£14m Hotel Recovery Programme offers support for larger hotel businesses

Category: COVID-19Leisure - Posted On: Jul 30 2020


The tourism sector continues to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with hotel occupancy levels of many businesses across the country below the daily overheads of sustaining a business.

To support some of Scotland’s larger hotels, the Scottish Government yesterday (Wednesday 29 July) announced a new £14m Hotel Recovery Programme which will allow eligible businesses to apply for grants of up to £250,000, with hopes this new dedicated fund will help to secure up 3,000 jobs until the start of the summer 2021 tourism season.

Partner and Head of EQ Leisure, Scott Greig, commented,

“This welcomed support will help secure jobs within the sector and highlights the key roles Scottish Hotels play within the local and national economy providing employment for more than 46,000 people.

“Hotels had to shut their doors throughout lockdown seeing all revenue cease overnight, however since lockdown eased on 15 July confidence is slowly returning the market.”

Administered jointly by the Scottish Government’s enterprise agencies, the criteria information and details on how to apply will be announced in late August.

The announcement yesterday also included a further £1m available for self-catering businesses that have not received any other Scottish Government COVID-19 support. You can read more about the grant, including the eligibility criteria, here.

Our EQ Leisure team are here to offer bespoke advice and support to help your tourism business. For more information or to discuss your circumstances, contact our specialist team via leisure@eqaccountants.co.uk or contact one of our offices.