BBC’s The Travel Show Sets Out on a Sustainable Journey Across the UK to Discover How the Travel Industry Is Getting Back on Track

14th June, 2021 -  As some parts of the world begins to emerge from COVID lockdowns and travel restrictions, The Travel Show travels across the UK in a four-part series to meet the people at the heart of getting the UK’s travel industry back on track.

Traditionally one of the most visited destinations in the world, the UK has been welcoming almost 40 million international visitors each year before the global pandemic hit. With international passenger traffic coming to the UK taking a dramatic downturn, and domestic non-essential travel discouraged, The Travel Show uncovers how the industry has adapted and what lies ahead for tourism in the UK.

Tony Story, CEO at Kingsmills Hotel Group, told The Travel Show how COVID forced their luxury hotel, Ness Walk in Scotland, to close just eight months after it first opened. Now they’re making up for lost time. 

“We effectively risk managed everything that we were doing,” said Story. “Fortunately, in this hotel, we’ve a lot of space so we can manage the social distancing side of things. But then, of course, our operations are much more expensive to run nowadays. Our efficiencies in terms of room cleaning is way off the scale from where we were.”

The Ness Walk isn’t the only business grappling with the impact of COVID. At Culloden – the site of a famous battle, 275 years ago – the National Trust have had to change some of their big anniversary plans due to local lockdown  restrictions. 

Speaking to Ade Adepitan, Katey Boal, Visitor Services Manager at Culloden explains how they’re taking their celebrations to new global audiences.

“We would normally have an anniversary with around 1500 people here on site, and clearly that is not possible under COVID. We decided to go completely online, which then gave us the opportunity to attract a worldwide audience. It didn’t matter what time zone you were in, and we had 3000 people engage with it – and more have since the event. It’s more than we could have possibly have expected,” said Boal.

Both Katey Boal and Tony Story agree that this summer’s going to be crucial in getting the local tourism industry back on track.

“The reality is across the whole of the Highlands, tourism has been significantly affected. It’s a huge part of our economy and if we can have a good summer, if we can tell our stories and sell our scones and engage people in the story of Culloden it’s going to make a big difference,” said Boal.

“Our best guess, in this moment of time, is this year will be a staycation year and we really need our UK residents to get behind us and help us because we have had a very tough time. I hope that they’re going to come to Scotland and find out that this is a fantastic place to have a holiday under any circumstances,” said Story.

Glenarm castle in Northern Ireland have also had to shift their business model. Prior to the pandemic, Glenarm funded their upkeep through farming and hosting events such as weddings. But, when the pandemic struck, much of their income stopped, so they decided to take the time to heavily invest in their tourism offering, ready for a new season of visitors as lockdowns lifted.

In Wales, the Butetown Festival is an annual event celebrating the area's unique history, but as the carnival can’t take place this year, alternative plans to celebrate are being made in Cardiff instead. 

The Voices of Change exhibition is one of the events that is taking place. It includes displays of artworks sent in from all parts of Wales - from Pembrokeshire to Newport, Builth Wells to Caernarfon – and the pieces at the exhibition include paintings, spoken word recordings, digital art, photography, mixed media and film.

It’s not only big events affected by the pandemic, many restauranteurs and food suppliers have been hit hard by the lockdowns, such as the Harbour Bar’s in Scarborough, which has been open since the end of the second world war. Giulian’s been working there since he was 12, and he’s the third generation of his family to make and sell ice cream in the town.

“We’ve been operating for 75 years, so we had a small family party to celebrate, as that’s all we could do. We’ve been working hard to keep the shop looking like it did all those years ago. We’ve stuck it out [during the pandemic], but we need the business to get the enthusiasm back, and I think a lot of people will be flocking to places like Scarborough,” said Guilian.

In Northern Ireland, the Killough Oyster farm used to be busy exporting oysters to restaurants in France, but the pandemic put a halt to demand.

“The pandemic caused us to miss nine or ten months of sales, but it’s lead to what might be the best quality oysters we’ve had for years, because of the extra time we’ve had to care for them,” said Luc Bonnargent at Killough Oyster Farm. “You can see a lot more locals getting oysters. It’s gone up ten-fold in six or seven years, as you can try different oysters from different bays, and the different bays have different flavours. Each place is very distinct.”

Exploring England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, this special series of The Travel Show showcases the best of British destinations and uncovers the initiatives being undertaken to create a sustainable tourism industry - from the growing number of electric car charge points, to the herculean efforts being made by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to restore natural processes in the UK’s largest national park, the Cairngorms.

Travelling in a revamped, all-electric version of the iconic British Morris van from the post-war era,  The Travel Show tests out the practicalities of travelling in an all-electric vehicle through some of the remotest parts of the UK. With an average daily range of around 70-100 miles per charge, will The Travel Show presenters keep on track, shrink their carbon footprint and make it to their destinations or be left stranded with flat batteries by the roadside?

UK audiences can watch The Travel Show on the BBC News channel, Saturday at 1030 BST and Sunday at 2030 BST, or catch up on the BBC iPlayer.

International audiences can watch The Travel Show on BBC World News at the following times:

Fridays at 2030 GMT

Saturdays at 0330, 1330 and 1830 GMT

Sundays at 0630 and 1230 GMT

*All filming adhered to the UK government’s COVID-19 guidelines