13th December 2021

Amid Brexit, covid and staycation …

Brexit is done now, but its effects, both positive and otherwise, are unfolding. Covid we thought was diminishing until the omicron variant surfaced. Amid all these Christmas is around the corner. Did I hear somebody say – it is here! For people in the hospitality sector particularly hotel, restaurant and pub/bar – it’s time for Christmas and end-of-year parties. Even with the ongoing palaver business is somewhat anticipated to boom and it will be time for yield management at its finest.

Christmas and end-of-year parties have always been a cash cow for the industry. In 2019, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in a study recorded that 71% of businesses held a Christmas party for staff in hospitality venues such as pub, bar, restaurant (within hotel or independent) and related establishments. This figure however drastically dropped to 19% in a similar study in 2020 as a result of the pandemic and consequent restrictions imposed to mitigate health hazards.

The developed nature of many popular British cities as established destination turned inability of people to travel overseas partly because of covid on the one hand and the aftermath of Brexit on the other hand to a bumper harvest of staycation. Established destinations such as Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, and chief among them London have been cashing-in on people taking short breaks within the UK. With university and football cities like Liverpool inner city hotels are enjoying high occupancy during weekend, which traditionally is a low season for inner city hotels. Even hotel and accommodation establishments 10 miles radius of many British cities are not excluded from this bumper harvest.

I recently visited one of the big cities. Booking hotel accommodation was like squeezing water out of a pebble in the summer. I ended up securing a room in a hotel 8 miles away from the city centre. At least the consolation was that my hotel buff wife was happy that it was a hotel with character and ‘classy’. The car park of the hotel gave us the evidence that we were lucky as we struggled to park at the overflow. Getting into the hotel was further evidence that business is booming as the function and public areas of the hotel were bubbling with activities.

Hotel with character and ‘classy’ denotes delivering quality. Quality of service is an area that has generated a lot of debate and has been in the fore of hospitality operations. No doubt we in this part of the world are very good with efficiency but score low in the way we deliver efficiency. These two aspects of service delivery Gronroos termed technical and functional quality. With the recent experience it does look like the industry is even slipping in the area of efficiency. A popular saying is – breakfast is the easiest the hotel can get right. But alas! Not when a hotel cannot ‘deliver’ an omelette successfully. Or does ‘crumbling down’ on the carpet.

Shortage of skilled staff has been a persistent issue in the industry, and it has been made more severe by Brexit and covid. I always watch in ‘horror’ when people dip their fingers in clearing glasses albeit ‘used’ – it is absolutely unprofessional. People from other climes will struggle to understand our standard. As a scholar and professional I have listened to debates about technical and functional quality both in my class and in public fora to know what people from across the border think; and I am sure this is not surprising to professionals in the industry because they would have heard the same.

The good thing is that the domestic market is vibrant, and the international market will follow suit in due course. To continue to enjoy the harvest and deliver quality new strategies should be put in place to make the industry more attractive and professional. Hotel and associated organisations should be focusing on specific, strong areas of development e.g. recruitment of unemployed youth which will necessitate training as many of them may not have been in education/training. This sort of recruitment can be through apprentice scheme. The industry should be investing in people that will make career out of the industry rather than those that make it a steppingstone. There should be a shift in orientation from the low-cost labour industry which is the order of the day. Timetabling (rota) should be modernised by jettisoning the traditional system that promote unequitable, unsocial hour schedule.  Also, there is need for close relationship between the industry and education providers of tourism, hospitality and event management.  

By Ade Oriade, Senior Lecturer in Hospitality and Tourism, University of Wolverhampton Business School.