‘I’m scared’: Locals in rural Wales fear tourists will bring coronavirus as lockdown eases

But business owners tell Emily Clark they are keen for fresh faces to stimulate stagnating local economies

A couple eats ice cream on a beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales (Reuters)

Shopping bags full of food spilled out of car boots last weekend in Wales as holidaymakers unpacked provisions at their second homes – ready for the sea and sun.

The country’s five-mile travel limit was lifted on Monday but a few jumped the gun by two days, arriving on Saturday.

In the small town of Newport, Pembrokeshire, worried grumbles accompanied the arrival of the Range Rovers, Mercedes and Audis: a sure sign that the second homeowners were trickling back.

The Welsh rules change again today – self-contained accommodation such as holiday cottages and caravans can open. And from Monday, pubs, cafes and restaurants can serve customers outdoors.

Many business owners in Newport are keen for fresh faces. The local economy relies on them. But there’s still fear that coronavirus could rattle through the population here, which is disproportionately elderly.

At the start of lockdown, homemade signs warned out-of-towners to stay away. They’ve disappeared now – and no one demanded holidaymakers “turn around and f*** off” on the Severn Bridge on Monday, as they did in Cornwall.

But the anger hasn’t left. One worker at a garage near Newport said their comments on visitors would be too rude to publish. Locals have seen the crammed beaches of Brighton and Bournemouth and would not welcome such scenes.

But as lockdown is loosened more quickly in England, others are keen to push it along and catch up.

“As a seaside town we are absolutely reliant on tourism,” says Emma Downey, 47, co-owner of Tides Kitchen and Wine Bar. “Tourism and hospitality go hand in hand. One does not work without the other.

“So if they’d said tourists couldn’t come, we probably would have lost half the cafes and restaurants here. We can’t rely on local trade alone.”

She acknowledges there has been “a little underlying nastiness” from a “very few” locals who have perhaps enjoyed having summer to themselves for once. It’s a familiar tension in most tourist communities.

Wales is the most cautious of the four nations in relaxing lockdown – it was the last part of the UK to set a restart date for indoor hospitality, announced yesterday and starting on 3 August. It’s also stuck to the two-metre social distancing rule most closely, only allowing exemptions for certain businesses that can’t follow it.

Many of the pubs, cafes and restaurants in the Welsh countryside are small, individual operations – ironically there’s not much outdoor space for customers. The two-metre rule would have made business unviable.

Reluctance is a theme: in the UK, the Welsh are the least comfortable with the idea of all activities, such as shopping and eating in restaurants, according to a government survey released on Thursday. This is perhaps why Welsh ministers are hesitant – because they are respecting the fears of the Welsh.

Emma from Tides says Wales is “badly lagging behind” in terms of lockdown easing. Her fish restaurant – which quickly became a fishmonger in lockdown – has seen its profits drop by half.

Each cafe and restaurant in Newport would employ five or six casual workers in the summer but most non-contract staff don’t stand a chance this year, she says.

Campsites and caravan parks are allowed to reopen as of today, with shared facilities off-limits. However, around half near Newport have chosen to stay shut.

There are 4,000 second homes in the county; plenty of non-locals are still expected to come. There are hundreds of holiday cottages in Newport alone.

Many locals own these holiday cottages – and they’re feeling the pinch of lockdown. They are preparing to welcome visitors from today but those who cancel bookings due to coronavirus fears often end up paying agencies to do so.

That’s because owners who cancel have to refund deposits but are contract-bound to pay full commission – between 12 and 24 per cent – to the agencies that visitors use to book.

And interest in cottage holiday booking agencies has shot up. James Starkey, chief marketing officer at holidaycottages.co.uk, said their bookings have risen fourfold in Wales since lockdown measures were eased.

One owner of four cottages near Newport, who asked to remain anonymous, has not cancelled her bookings from Monday despite her fears about the coronavirus. “I am scared,” she says. “I’m not overconfident that we won’t see a second spike.

“I’ve had a lot more enquiries, a lot more people wanting to come. I’m very nervous about it all again and [about] the actual cost of having to set up now. We’ve got extra cleaners on. There’s all kinds of extra costs. All the bedclothes have to be laundered professionally, everything eats into your profits.”

Holidaycottages.co.uk, an agency unrelated to this owner, said they had “worked closely with their portfolio of owners to plan for this period for several months so there should be very little requirement for any owners to be cancelling bookings with guests that are already in place”.

With just one new case of coronavirus reported in Pembrokeshire in the past week, there’s not much lower the county can go.

And as the tourists inevitably pour in, at least the locals know that they’re safe from the London daytrippers who crowd beaches in southeast England – it’s really one heck of a drive.