Insight

Why hotels were largely ignored in UK government’s new hospitality council

Insight Comment
The hotel industry’s absence from the Hospitality Sector Council can be explained but that doesn’t make it right.

Over the course of the last 18 months the UK hospitality industry has been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s a story most people are familiar with. Repeated lockdowns and openings plus by new rules and regulations have been accompanied by some financial support but at the same time many in the industry are still struggling.

The government has rightly come in for much criticism and as if to try and get the industry back on side it has launched a new Hospitality Sector Council to “reopen, recover and become more resilient following the pandemic”.

The council has 22 members from various businesses and organisations, including Small Business Minister Paul Scully but, strangely, this grouping has very limited representation from the hotel industry. Most of the members come from the pubs or restaurants with only a couple — including Lime Wood Hotels chairman and CEO, Robin Hutson — coming from the hospitality.

This apparent snub to the industry has drawn sharp criticism from some.

“While this is a positive move by the government to recognise the sector, the biggest missing voice will be the independents. There are representatives from the large organisations and corporations, but there is no singular voice for over half of the British hospitality sector, which is also the most at risk during the pandemic. The coming winter will see the removal of government support from the hotel industry, just as it is coming under pressure from a lack of team members, faltering supply chains and an unbalanced recovery.” Tom Magnuson, CEO of Magnuson Hotels, said.

What’s Going On?

The absence of much representation from the hotels sector isn’t just an absent-minded mistake from the government, it’s actually to do with arbitrary lines of departmental responsibility.

The new Hospitality Sector Council has been formed to help support the government’s Hospitality Strategy, which it published last July. In the document, one of the footnotes explains how it defines “hospitality” and points at why hotels are mostly absent.

“For the purpose of this strategy, hospitality comprises cafés, restaurants, pubs, bars and night-clubs. Visitor accommodation, for example hotels, are part of the wider hospitality sector but fall within the remit of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports, given their responsibility for tourism,” the report’s authors said.

Hotels, then, fall under a different government department with more of a focus on the tourism side, which seemingly fails to consider that not all hotels are focused on tourists.

Earlier this year, the government, unveiled its tourism recovery plan to help sector recover from the pandemic, which seemingly had buy-in from hotels.

“As an industry we look forward to working alongside Government Departments to deliver the Tourism Recovery Plan, creating thousands of jobs, investing in communities, and showcasing the world beating attractions the UK has to offer – while shaping the new era of sustainable travel together,” Simon Vincent, Hilton president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said at the time.

While these initiatives may come good in the end, the arbitrary division between departments shows the difficulty the industry has in getting its demands heard.