1. What Is the Scheme Intended For? See the ‘Purpose’ Section of the Guidelines

FAQs CORONAVIRUS BUSINESS SUPPORT SCHEME (Assistance for Accommodation Providers) CBSS(TA)1 APPLICATION FORM

1. What is the Scheme intended for? See the ‘Purpose’ section of the Guidelines.

The aim of the Scheme is to sustain qualifying viable accommodation that is of strategic importance across the Island’s tourism sector during the ongoing difficult trading conditions, with the intention that the supported businesses will hopefully continue to operate during and following the end of the pandemic.

Any financial support agreed by the Department will, in the first instance, enable accommodation businesses to settle outstanding debts with businesses in the local supply chain (i.e. food suppliers, maintenance contractors, local travel and tour operators) so as to avoid a wider ripple effect across the economy.

You will be asked to sign a declaration stating that you intend to settle existing local supply chain debts, or reach an agreed position with such creditors, as a condition of receiving financial assistance.

2. How do I know if I am eligible for the Scheme? See the ‘Eligible Premises’ and ‘Ineligible Premises’ section of the Guidelines.

Premises registered with the Department before 28th February 2020 are eligible to apply, with the exception of permanent campsites and glamping sites, TT and MGP Homestay, B&Bs and temporary TT and MGP campsites and glamping sites.

Additional exclusions include all serviced and non-serviced accommodation with fewer than 3 Stars.

Eligible Premises (3* or above)  Hotels;  Guest Houses;  Guest Accommodation;  Serviced Apartments  Inns;  Farmhouses;  Self-Catering properties; and  Hostels.

Ineligible Premises  Temporary and permanent camping and glamping sites;

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 bed and breakfast accommodation;  homestay accommodation;  any other form of serviced or non-serviced accommodation which is graded at 2* or below; and  premises on the tourist Accommodation register that are demonstrably operating as Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) – The Department reserves the right to inspect premises in this regard.

Businesses who are unsure of their eligibility, should, in the first instance contact the Department by email [email protected].

3. What information will I need to be able to complete the application form?

We have created a helpful ‘Checklist’ which states all of the information that you will need to have to hand before completing the application form. Please click here to view the checklist.

In summary, as part of the application, you must provide full details of:

 Current creditors, including providing a detailed breakdown of existing customer deposits and monies held, or owed, within the local supply chain.

In this section please list your currently existing outstanding debts to Isle of Man based suppliers of goods and services to your registered tourist accommodation business. Examples include but are not limited to:

o Food & Drink Suppliers o Commercial laundry services o Cleaning contractors o Building and equipment maintenance o Gas, electricity, telecoms, water and oil heating bills o Business rates, VAT and National Insurance o Print services o Website design and hosting costs o Refunds to Island based Tour Operators o Professional Services such as accountancy, solicitors o Replacement fixtures and fittings

 A breakdown of specific costs in respect of ‘mothballing’ the business to the end of June 2020.

In this section please list your expected estimated costs to that are likely to be paid to Isle of Man based suppliers of goods and services in order to keep your business afloat until June 2020. Examples include but are not limited to:

o Food & Drink Suppliers o Commercial laundry services o Cleaning contractors

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o Building and equipment maintenance o Gas, electricity, telecoms, water and oil heating bills o Business rates, VAT and National Insurance o Print services o Website design and hosting costs o Refunds to Island based Tour Operators o Professional Services such as accountancy, solicitors o Replacement fixtures and fittings

We have created templates to help you to complete these documents. They are available to download on the main Scheme page under ‘Downloadable Resources’.

 A summary of deposits and advance payments held for bookings for the period 1st April to 30th June 2020;

Please note that it is not possible to ‘save’ the application form and return to complete missing information.

4. How long will it take for my application to be processed and when will I receive my payment? See the ‘Payment’ section of the Guidelines.

