Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Bairnardo]

10 minutes ago, effeffsee_the2nd said:

I'm pretty sure we actually get (got) more visitors than we send  overseas ourselves and it's a massive earner for the economy, you just have to wonder how much more it would be worth if we didn't do such a shite job half the time. tourism in Scotland succeeded despite the best efforts of those involved

This is exactly how I feel about it. In other countries, those involved in tourism seek it, compete for it. It seems like those in Scotland who rely on tourism tolerate it. 

[Thereisalight..]

4 minutes ago, Detournement said:

I'm expecting red dots but I think it's more and more obvious that needless restrictions are being kept in place so they can later be dropped in what will eventually be presented as a trade off for digital ID infrastructure. 

It's up and running in Denmark now. 

Digital ID talk needs binned. When the elderly and vulnerable are vaccinated who really cares if somebody gets a cough for a day or two? Shit like having a vaccine passport or needing a negative test for domestic things like concerts/sports needs fired into the sea. As a country we're trying to do things to stop discrimination and segregation, yet this ludicrous idea is being wheeled out which will cause those who already feel alienated to feel even more so. 

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

32 minutes ago, strichener said:

So you need an apartment, a swimming pool and leisure facilities - Spey valley resort by McDonalds is £1346 for 2 weeks in September.  Comes with the added benefit of avoiding Ryanair.  

That accomodation isnt suitable, however i’ve used trip advisor (as a comparison website) and for 2 weeks its looking at £5000 plus for something which would meet our needs. That plus the hire of a suitable vehicle for our entire party and wheelchair etc would take us well over £2000. So £7000 with not that much to do, no shopping, limited restaurants for meals out etc. I could holiday in Florida for that. I could get 2 villa holidays in europe for that money too. 

[Lyle Lanley]

Boris Johnson says there is a "good chance" the one-metre plus social distancing rule will be scrapped on 21 June in England

[Bairnardo]

7 minutes ago, Lyle Lanley said:

Boris Johnson says there is a "good chance" the one-metre plus social distancing rule will be scrapped on 21 June in England

As it should be, unless it can be demonstrated to be preventing the escalation of an emergency situation. This is EXACTLY the correct way to be dealing with these restrictions. Remove them one by one unless they can be shown to be needed to prevent a scenario where the healthcare system can't cope. 

[effeffsee_the2nd]

23 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

This is exactly how I feel about it. In other countries, those involved in tourism seek it, compete for it. It seems like those in Scotland who rely on tourism tolerate it. 

pretty much this, if youv ever had the misfortune of stopping at the green welly in Tyndrum, the place hasn't seen paint in 30 years and your about 7 quid for a roll & a cup of tea , the roll is vastly inferior quality to the many cornershops who do hot filled rolls up and down the country for a fraction of the price.

once me and a couple other were heading west and stopped at the wee café next adjoining the caravan park in arrochar, again for a bacon roll and cup of tea ( this time for the bargain of £4.50) it was about 9 on a Saturday morning, the c**t who ran it ( southern English accent) was almost offended that we were there wanting food at that time, wouldn't let us use the toilet at the back of the building because we weren't caravan guests and just generally stunk the place out with his attitudes ( we weren't a bunch of neds with a cargo in the motor) as we drove away we thought f**k it next time we'll just go to mcdonalds

[Guest]

1 hour ago, effeffsee_the2nd said:

Depends what you want in a holiday, whenever I've had overnight breaks in Scotland it's mostly  been for sports/outdoor activities. they can  be great value for money if you look hard enough or you could also end up getting massively ripped off.  and obviously the weather is highly unpredictable.  I've spent almost as much as a short break in the med for one of those log cabin chalet type places in Scotland just for me and the mrs for a weekend, in fact that could almost be it's own thread- the extortionate  cost of getting your nat king !

it can be a real mixed bag and to get the same quality of service that would come as standard abroad you end up paying quite a bit more

Availability is also the huge stumbling block, other than City Centres we simply don't have enough accommodation in this country to cater for the masses who are being told to holiday at home.

Our so called "resorts" generally have 3 or 4 3 star private Hotels with 20 or 30 bedrooms charging well over £100 per night room only, compare that to Spain and Portugal where you have numerous 300 and 400 bedroom Hotels and Apartments where you can get a room plus 3 meals for under £50 per night. 

