Although there is consensus in the UK hospitality industry that the growth curve will return in 2003, there is no room for…
Although there is consensus in the UK hospitality industry that the growth curve will return in 2003, there is no room for complacency, warns Trevor Ward, joint managing director of TRI Hospitality Consulting in British Hospitality: Trends and Statistics 2002, published by the British Hospitality Association and sponsored by American Express.
The domestic tourism market is being very successfully wooed by the low cost airlines, flying to exotic locations for considerably less than the cost of travelling to a UK destination, he points out.
Mr Ward says that two very clear messages emerged from last year’s events: First, chain-operated hotels have the resources and the organisation to withstand seismic events of this nature. Second, is the continuing disparity between the performance of chain-operated hotels and the bulk of the industry, represented by the small independent operator.
This was due, he says, to the fact that chain-operated hotels occupy primary locations and are largely geared to the business market, while the majority of independent hotels, as a generalisation, tend to be in secondary locations and are geared to serving the leisure or tourist markets.
With over 100 tables and graphs with commentaries, collated by Sheffield Hallam University’s Centre for International Hospitality Management, and with articles on trends in the hotel and catering industry by Trevor Ward and Peter Backman, managing director of Foodservice Intelligence, the publication has become the most readily available source of factual information on the British hospitality industry.
First published in 1998 in order to provide answers to questions on the industry which were most frequently asked and for which there was no readily available single source, the publication is updated every year with the addition of new information and trend articles by leading consultants.
Copies of the publication are sent to ministers, government officials, selected MPs and MEPs and other opinion-formers.
The publication is a key support for our lobbying activities in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Westminster and Brussels and emphasises the size and status of the industry and its economic importance, says Bob Cotton, BHA chief executive.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