It is the Departments aim to process correctly completed application forms for those who are eligible within 5 working days. However, due to the unprecedented demand levels for financial support at this time, this period may be extended.

The Department will then authorise the payment to be made into your bank account which should take approximately 1-2 days following approval.

Cheque payments can also be made in exceptional circumstances. Please be aware that timescales for cheque payments will be longer than stated above.

Please note that you will not be notified that you are eligible due to the high volume of expected applications. The Department will only notify ineligible or rejected applicants and will do so via email.

5. How much money will I receive? See the ‘Financial Assistance’ section in the Guidelines.

For those eligible, the level of financial assistance available will be based on accommodation type, the number of rooms in the property and the star grading of the property and will cover a period of 91 days (April-June 2020). It has been determined based on information held within the Department’s official accommodation registers as at the end of March 2020.

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The modelling for this scheme is based on an industry measure called ‘Revenue per Available Room’ or ‘RevPAR’ which uses a calculation based on the average revenue per available room across the respective sector (serviced or non-serviced) between April and June 2019.

The funding per day rate may not tally with your own data. The rate has been calculated as an average across the whole industry to ensure the most effective and fair method of support across all businesses eligible for support.

The applicable rates are set out in the Table below:

Rate Accommodation Type Star (Per room, per day)

4* plus £ 21.25 Hotel 3* £ 14.17

Guest Houses, Guest Accommodation, 4* plus £ 14.17 Serviced Apartments, Inns and Farmhouses 3* £ 7.08

4* plus £ 5.00 Self-Catering and Hostels

3* £ 5.00

6. How do I figure out how much money I will potentially be receiving?

The funding is worked out as follows:

Number of bedrooms x funding per day rate x 91 days = £Funding amount payable

For example:

Hotel

A 4 Star (or higher) hotel with 100 bedrooms would receive: 100 bedrooms x £21.25 day funding rate x 91 days = £193, 375

A 3 Star hotel with 100 bedrooms would receive: 100 bedrooms x £14.17 day funding rate x 91 days = £128, 947

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Guest House, Guest Accommodation, Serviced Apartments, Inns and Farmhouses

A 4 Star (or higher) Star Guest Accommodation with 10 bedrooms would receive: 10 bedrooms x £14.17 day funding rate x 91 days = £12, 894.70

A 3 Star Guest Accommodation with 10 bedrooms would receive: 10 bedrooms x £7.08 day funding rate x 91 days = £6, 442.80

Self-Catering and Hostel

Single Self Catering Properties

A 4 Star (or higher) Self Catering property or Hostel with 2 bedrooms would receive: 2 bedrooms x £5.00 day funding rate x 91 days = £910

A 3 Star Self Catering property or Hostel with 2 bedrooms would receive: 2 bedrooms x £5.00 day funding rate x 91 days = £910

Multiple Self Catering Properties

If you have multiple 3* or 4* self-catering properties within your business, you will need to add together the total number of bedrooms across all of the properties.

Example Business 1 is made up of 3 cottages: Cottage 1 = 3 bedrooms Cottage 2 = 2 bedrooms Cottage 3 = 2 bedrooms

3 bedrooms + 2 bedrooms + 2 bedrooms = 7 bedrooms in total across the business

7 bedrooms x £5.00 day funding rate x 91 days = £1, 092

Mixture of Accommodations

If you have a mixture of 3* and 4* Star accommodation types within your business, you will need to add together the total number of bedrooms across all of the properties.

