More activity comes from a busy trade association in the UK, where BACTA has launched a UK-wide campaign to highlight the plight of the seaside arcades, all of which were badly hit by the pandemic.
They lost their business over the traditionally busy Easter period and much of the summer season, initially in England and latterly in Wales and in Scotland the arcades are only reopening on Monday.
It means, said BACTA, that the seaside arcades industry has had no meaningful income since September of last year "and the winter looks bleak."
CEO John White said: “We are calling upon members to write to their local MPs to highlight the situation and ask for some help to keep their businesses alive. Many seaside communities rely upon our members’ businesses for local employment as well as to provide fun attractions for visitors. If they were to close, the result for the local economies would be devastating.”
BACTA has prepared a briefing document and has written to a number of coastal MPs who it has identified as "seaside champions" and is asking for a number of concessions to help seaside arcades survive. They include a reduction in the Machine Games Duty tax and VAT to five per cent, business taxes relief during the lockdown and increased funds for tourism support.
“The seasides are an essential part of British culture and it is essential that we highlight the plight of seaside towns of which amusement arcades are such an essential part,” he said.
