Explore Great Britain

ExploreGB is VisitBritain’s largest travel trade event with hundreds of international buyers from countries across the globe meeting travel trade suppliers from the UK to do business.

Travel industry buyers and journalists from the UK’s largest and most valuable inbound visitor markets including Australia, France, Germany and the US are expected to attend, and from its high-spending markets including China as well as Brazil, Canada, India and the Gulf Co-operation Council markets.

The event will be held at the Harrogate Convention Centre from 8 to 10 May 2019. 

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Happy to have you . . .

THE Old Stocks Inn in Stow-on-the-Wold have been announced in The Caterer's 'Best Places to Work in Hospitality 2018'. The hotel have taken the 8th place in this year's, recognising them as one of the best in the industry.

The Old Stocks Inn operates within a 17th century coaching inn which lies in the heart of the stunning #Cotswolds National Park. The Inn consists of a bar and restaurant along with their 16-bedroom boutique hotel which has recently been refurbished to incredible standards.

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Picture credit: pintrest.co.uk

Ask the Concierge

ALEXA Skills Konsulting, a US based Information Technology company, has put forth a revolutionary product, that is taking the luxury hotels and cruises, namely the hospitality industry by storm, the ASK Concierge.

The very basic functionality of this product is to give the hotels or cruise guests an ultra savvy experience of staying in a smart room where they can control every aspect using their voice. Right from controlling the TV, lowering the blinds, adjusting the room temperature to making front-desk requests, all these tasks can be carried out just by programming in certain ‘skills’ to the Amazon’s Alexa voice devices to carry out.

When asked about this futuristic cutting edge product, Shabbir Merchant, the CEO of Alexa Skills Konsulting, commented promptly, “ASK Concierge will prove to be a very helpful product for the hotels or cruises. It will not only automate the front desk requests gathering and executing faster, but also give their guests a plush stay experience. An experience that can only be lived through to be believed in.”

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Top Hotel Trends to be Witnessed in 2018

THE top 3 trends to be witnessed in the upcoming year according to Weekly Hotels, a leading extended stay hotel search engine are:

1. Extended stay will be increased
2. Extended stay hotels will gain popularity
3. Booking through mobile devices will be more popular

According to a survey conducted by Hipmunk, "72% of increase in traveling by Millennials; 55% Millennials extended the business trip for additional leisure and recreation time. There are 38% Millennials who travel more than Gen X or elderly people. These survey statistics and the trends noticed on the portal Weekly Hotels, it is clear that this year will experience a spike in the number of extended stay travelers than past years."

Among all available lodging options, the extended stay hotels won the race in becoming the most favorite accommodation option for many. This is because of a wide array of amenities offered by the extended stay hotels at affordable and cheap weekly rates. The extended stay hotels provide much more comfort and fun than rental apartments or traditional hotels to these travelers on extended stays. That’s why there was more than a 325% increase in booking of extended stay hotels in the past year. This is a clear sign that the extended stay hotels are more popular among the travelers.

According to the collected user pattern, 8 out of 10 bookings are made using a mobile device, i.e., Smartphone. It means people are using Smartphone and tablet more to book a room or an apartment for their next trip. Furthermore, the ratio of advanced booking than on-the-spot booking has been increased terrifically in the past few years. People like to book themselves and the required facilities well in advance. They are not only booking the rooms, but also book breakfast and other required amenities during their stay. This creates a clear necessity of having a mobile friendly portal for hoteliers.

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Pop-Up private beach in Lorient Bay

LINKED to the legendary service provided at Eden Rock – St Barths the Eden Rock Villa Rental has recently upgraded its villa features to accommodate guests following Hurricane Irma and Eden Rock – St Barths’ temporary closure, scheduled to reopen late 2018. New features include access to the new pop-up private beach in Lorient Bay, featuring a beach menu, and on-beach spa services.

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Nobu Hotels has 5 new openings in 2018

SINCE its inception in 2009, owners Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro and Meir Teper, intended for Nobu Hotels to stir the hospitality industry and change the game.

