Located on the Isle of Lewis and Harris, Stornoway, like many other island settlements, has seen a decline in population over the past decades. A dip that residents hoped would be surmounted by a flourishing tourism industry.
Because of a lack of incoming visitors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, that industry has taken a tough hit from the impacts of the nationwide lockdown.
The Harris and Lewis Smokehouse is one of two restaurants on the island which closed due to difficulties resulting from COVID-19,
Nick Haseloff
“There’s a great reticence on the island at the moment to have any tourists at all.”
“Well, I would say there's a great reticence on the island at the moment to have any tourists at all,” Malcolm MacDonald, Chair of the Stornoway Historical Society said. “We were lucky to only have seven or eight cases on the island. And they all retreated at home. There were no deaths. And I think there's a fear that once you open the floodgates, that COVID-19 will enter the islands.”
According to Ian McKinnon, Chief Executive of Outer Hebrides Tourism, many bed and breakfasts and restaurants on the island have decided to stay closed for the rest of the season and two restaurants on the islands have had to close their doors permanently.
“The tourism industry here isn’t like what you’re used to on the mainland,” said McKinnon. “Most of these restaurants and hotels are run by one or two people.”
According to McKinnon, the tourism industry makes up 10-15% of Lewis and Harris’ income, and the impacts of the lack of revenue could take the island years to recover from.
That percentage of income accounts for many jobs on the island that have taken the place of industries lost over recent years.
“It’s quite important for people on the islands to be able to supplement their income,” McKinnon said. “You’ll have people that work most of the time as teachers or in the shops and they’ll pick up a second job to make more money. It’s quite common for people on the island to have two or three jobs.”
Studies by the James Hutton Institute and the Scottish Government show that Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (the Western Isles Council), for which Stornoway is the home of, is expected to lose up to 20 percent of its working age population by 2041.
Many of these younger island residents leave for the mainland to attend university, and often many of them do not return.
“Well, one of the main reasons people leave the island is employment opportunities.” MacDonald said. “There are a high percentage of pupils, you know, who go on to further