The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has launched its first-ever election manifesto ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliamentary Elections.
Titled Recovering, Reopening, and Revitalising: Building a Scottish Self-Catering Sector for the Future, the document gives an overview of the current state of the self-catering sector in Scotland and outlines the steps its trade body believes to be essential for its survival and prosperity in the future.
COVID-19 has done tremendous damage to everyone in Scottish tourism, self-catering included, and the ASSC has developed a series of key points that, if implemented, would help rescue the vital sector and help it to grow towards a more secure future.
Recovering, Reopening, and Revitalising: Building a Scottish Self-Catering Sector for the Future calls for the next parliament to reject calls for a tax on tourist visitors to Scotland in order to keep Scotland as attractive a destination as possible in a tourism environment that will only get more competitive.
The manifesto also urges the next parliament to do whatever it can to support those providing staycations in Scotland to help both the self-catering sector and the wider tourist economy to step into the future with confidence. Furthermore, ensuring that staycations are a viable option for Scots will also have the benefit of allowing for restful breaks to be taken even if the possibility of going abroad is not an option.
Also contained in the manifesto are calls to improve access to grant funding for self-caterers, many of whom have suffered dreadfully throughout the pandemic, and to approach any future regulations to be imposed on self-catering in Scotland from an evidence-led point of view and not be swayed by anecdotes or emotive arguments from partisan special interests.
Recovering, Reopening, and Revitalising: Building a Scottish Self-Catering Sector for the Future is the first election manifesto from the ASSC and is the first manifesto of its kind for the self-catering sector. The full text of it is available here.
Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers Chief Executive, Fiona Campbell, said:
“I am thrilled to be launching Recovering, Reopening, and Revitalising: Building a Scottish Self-Catering Sector ahead of these vital elections.
“The 2021 Scottish Parliamentary elections matter immensely to our sector and we’ll be working closely with many across the next parliament for the good of the self-catering and wider tourism sector.
“Our proposals are common sense, practical, and will help Scottish self-catering build a solid foundation from which to build as we come out of the pandemic and into the future.