With seven hotels already open, 2018 is anticipated to be a phenomenal year for Nobu Hotels with five new hotel openings.

Joining the portfolio next year will be Nobu Hotel Marbella, Nobu Hotel Riyadh, Nobu Hotel Los Cabos, Nobu Hotel Chicago and Nobu Hotel Barcelona. Having seen tremendous recent growth spanning five continents, Nobu Hotels will have 15 hotels globally by 2020.

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Top beachfront resort wins TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence

CASA Dorada Los Cabos Resort & Spa, one of Cabo San Lucas top beachfront resorts, has been awarded with the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award. 

The accolade, which honors hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor, and is extended to qualifying businesses worldwide. 

Only the top-performing 10 percent of businesses listed on TripAdvisor receive this prestigious award.

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Picture Credit: Pintrest

Have a seat . . .

PULL up a chair to Canada’s Table . . . on August 27, to celebrate the country’s 150th anniversary, Canada’s world-class food, wine and hospitality will be showcased at a single, 1000-person, open-air table on Wellington Street.

For this once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience, ten top local chefs will partner with ten top chefs from across #Canada to stage a legendary four-course dinner with wine pairings in the shadow of Canada’s iconic Parliament Buildings.

This #Ottawa2017 Signature Event, under the Ignite 150 program, will feature all-Canadian products served to guests seated at a 305-metre long table (1000 feet) with the popular Sound and Light Show as a backdrop.

Canada’s Table is a non-profit event, with many partners donating their time or resources. Proceeds raised from the event will be used to aid local and national food security causes.

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Picture Credit: Maria Eklind 79123642@N04/3254514633 Cooking via photopin

Taj Hotels reveal . . .

TAJNESS—the group’s brand and operations philosophy for the future. For more than a century Taj Hotels has welcomed guests with a signature warmth, a practice of perfection, a culture of generosity and a clear sense of true Indian hospitality. Tajness seeks its inspiration from the nobility of this Indian heritage and blends it with local cultures to deliver an unparalleled experience of sincere care at its 100 hotels around the world.

The Tajness experience at Taj hotels will focus on delivering a consistency in service and providing a taste of Indian tradition mixed with authentic local experiences. Sensorial touchpoints are key to the brand experience and several elements will be consistent across hotels.

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Picture Credit: By Vikramdeep Sidhu from Jhajjar, India - The Taj Hotel Mumbai, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41479892

‘Period of uncertainty ahead’: UK travel industry reacts to Brexit vote

THE UK travel trade’s two main industry bodies – the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and UKinbound – have warned of turbulent times ahead following the country’s decision to #leave the European Union.

In the immediate aftermath of the #referendum vote, UKinbound CEO Deirdre Wells warned of ‘far-reaching consequences’ for its 370 business members.

‘UKinbound feels the decision to leave the #EU is disappointing,’ she said. ‘However, we have proved time and again that we are a resilient industry and the government must now work hard to secure a deal which supports our vibrant industry, which relies on the European Union for two-thirds of its business. The priority must now be to ensure that our members have the best possible environment in which to grow their business and to support them in welcoming visitors from all corners of the globe.’

ABTA said while the UK trade was entering a ‘period of uncertainty’, in regulatory terms there will not be any immediate changes.

‘Once the UK formally notifies the EU of its intention to leave, the remaining member states will have up to two years to offer the UK a deal for a future trading relationship. This period can also be extended if all parties agree. Until this process is resolved, everything will remain as it is now.’

ABTA reiterated that its role was to help keep the industry informed, to help the public to remain confident in travelling, and to help the government to understand and prioritize those matters that are important to ‘our members and our industry’.

‘ABTA will be working proactively with the government to raise awareness of the priorities for travel businesses, and UK travellers, as they negotiate a future trading relationship. We started this process some months ago, with a programme of engagement with ‘leave’ campaigners in Westminster, and we have prepared a detailed list of policy and regulatory priorities that we will be discussing with leading policymakers in the coming weeks. It will also be important to ensure that the industry’s domestic agenda is not neglected, and ABTA will continue to press for action on airport capacity, ATOL reform, which remains relevant whatever the future of the EU’s Package Travel Directive, and Air Passenger Duty.’

