Cornwall welcomed two million visitors since lockdown restrictions were lifted in July - but tourism businesses still face a battle to survive.

That was the message from Visit Cornwall boss Malcolm Bell when he addressed a meeting of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) this week.

Mr Bell said that being able to open up the industry again in July had meant that the economic crisis had not been as bad as it could have been.

But he warned that businesses would still need a lot of support and financial backing to ensure that they can keep job losses to a minimum.

He said that in April, May and June the combined loss of the industry in Cornwall was £750 million, adding that if businesses had not be able to welcome guests again from July 4 it would have been worse.

Mr Bell said that July and August had been good months for the industry and that September “has been stonkingly good”.

He added that October and November were also looking like they could be stronger for visitor numbers than previous years.

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Mr Bell warned though that the losses experienced during lockdown were still not being made up and said that in the best case scenario they could recover by May or June next year.

He added: “The worst case scenario is it could push us into a position where the industry faces four winters.”

The Visit Cornwall chief executive said that different parts of the tourism industry had reported different experiences.

He said that all had faced higher costs in order to comply with restrictions and guidelines but not all had seen an increase in business.

“Hotels had higher costs but they had good business levels. That doesn’t mean they will not be making redundancies – quite a lot will be making redundancies.”

Mr Bell said that attractions had faced the biggest challenges and said that Flambards had had 70 per cent of its usual visitors and that attractions such as Paradise Park also had to maintain costs of feeding its animals.

He also highlighted that the National Trust and Eden Project making redundancies showed the impact on attractions.

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Mr Bell said: “From where we were in June we have done well, but doing well doesn’t mean doing brilliantly.”

He said that one of the main challenges for all tourism businesses was cashflow and said that there needed to be more support and help for companies.

Mr Bell said that a number of the support measures put in place had been helpful including cuts in VAT, business grants and rates relief - but stressed hat one of the biggest positives had been that there was no increase in Covid-19 cases recorded as a result of visitors.

He said: “We had two million visitors across July 4 to now. It was very limited the virus being transmitted. The visitor economy showed that it was able to operate effectively with the virus during the summer months.

“Every Wednesday [when he would get figures] it was like getting your exam results, it was a white knuckle ride. A lot of the businesses did an awful lot to avoid any situations.”

Mr Bell said that it was also due to the majority of visitors also following guidelines and restrictions while on holiday in Cornwall.

He added that Visit Cornwall would be taking part in an “Escape the Everyday” campaign, which is encouraging people to take holidays during autumn and winter.

And he said that there were plans for a 50 Things To Do Everyday campaign, which would set out various activities that can be done in the autumn and winter in Cornwall.