Example Business 2 is made up of 1 hostel and 2 self-catering units: Hostel = 12 bedrooms Self-Catering Unit 1 = 2 bedrooms Self-Catering Unit 2 = 4 bedrooms

12 bedrooms + 2 bedrooms + 4 bedrooms = 18 bedrooms

18 bedrooms x £5.00 day funding rate x 91 days = £8, 190

Example Business 3 is made up of 2 Guests Houses (one 3* and one 4*) Guest House 1 (3 star) = 4 bedrooms Guest House 1 (4 star) = 3 bedrooms

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4 bedrooms (3*) x £7.08 day funding rate x 91 days = £2,577.12 3 bedrooms (4*) x £14.17 day funding rate x 91 days = £3,868.41 Total payment = £6,445.53

7. Why is there a tiered system based on Star grading?

We have taken a strategic view based on the best interests of the Island as a ‘quality visitor destination’ and view that it is more beneficial to support the higher quality accommodation stock for the benefit of our visitors. Part of our overall strategic plan for 2023 and beyond is to increase visitor spend and this accommodation supports that objective, as well as reflecting the increasing demand from visitors for quality accommodation.

8. Why is my business not eligible (Under 2* / B&B / Permanent Campsite or Glamping Site / Temporary Campsite)?

The decision has been made to ensure the viability of strategically important businesses across the tourist accommodation sector, such as the larger hotels and top-rated accommodation, which underpin the tourist accommodation sector and provide increased levels of employment. This benefits the Island’s economy as well as the overall tourism proposition, as visitors continually demand higher quality accommodation and activities.

Under 2* Part of our overall strategic plan for 2023 and beyond is to increase visitor spend and higher quality stock (3* above) accommodation supports that objective. The focus of the Scheme is to ensure the survival of our high-quality accommodation stock for the benefit of our visitors and which helps us promote the Island as a quality visitor destination.

You may be eligible to apply for alternative Financial Support Schemes which have been developed to support local businesses. To review the schemes and check your eligibility please visit the Funding & Support page on the Department’s Coronavirus Information page.

B&B Bed and Breakfast accommodation is often provided in a person’s own property and run by the property owners; therefore, it is viewed that the majority of costs of running the business would be borne as a standard domestic household.

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Temporary Campsite & Homestay Homestay accommodation and temporary campsites operate for a few weeks of the year and are not permanent accommodation businesses. The focus of the scheme is to ensure the survival of our high-quality accommodation stock for the benefit of our visitors.

Permanent Campsite or Glamping Site Permanent campsites & glamping sites are likely to have less operational costs and less local creditors than the serviced accommodation sector, along with reduced staffing costs. The support is therefore allocated to strengthen our strategically important higher-quality accommodation stock.

9. Why is the payment to the Self Catering and Hostels (Non-serviced sector) not the same as the Serviced Sector?

The decision has been made to ensure the viability of strategically important businesses, such as the larger hotels, that underpin the tourist accommodation sector and provide increased levels of employment, which benefits the Islands economy as well as the overall tourism proposition.

A focus of the Scheme is to enable accommodation businesses to settle outstanding debts with businesses in the local supply chain (i.e. food suppliers, maintenance contractors, local travel and tour operators) so as to avoid a wider ripple effect across the economy. Therefore, a greater level of funding has been assigned to serviced accommodation as they are likely to have the greatest impact on this flow and ease further economic disruption.

The support assigned to non-serviced accommodation (self-catering and hostels) represents a contribution towards some fixed costs (i.e. rates, utilities) and overheads.

10. If I am not eligible under this scheme, what other schemes might I be eligible for?

You may be eligible for a number of other schemes - to review the schemes and check your eligibility please visit the Funding & Support page on the Department’s Coronavirus

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Information page. The only restriction in place is for self-employed individuals looking to claim both the Manx Earnings Replacement Allowance (MERA) and the Coronavirus Business Support Scheme (CBBS). For business owners in the Tourism industry the CBBS will be the most appropriate scheme of the two and will provide £3,000 to support businesses in the short term.

You are entitled to apply for any number of schemes. The only restriction in place is for self-employed individuals looking to claim both the Manx Earnings Replacement Allowance (MERA) and the Coronavirus Business Support Scheme (CBBS). For business owners in the Tourism accommodation industry the CBBS will be the most appropriate scheme of the two and will provide £3,000 to support businesses in the short term.

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