Once you're in your destination abroad you're more or less guaranteed excellent weather plus eating out is cheap, drink is cheap and cigarettes are cheap, compare all of that to the UK and there really is no competition whatsoever.

[German Jag]

Announced earlier that the Oktoberfest has been cancelled for this year.

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, effeffsee_the2nd said:

pretty much this, if youv ever had the misfortune of stopping at the green welly in Tyndrum, the place hasn't seen paint in 30 years and your about 7 quid for a roll & a cup of tea , the roll is vastly inferior quality to the many cornershops who do hot filled rolls up and down the country for a fraction of the price.

once me and a couple other were heading west and stopped at the wee café next adjoining the caravan park in arrochar, again for a bacon roll and cup of tea ( this time for the bargain of £4.50) it was about 9 on a Saturday morning, the c**t who ran it ( southern English accent) was almost offended that we were there wanting food at that time, wouldn't let us use the toilet at the back of the building because we weren't caravan guests and just generally stunk the place out with his attitudes ( we weren't a bunch of neds with a cargo in the motor) as we drove away we thought f**k it next time we'll just go to mcdonalds

Shocking but not in the least bit surprising, I have a friend who works in the industry and one of their favourite sayings are "the customers are ruining the place" which I suppose says it all.

A quick contrast to this would be one of our regular trips to Poland where we had gone in to a small back street bar in Bydgoszcz for a few beers, the old firm game happened to be on and a few of the guys fancied watching it but despite the barman trying for about 15 mins to find it on the TV he just couldn't get it, we thanked him and told him it was fine however not to be outdone he disappeared out and appeared back about 15 mins later, he then opened up the Restaurant next door where he managed to find the game on their TV and ushered us in to the closed Restaurant so we could get seeing the game.

Unbelievable but that's Poland for you, they can't do enough for you and are thoroughly great people but just compare that to the general customer service levels received in this country.

[effeffsee_the2nd]

13 minutes ago, German Jag said:

Announced earlier that the Oktoberfest has been cancelled for this year.

whats going on? I thought they'd found that German efficiency gear with the vaccines after a slow start?

[effeffsee_the2nd]

4 minutes ago, WATTOO said:

Shocking but not in the least bit surprising, I have a friend who works in the industry and one of their favourite sayings are "the customers are ruining the place" which I suppose says it all.

 

I know,this is getting off topic now and  I could be well wide of the mark here but my experience of independent  hospitality in rural Scotland is that it's majority owned by older people from the south of England , who most likely made their money before they moved here. When your ever in one of these establishments , these people give off a vibe that they are doing what they're doing for the lifestyle rather than the money which is where attitudes like the one above come from (although I'm sure your mate was probably just taking the piss)  and how you end up with business models and service standards that wouldn't last 5 minutes in a built up area.

Again tho, I could be well wrong

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

6 minutes ago, WATTOO said:

Shocking but not in the least bit surprising, I have a friend who works in the industry and one of their favourite sayings are "the customers are ruining the place" which I suppose says it all.

A quick contrast to this would be one of our regular trips to Poland where we had gone in to a small back street bar in Bydgoszcz for a few beers, the old firm game happened to be on and a few of the guys fancied watching it but despite the barman trying for about 15 mins to find it on the TV he just couldn't get it, we thanked him and told him it was fine however not to be outdone he disappeared out and appeared back about 15 mins later, he then opened up the Restaurant next door where he managed to find the game on their TV and ushered us in to the closed Restaurant so we could get seeing the game.

Unbelievable but that's Poland for you, they can't do enough for you and are thoroughly great people but just compare that to the general customer service levels received in this country.

Same in some of the wee villages in Spain, one in particular went in one afternoon for drinks, ordered a couple of wee bites and the guy put on a massive spread that had us too full for dinner, they dont even charge for half of it, obviously guy got a good tip etc, but in some places theyre not even looking for that its just a cultural thing to make customers feel welcome and valued. 

[Michael W]

1 hour ago, Lyle Lanley said:

Boris Johnson says there is a "good chance" the one-metre plus social distancing rule will be scrapped on 21 June in England

Pretty much a sure-fire guarantee it won't be happening. I'm sure there'll be a coincidental  variant discovered on the 17th of June which will be used to justify social distancing being maintained. 

