The UN climate change conference, which is being hosted in Glasgow at the Scottish Events Campus (SEC), will see world leaders travel to the city to discuss strategies to tackle global warming, among other environmental issues.
Originally scheduled to take place in 2020, but delayed due to the ongoing pandemic, COP26 will take place in Scotland’s biggest city from the 31st of October to the 12th of November this year.
Seen as a multi-million pound windfall for the city, there are less than 100 days before the conference begins, however criticism is mounting.
In April, Greta Thunberg announced that she doesn’t plan to attend over COVID concerns, voicing her opinion that organisers should wait until global vaccination rates have risen, while climate activists in London took to Parliament Square in July to demand that Boris Johnson makes the climate crisis his top priority.
Meanwhile, the main architect of the original Paris Agreement, Christiana Figueres, former head of the UN’s climate change agency, has urged organisers to consider a hybrid event, suggesting that some elements should take place virtually due to ongoing difficulties with the pandemic and travel.
Despite these protests from various factions, the conference has the potential to give a much-needed boost to the local economy in Glasgow and throughout Scotland more broadly – especially in sectors that have been brought to their knees by the pandemic, namely hospitality and tourism.
COP26 will be the biggest summit the UK has ever hosted. Bringing upwards of 30,000 individuals including world leaders, delegates, environmental groups and business owners to the country, this unprecedented surge in visitors are reflected in the spike in demand for accommodation during the first weeks in November within the city.
As is the norm, the UK government’s official accommodation provider for the summit will be charging excessive rates for invited delegates, and for the first days of the conference, major hotel chains in the city are fully booked.
Smaller boutique hotels are also taking advantage of the situation however, with some raising their rates during the period by up to 700 per cent in a bid to capitalise on the event – a welcome boost after months of closures and reduced capacity service.
I was interested to read that the private booking market is following suit, with apartments and flat rentals also hiking their prices over the period. Glasgow property owners willing to rent out their homes for short-term stays during the climate conference are purportedly being offered as much as an entire year’s rent in exchange for letting out their properties for a two week stay in November.
With hotels quickly booking up and set to make a neat profit, this activity in the private booking market is an additional way for the COP26 event to benefit those who live locally.
City-centre based AirUs has said that all of its registered hosts are now booked up for the event, and the company are now appealing for more homeowners to sign up in order to meet demand.
And it’s not only local hotels and private-property owners who can expect to see a flurry of activity. Local food suppliers can look forward to a profitable period as the organisers get ready to greet world leaders, with the catering partner for the SEC announcing that they are banning the supply of air-freighted produce in favour of local goods.
Levy UK + I has said that it will focus on seasonal British produce as part of it’s plans to go carbon neutral – a tangible way to work towards the goals of the COP26 and a huge win for local food suppliers who have been hit hard by restaurant closures over the past year.
Local restaurants and bars may even cater to some famous faces as they flock to Glasgow, with Arnold Schwarzenegger revealing in an interview with COP26 president Alok Sharma that he “cannot wait” to enjoy a few beers in the city when he attends the conference.
Ultimately, the climate change conference and its tens of thousands of attendees can offer a real boost to the Scottish economy, which I welcome wholeheartedly after a slow and uncertain year.
Those in the tourism and hospitality sectors should look forward to a healthy rebound this November, just in time to kick off the Christmas season festivities.
The Johnnie Walker Experience – Edinburgh’s New Whisky Destination
The countdown is now on for the launch of The Johnnie Walker Experience in Scotland – which is being dubbed Edinburgh’s answer to the Guinness Brewhouse in Dublin.
The arrival of the whisky centre had been delayed due to COVID, but organisers are now in a position to open the Princes Street venue in September.
The new centre sounds fantastic and it’s a really exciting addition to the capital. It spans eight storeys and will feature rooftop bars, private dining areas, modern sensory tasting rooms, personalised tour and tasting experiences, alongside live performance areas.
The Johnnie Walker Princes Street visitor attraction is part of the drinks company Diageo’s £185 million investment into the transformation of its Scotch whisky tourism, which has already involved the revamp of Glenkinchie Distillery, the Lowland home of Johnnie Walker.
The attraction, which replaces a House of Fraser store at the west end of Princes Street, will officially open on September 6.
The centre will be a marvelous addition to the tourist offering in Edinburgh and it’s great that its inception has also led to the creation of many jobs in the area.
Scotland’s national drink is of course big business for the country, with two in every three visits to whisky visitor centres coming from international visitors and worth £84 million to the economy alone.
How the pandemic and restrictions in international flying will affect the new attraction remains to be seen, but if this tourist attraction does turn out to be as popular as the Guinness Brewhouse in Dublin then it’s sure to be a big boost to the economy.
For myself, I have a good feeling that Diageo will be toasting to the success of The Johnnie Walker Experience in Scotland long into the future.
It Made Me Laugh
A news story that made me chuckle recently was one about a group of tourists who met The Queen, but failed to recognise who she was.
According to her former protection officer, a group of American visitors approached the monarch as she walked her dogs on the Balmoral Estate.
They got chatting and asked if she had ever met The Queen when out on her walks at the Aberdeenshire beauty spot.
According to reports, ex-officer Richard said that she replied: “No, but this policeman has”, gesturing towards him.
The former officer said the group then moved on, having no idea who they’d just met.
Hopefully the group of tourists are still completely unaware that they bumped into The Queen during their stroll. That would certainly save them the embarrassment of finding out!
It Made Me Weep
Cyber security is becoming increasingly important as hackers become more sophisticated.
There have been an increase in attacks during the pandemic and I was disheartened to hear about the latest case affecting a Scottish business.
Bon Tot, a baby and toddler shop in Edinburgh has had their Instagram taken over by hackers; they claim they are being ‘held ransom’ by the fraudsters.
The shop’s co-owner Kristine Currie said she was notified that the Instagram page login had been changed. She then received emails demanding money to get the account back.
The store is still unable to access the account, which has them over six years to build a following of 29k Instagram followers.
We’re hearing more and more stories like this, which is terrible, and it serves as a reminder to businesses to take cyber security seriously.
