October Bank Holiday under consideration to help offset tourism losses

An extra bank holiday in October is under consideration by government, as a means of offsetting the losses suffered by the tourism industry due to the coronavirus lockdown.

VisitBritain's acting chief executive Patricia Yates put forward the proposal after reports that the pandemic was expected to cost the industry more than £30b.

It is hoped that a bank holiday later in the year would extend the summer season and help the industry, which has missed out on the benefits of two long weekends.

Downing Street has said it would "respond in due course" to the proposal, while highlighting that bank holidays have an economic cost.

Yates told the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee: "That's an idea that is being considered, to have an October bank holiday around half-term, because what we are going to need to do is generate people not just in July and August."

In an extensive interview with The Caterer, published last week, she had explained how important it will be to restart the domestic tourism market in the coming months.

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