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UK hospitality industry split over Brexit

A SURVEY of operators in the UK hospitality industry has found that 49% plan to vote leave in Thursday’s EU Referendum, while 43% plan to vote remain and 7% are still undecided. 

The survey by RPBi, the hospitality data specialist, found that the majority of recipients – whether voting to leave or to remain – believe a leave vote would have a ‘negative impact on the economy’.

The B2B survey received 1,915 responses from operators across all sectors of the hospitality industry. The aim: To determine the industry’s thoughts on the EU Referendum and the impact on recruitment and investment in the UK hospitality industry in the event of a leave vote.

Respondents taking part in the survey were asked the official referendum question: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?”

Hospitality professionals in Wales were most in favour of voting to leave (64%), whilst those in London are the most likely to vote remain with 62.5%. Furthermore, the figures suggest that there will be more operators in Scotland voting to remain than leave; in all other regions, a higher percentage of hospitality professionals intend to vote leave. B&Bs and caterers are more likely to vote leave, with restaurants, hotels, and head offices more likely to vote remain.

Respondents, which included business owners and decision-makers, were also asked: “If the UK votes to leave the European Union, do you think it will be easier to recruit staff?” The majority thought there would be no impact (51%), with 34% stating it would be harder to recruit, 7% said it would be easier, to recruit and 8.5% said they “don’t know”.

Commenting on the results of the survey, Keith Britten, director of RPBi, said: ‘The results of the survey mirror recent national opinion polls. Surprisingly, for the hospitality industry, the majority of respondents said that there would be no impact on recruitment in the event of a leave vote; with only a third saying it would be harder to recruit.’

Further findings suggest that the older the respondent, the more likely they would be to vote leave – more than 50% of those over 55 intend to vote leave, as opposed to 26% for 25-34 year olds. Also, men are more likely to vote leave than women (50% vs 46%).

When asked “If the UK votes to leave the European Union, what do you think the impact will be on investment into the UK’s hospitality industry?”, more than a third of recipients said there would be “no impact” (38%), while 36% thought there would be reduced investment. In all, 13.5% stated there would be increased investment, and 12% said they “don’t know”.

Mr Britten concluded: ‘After analyzing the comments and survey results, the one key fact that stands out is that whichever way people decide to vote, the majority believe that a leave vote would have a negative impact on the economy. However, those voting to leave suggest that the negative impact will be short-lived and the benefits will be reaped in the long-term.”

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Saudi tourism to boom – forecast

SAUDI ARABIA’S in-bound tourism numbers could increase by 43% by 2020, according to research done for Deloitte. The number of international trips made to #SaudiArabia is estimated to increase from 18 million in 2015 to 25.8 million in 2020. 

Says Grant Salter, head of Travel, Hospitality and Leisure Advisory (Middle East) at Deloitte: ‘The kingdom already sees strong #tourism figures and hotel occupancy rates have historically been relatively high. There are more than 49,000 new hotel rooms under construction or in final planning across the country to meet the demands of this significant increase in tourists. We believe that with the improvements to the hospitality and leisure offering throughout the kingdom, there is a good chance that the projected increases will be met, if not exceeded.’

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Hands off staff tips, UK government tells restaurants

RESTAURANTS in Britain could be stopped from adding a ‘discretionary’ service charge to bills under government plans to remind consumers that they do not have to tip when eating out, the Daily Telegraph reports. 

Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, has launched a consultation on tipping amid concerns that restaurants are confusing customers by not being transparent about the charges and who actually gets the tips left by diners.

One option under consideration is to prevent restaurants ‘from suggesting any specific discretionary payments’, to make it an ‘opt-in decision’ for customers. Many restaurants add a 10 or 15 percent service charge to their bills. Ministers are concerned that this often leads to double tipping because customers do not notice that they have already paid a service charge before leaving cash for their waiter.

