This week I am writing from the fabulous surroundings of The Shandon Hotel, overlooking Marble Hill beach, just outside Dunfanaghy in Donegal. This is usually our bolthole whenever we can get away, to recharge the batteries. This year it is our sole holiday offering as we try out one of the most overused terms of 2020- the ‘staycation’.
I had an expectation before I came in relation to the tourism industry. Normally when we are here, especially at peak times, you will see tour buses coming and going. It is not intrusive, but you would be aware of the different accents alongside the very obvious bias of clientele from the north of Ireland.
I had thought it would feel quieter or with the excellent social distancing measures the hotel has in place, that it would feel very functional- a word I have used before to describe shopping and leisure experiences at the moment.
The reality could not be further from the truth. The place is buzzing, yet it feels safe. Breakfast hours are extended to have a smaller number of people at each sitting; you have to book the pool and on occasion we had it to ourselves. The number of places where dinner is served has increased to allow more room. It actually feels normal and it gives me a real sense of hope.
We have been extremely lucky with the weather which does make a difference in Ireland. Taking the car instead of an aeroplane meant we could take all the ‘toys’. We have spent our days outdoors, running, cycling, playing tennis, trying to play golf and having fun on the beach, kayaking, body boarding and building sandcastles. Despite lots of people having the same idea, the long golden sands of this part of the world look like a different planet compared to the horror photos appearing on social media of beaches in some parts of England.
The only obvious impact Covid-19 had on our holiday, apart from wearing masks in shops which feels like fun to the kids, is cancelling my friend’s birthday dinner in our favourite bar/restaurant. We walked past the evening before we were due to go and it just looked very busy. We didn’t feel totally comfortable. We however, cancelled it in favour of the same type of food taken away to another friend’s rented holiday home overlooking a lake so we certainly weren’t depriving ourselves and; we were still supporting the local economy with our takeaway purchases.
It made me think, maybe we can do this? Maybe our tourism industry can muddle through this until we get back to a point where we can see weddings, events and international tourism return. We, in Newry are seeing a decent return to normality in our local eateries in particular. It’s almost impossible to get a booking from Monday- Wednesday with the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme which is great to see.
What we need to all do however, is take responsibility, venues included, to make sure we do not see more of the localised lockdowns we have seen recently in Laois, Kildare and Offaly. This would just kill our local tourism economy. This is a real concern for the city venues and the hotels relying on the conferencing and banqueting market. They don’t have the benefit of promoting the outdoor reset button like this little corner of the world in Donegal.
Our island wide tourism industry needs support and needs agility to get through this autumn/winter. We do however have nearly seven million people living here, north and south. We can all safely do our bit if we can afford to.
We need to see creative, enticing offers and opportunities coming from our hospitality sector and their representative bodies over the next few months and; we need to think about how we can expand our staycation notions over the autumn winter to help keep this industry alive.
I for one am already looking forward to packing the coats and the winter woollies to come back here again in October. I equally look forward to getting back to what we have to offer on our own doorstep with the mountains, the sea and the countryside. We live in such a beautiful place that now is the time for us to take the time to properly appreciate it and really enjoy life. If Coronavirus has taught us anything it is that there is more to life than work and; as Oscar Wilde famously said, “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
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