseas routes they were flying came to an end. Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways have resumed some flights connecting Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia via their Gulf hubs.

24 June 2020

Health and Local Restrictions On June 16, Beijing raised the public emergency alert from level 3 to level 2 schools were closed, and teaching resumed online From June 11-20, there were 227 new positive cases of COVID-19 in Beijing. All cases

relate to the Xinfadi market at the source of the outbreak. Beijing is conducting extensive COVID-19 screening, with a daily testing capacity of over

90,000

Aviation – Confirmed new routes beginning June 2020Lufthansa - Shanghai to Frankfurt Air France - Paris to ShanghaiAir New Zealand - Auckland to Shanghai Japan Airlines – Tokyo to DalianDelta Airlines - Seattle to Shanghai Delta Airlines Detroit to ShanghaiUnited Airlines - San Francisco to Shanghai

Chinese airlines are also granted additional slots in July, including: Air China (Paris, Copenhagen, Madrid, Stockholm, Walshaw, Viana, Mosco, and Athens).

Consumer InsightsA Chinese Consumer Sentiment Survey by McKinsey and Company conducted in May shows:• Chinese consumers’ optimism about an economic recovery has held steady since early April

with about half of consumers optimistic about economic recovery.• Consumers continue to feel the impact of Covid-19 on their livelihoods and are cautious

about how they spend their money.• The number of consumers experiencing a decline in savings, income and spending has held

steady in recent weeks.• 36% of respondents expect to reduce international travel (compared with pre-covid-19

outbreak).Trip.com Group and Google China have joined forces to launch a Travel Trends Report which shows:• Interest in travel, specifically short-haul travel, is on the rise. Among those considering

travel plans, around 30% would like to take a trip within the next three months• Domestic and regional travel will rebound first with short-haul products accounting for over

70% of searches made for customers in the Asia-Pacific region• The top 10 destinations for long-haul travel will be: Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, the USA,

South Korea, Macau, Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Canada.Key consumer concerns include:• Customers identified flexibility as their most important consideration, with 57% of

customers nominating penalty-free cancellation policies as the most attractive feature when booking travel

• 27% of customers identified advance booking promotions as their key motivator for booking travel

• 25% preferred insurance coverage

24 June 2020

• Over the last 7 days there has been ~260k site visitors, a fall of -1% over the preceding 7 days. This also represents a rise of 2% compared with the average of the preceding 4 week, so traffic levels appear to be stabilising. However, compared year on year, the past 7 days are down -40% on the same time period last year.

24 June 2020

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

01

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22

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29

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12

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Total Facebook Unique Users

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UK Facebook Unique Users by Country

England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

• The past week has seen significant engagement across our social channels, with a particular spike in engagement on the 16th June in response to a great shot of the Writers’ Museum in Edinburgh, reaching over 1.3m people on Facebook alone.

24 June 2020

As we move towards domestic tourism re-opening in early July, we have completely revamped the marketing response to Covid-19 section on visitscotland.org, to give more information about our marketing plans and activity; as well as sharing activity the marketing teams have been continuing to date.

• Main marketing response to Covid-19 section • Our activity during Respond, Reset and Restart phases• Domestic recovery plans• International recovery strategy• What businesses can do

24 June 2020

VisitScotland has published this report in good faith to update stakeholders on its activity. VisitScotland has taken all reasonable steps to confirm the information contained in the publication is correct. However, VisitScotland does not warrant or assume any legal liability for the accuracy of any information disclosed and accepts no responsibility for any error or omissions.Images: © VisitScotland

VisitScotlandOcean Point One94 Ocean DriveEdinburghEH6 6JHT: 0131 472 2222business.communications@visitscotland.comwww.visitscotland.org

VisitScotland.org | Visit our dedicated advice page for up to date information and advice on Coronavirus (COVID-19) for tourism businesses, including:

- Latest COVID-19 information and resources- Tourism industry FAQs- VisitScotland's response to COVID-19

Dedicated tourism industry advice | Our experienced team of Industry Relationship Managers can be reached at business.advice@visitscotland.com to help with any questions you have about business operations or marketing at this time.

Financial support advice | 0300 303 0660 | Contact the dedicated Scottish Enterprise business support line. Open Monday - Friday between 8.30am and 5.30pm or go to findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/coronavirus-advice

Industry newsletter | Stay up to date with the latest regional and national news by signing up to VisitScotland's Tourism Insider newsletter at visitscotland.org/news

Social media | Stay in touch with the latest from VisitScotland on Linkedin or Twitter

• Contact business advice team: business.advice@visitscotland.com

• Travel trade enquiries: traveltrade@visitscotland.com

• Sharing virtual tours or web cams: content@visitscotland.com

• Information on new experiences you’re developing: marketing@visitscotland.com

• Advice regarding insights: research@visitscotland.com