Hospitality: driving local economies

A Report by the British Hospitality Association

Presentation by Phil Evans- Head of Strategy, VisitEngland

Themes we will be covering…

• What is the BHA?

• BHA recommendations and commitments

• What is the hospitality industry?

• Overview of the Report…

• The national agenda for growth

• Hospitality and local economies

• Local hospitality agenda for growth

• The impact on local economies

• Local organisations

• Local authorities and the tourism industry

• Hospitality and LEPs

What is the BHA?

The BHA is the national trade association for the hotel, restaurant and catering industry

Its membership includes all the major hotel chains, many independent accommodation providers, restaurants and clubs and hospitality associations

It represents more than 40,000 establishments which employ over 500,000 people

The Association promotes the interests of the entire hospitality industry to government

ministers, politicians, to the EU Commission, to the City and the media

BHA recommendations and commitments

• The BHA will emphasise to ministers and all decision-makers the role that the sector plays in the economic and social life of every local authority in the country

• Through participation of its members the BHA will influence positively the approach of local authorities towards the hospitality industry in their area

• The BHA will press all LEPs to support the hospitality industry’s job-creating potential

• The BHA will work to support efforts to sustain Destination Management Organisations

• The BHA will share members’ experiences with others to enable best practice in matters relating to tourism issues to be more widely adopted

• The BHA will work with all local authorities to develop local hospitality blueprints for sustainable development and growth

What is the hospitality industry?

• The industry contains over 170,000 commercial businesses throughout the UK with a further 90,000 outlets in healthcare and education catering

• It provides 8% of the nation’s jobs but in some locations, such as the Isles of Scilly it is as high as 40%

• It is worth £34bn in gross tax revenue, accounting for £90bn in turnover and £46bn to the UK economy in GVA

The figures the BHA refer to differ from the ones VisitEngland uses- this isn’t because we are not ‘joined up’- both sources are robust but we are measuring different things

• The hospitality sector overlaps with the tourism sector-

but not entirely

• Hospitality includes hotels and related services, other accommodation, restaurants, catering, event management and temporary agency employment across these sectors

• It doesn’t include travel agencies, tour operators, cultural activities or attractions, parks, sports or recreational activities

The content of the report…

The BHA national agenda for growth

There are significant barriers to growth which central government rather than local government has responsibility for- these barriers need to be addressed if we are to achieve

growth in both inbound and domestic tourism

• To make the rate of VAT on UK hospitality competitive with the rate in other EU countries

• To simplify visa procedures for bona fide visitors

• To control the high rate of Air Passenger Duty

• To ensure funding for VisitBritain and the other national visit agencies is ring-fenced

• To encourage the Regional Growth Fund to recognise the significance of the hospitality industry to local economies

• To minimise the regulatory burdens on the industry and to cut red tape

• To ensure that LEPs regard the hospitality industry as a key pillar of their local economy

• To stimulate more investment in the hospitality industry

• Providing a level playing field for bids for the outsourcing of food service and general facilities management

Hospitality and local economies

In its proposition to government- detailed in its report Creating Jobs in Britain- the BHA outlined three objectives:

• The creation of 236,000 additional jobs by 2015 and a further 239,000 by 2020

• For Britain to be one of the top five destinations in the world in terms of revenue from inbound tourism

• To lift the proportion of what British people spend on tourism activity in the UK to 50% (currently 40%)

Local hospitality agenda for growth

• Achieving the job creation targets rests as much on the policies of local delivery organisations and their policies as it does on the issues being tackled by national government

• Hospitality accounts for between 5.9% and 11% of direct employment and between 3.0% and 7.8% of total GVA of all the LEPs so far established

• Support for LEPs and DMOs by local hospitality and tourism businesses is a pre-requisite for success in promoting local tourism

• The relevance of local decision-making is extremely important

• Tourism and hospitality- together- need to be represented in every Local Plan and integrated with other industries

• The BHA calls on local authorities too work with the hospitality sector to establish a blueprint for the growth of hospitality jobs and wealth

Hospitality- the impact on local economies

• The BHA estimates the direct domestic and international spend on the visitor economy in the UK to be £86bn (VE figures include indirect spend)

• In all areas of the country outside London, domestic spend is higher than inbound

• Whilst there is regional variation, the correlation between visitor numbers, levels of employment and GVA is very high

• Out of 406 local authorities, the share of direct employment in tourism exceeds 5% in 384 cases

Local organisations

The BHA refers to LEPs, DMOs and Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and the possibility of Tourism BIDs

• It is important that LEPs should not see tourism just as an activity solely revolving around promotional and image activities

• The BHA welcomes the fact that VisitEngland is developing an understanding of LEP priorities where tourism features and provides a number of good examples

Local authorities and the tourism industry

• Local authorities play a role in growing tourism and hospitality not just through funding tourism initiatives but through wider economic development of the locality

• The hospitality sector helps both local residents and visitors to enjoy the area as well as supplying business and social facilities

• Hospitality and tourism are an integral part of the fabric of local life

There are many different strands, including:

• Economic

• Environmental

• Cultural

• Licensing

• Food safety

• Planning

• Inward investment

• Promotion

• Skills

• Transport

Hospitality and LEPs

Hospitality is important to each of the 38 established LEPs

• LEPs have a critical role to play in increasing visitor numbers through their support for DMOs or other agencies and encouraging inward investment

• All areas of the country can benefit from tourism and hospitality development

• The track record is established- between 1998 and 2010, over 200,000 hospitality jobs were created and 1,100 hotels have been opened representing 110,000 rooms

• Over 130 hotels are currently being built and all areas can benefit from this expansion

• The restaurant sector has also been successful and London is now an internationally recognised ‘eating-out’ capital

• Popular branded chains are appearing throughout the country

• Encouraging investment in all the sectors of the industry, helping to ensure that it is sustained through policies that help businesses to grow is the challenge for the future

For further details:

www.bha.org.uk/2011/10/13/hospitality-industry-can-create-475000-jobs-by-2020

Adopt an MP