Card machines also often ask customers if they would like to leave an extra tip even if a service charge has been added to the bill.

Under the proposals in the consultation, restaurants could be forced to make it clear that customers do not have to pay the discretionary service charge. But one plan being considered is abolishing the service charge entirely.

Mr Javid’s consultation says: ‘The alternative would be to prevent businesses from suggesting any specific discretionary payments for service, e.g. 5, 10, 15 percent. In other words, there would be no mention on the consumer’s bill of a suggested specific amount for a discretionary payment for service, other than that a discretionary service has not been added.

‘The consumer may still decide to leave a discretionary payment for service without any prompt of a specific amount from the employer. Under this option, discretionary payments for service would become an opt-indecision for a better informed consumer, who would hold complete discretion towards making any such payment.’

As part of the government’s plans, restaurants would be forced by law to give tips paid by customers to their staff. The government will force restaurants to say on bills exactly where tips go following concerns that employers were keeping the money themselves.

Research has found that one-in-five restaurants did not pass tips to their staff.

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BHA has ‘high expectations’ of newly-elected politicians

THE BRITISH HOSPITALITY ASSOCIATION (BHA) is to start work immediately with the newly-elected politicians in Scotland and Wales to help the industry continue its growth.

Willie Macleod, executive director of BHA Scotland, said: ‘The BHA in Scotland looks forward to working with the new Scottish government. It is heartening to note the importance to the Scottish economy which the government attaches to tourism.

‘Hospitality directly employs 256,000 people in Scotland – an increase of 15% since 2010 – supports a further 153,000 jobs in the supply chain, and contributes £4.6 billion. BHA Scotland has high expectations of the new government in providing support to the industry to achieve greater growth, improved productivity, and enhanced skills, particularly for young people.’

He also highlighted issues which are important to the BHA, such as Air Passenger Duty, VAT on tourism services, the Living Wage, and the funding of local destination management and marketing organizations.

David Chapman, BHA Wales executive director, added: ‘The BHA in Wales looks forward to working with the new Welsh government and new Welsh Assembly members to further develop and extend the already strong relationship that we have built with them in the previous term. This relationship has been based on a widening recognition of hospitality’s crucial role as a powerhouse within the Welsh economy, accounting for more than 135,000 jobs and providing considerable support for the rural, coastal, and urban communities in every part of Wales.’

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BHA calls for tipping transparency

RESTAURANTS and hotels should be legally required to tell customers how service charges and tips are distributed among staff. That’s the message from the British Hospitality Association (BHA) in a new initiative proposed to the UK government’s business secretary, Sajid Javid.

The BHA – which represents 40,000 hospitality establishments – wants the government to introduce legislation to make businesses reveal what happens to the ‘extras’ customers pay at the end of a meal.

‘For us, it’s all about transparency,’ said Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the BHA, which has outlined the proposal in a letter to the business secretary. ‘Although restaurants are legally entitled to deduct administration costs from service charges, for example, we think it’s important that customers understand exactly how much is deducted and why. Customers should be able to reward good service and know where their money ends up and how much of it goes to the staff.’

Many restaurants and hotels have signed up to the association’s voluntary code of transparency on tips and service charges. But now the BHA wants to make it a legal requirement.

It has been illegal for some years for restaurant owners to use tips and service charges to bring wages up to the national minimum wage. Service charges usually goes into a pool, which is distributed among waiters, front of house, and the kitchen team – allocated according to arrangements agreed by the staff.

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29108968@N06/6092858399">Money</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license)

Hospitality body wants tax cut from new UK government

THE UK’s new government should cut tourism Value Added Tax (VAT) to 5%, according to the British Hospitality Association.

Said chief executive Ufi Ibrahim: ‘Our top agenda item for the Prime Minister and the Chancellor is to cut tourism VAT to 5%, which could massively boost jobs, bring billions of new revenue to the Treasury, and directly improve the livelihoods of people in struggling communities across the UK.

‘Let's hope consumers are the winners in the final result, and can look forward to the benefits of an increasingly healthy economy.’

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