UKHospitality and the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) have said the agreement in principle of a sector deal for tourism is a “cause for celebration” for the hospitality industry and its workforce. The government has signalled its intent to deliver a landmark sector deal for the UK tourism industry to attract more visitors and help drive economic growth.
The deal will focus on ensuring tourism and hospitality is a career for life, keeping the UK as the most accessible tourism industry in the world, sharing data and increasing accommodation capacity.
UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “The tourism and hospitality sectors are closely linked with more than 80% of tourism jobs within hospitality so this will have a positive impact on our ability to recruit and retain the workforce we need. A supportive sector deal will provide us with incredibly useful support to enhance the skills and training hospitality already provides. As a sector we are a fantastic employer and proud of the work we do to develop young employees but a sector deal will enable us to achieve even more. The positive work we do and the future initiatives we wish to undertake with the help of the sector deal does, however, rely on the industry being able to access sufficient labour at a time when we have virtual full employment, and any future immigration policy will need to reflect that.”
BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds added: “This is a great vote of confidence from the government in our sector. Pubs are third on the list of things to do for overseas visitors to the UK – seven out of ten visit a pub while they are here.”
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