COVID-19 discussions with self-catering businesses on business recovery following pandemic: FOI release

Information requested

“I would like to request details of the level of engagement, in the form of discussions, that have taken place between the hospitality sector, specifically self-catering businesses, and the Scottish Government on business recovery following the pandemic.”

Response

The Scottish Government has engaged regularly with the hospitality sector and specifically with self-catering businesses throughout the pandemic to understand operating conditions and to develop support to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions and enable recovery. We have regular dialogue with representative stakeholder bodies and work closely with Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA), Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) and Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group (STERG) and will continue to do so.

Please see below some of the engagements that took place over the course of Covid-19 pandemic:

Date	Stakeholder	SG Representation
Weekly	STERG meetings – All dates and minutes can be found here: Latest STERG Information and Updates - COVID-19 | VisitScotland.org
06/07/21	ASSC meeting	Ivan McKee / SG officials
10/06/21	Airbnb / ASSC meeting	SG Officials
23/03/21	Conference Call: ASSC	Fergus Ewing / SG officials
20/01/21	Conference Call: Association of Scotland's Self- Caterers/Scottish Bed & Breakfast Association	Fergus Ewing / SG officials
10/12/20	ASSC meeting	SG officials
11/11/20	First Minister call with Scottish Tourism Alliance and ASSC	First Minister / SG officials
23/09/20	Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers (ASSC) and membership seminar	Fergus Ewing / SG officials
02/06/20	Airbnb - UK Policy Officer	Fergus Ewing / SG officials

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