[scottsdad]

Went out for dinner Friday night. Place was busy, all fine. The booths that were set up actually made it a better experience for me - but I would still prefer the place went back to its old configuration.

[Bairnardo]

10 minutes ago, Michael W said:

Pretty much a sure-fire guarantee it won't be happening. I'm sure there'll be a coincidental  variant discovered on the 17th of June which will be used to justify social distancing being maintained. 

The variant chat seems to slowly gravitating from "it's inevitable one will completely bypass the vaccines and kill us all" towards "no variant is going to do that". 

The direction of travel in terms of covid as a threat is total one way traffic. It's all down to when the governments interpret the best time to act on it is. Nothing will happen between now and Mid June that requires the retention of SD and more than it is currently required.

Meanwhile, Scotgov will continue shitting their pants.

[Lyle Lanley]

15 minutes ago, Michael W said:

Pretty much a sure-fire guarantee it won't be happening. I'm sure there'll be a coincidental  variant discovered on the 17th of June which will be used to justify social distancing being maintained. 

Can't wait until they announce the Boris variant on June 17th. 

[super_carson]

41 minutes ago, effeffsee_the2nd said:

whats going on? I thought they'd found that German efficiency gear with the vaccines after a slow start?

 

Quote

 

The pandemic has forced the cancellation of the hugely popular festival for the second consecutive year. It had been scheduled from September 18 to October 3.

The decision was made by Bavarian state Premier Markus Söder and Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter. Söder said that Oktoberfest is the "most global" festival there is, and that the pandemic is not yet under enough control to allow people from all over the world to gather in tents. 

"In the classic beer tents at the big festivals, social distancing, masks and other measures are practically impossible to implement," Söder said.

"The situation is too precarious," he added. "Imagine there was a new wave and it then became a superspreader event. The brand would be damaged forever and we don't want that.

 

 

While I'm not fussed about Oktoberfest in the slightest, that bit I've highlighted in bold kind of simultaneously troubles and reassures me, even if it's more the latter.

It's troubling that, even with vaccines continuing to handle variants well (at worst in terms of reducing hospitalisations and deaths), we have allowed ourselves to become fixated on hypothetical what-if scenarios.  

It is at least partly reassuring in that this is a decision on PR grounds, rather than government restrictions.  I know that sounds a bit daft, but they are concerned about their image if things were to go sideways again

It seems to fairly typical of quite a few governments and organisations just now.  Despite all the evidence suggesting that the vaccines work and the variants probably won't be the harbinger of the apocalypse that some would have us believe they are, no one seems willing to be the first to stand up and make a decision.  Everyone seems quite happy to let someone else go first, and if it doesn't go to shit then we'll all just crack on.  I think getting confidence that everything probably will be OK is going to be one of the hardest things coming out of all of this.  

Edited May 3, 2021 by super_carson

[Thereisalight..]

2 hours ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

That accomodation isnt suitable, however i’ve used trip advisor (as a comparison website) and for 2 weeks its looking at £5000 plus for something which would meet our needs. That plus the hire of a suitable vehicle for our entire party and wheelchair etc would take us well over £2000. So £7000 with not that much to do, no shopping, limited restaurants for meals out etc. I could holiday in Florida for that. I could get 2 villa holidays in europe for that money too. 

Crazy prices. £5k for 2 weeks in Scotland dont know if shes exaggerating or not but my cousin went to a spa lodge last year and it was £350 she says she checked for the same one later this year and it would be close to £700. I know places are keen to recoup lost money and rightly so, but almost doubling prices is a piss take 

[Thereisalight..]

35 minutes ago, Michael W said:

Pretty much a sure-fire guarantee it won't be happening. I'm sure there'll be a coincidental  variant discovered on the 17th of June which will be used to justify social distancing being maintained. 

Either that or by then BJ and his stiffy for vaccine passports will have came to fruition and social distancing can be ditched with the caveat of showing an app or negative test result to get into places 

[strichener]

17 minutes ago, Thereisalight.. said:

Crazy prices. £5k for 2 weeks in Scotland dont know if shes exaggerating or not but my cousin went to a spa lodge last year and it was £350 she says she checked for the same one later this year and it would be close to £700. I know places are keen to recoup lost money and rightly so, but almost doubling prices is a piss take 

That is the same as the Portugal accommodation that I stayed in last year that was £940 for 4 nights.  Now looking for £1700.