The Prime Minister, David Cameron, once famously told his party conference that we should ‘let sunshine rule the day’. Now he wants to let people at home and abroad know that British sunshine does indeed rule the day – or at least more than we might have thought – and that the UK is in fact a jolly nice place to take a holiday. Good news indeed for those in hospitality jobs
This is more than national pride speaking - it's a hardnosed attempt to boost the country’s fifth largest industry, creating 50,000 new jobs over the next four years.
The Government’s review of the UK’s tourism strategy comes at a positive time for the sector. Although the general economy is going through a difficult patch, favourable exchange rates are making the UK a cheap destination for people from abroad. And with the Queen’s Jubilee and the Olympics all around the corner, there’s no better chance to capitalise on the extra influx of visitors.
However, the Government doesn’t just want to have a bumper 2012. With a £100m marketing fund to promote the UK as sunny, welcoming and diverse holiday destination, it plans to build on the legacy of 2011-2012, and cement hospitality as a mainstay of our economy with long-term prospects to those who work in the hospitality jobs.
But the proposal that could really shake up the sector is the idea of moving the bank holiday at the start of May to October. Celebrating a ‘Trafalgar Day’ in October would cut the gap in bank holidays between the last weekend in August and Christmas Day, lengthening the peak tourist season through to the late autumn.
The Government also wants to send out a strong message that London isn’t all the UK has to offer. This approach will be supported by reviewing how local and regional tourism bodies operate, as well as major infrastructure projects – including High Speed 2 (the proposed high-speed railway from London to the North).
So, what does this mean if those looking for jobs in hospitality?
Well, with the goal of attracting four million more tourists over the next four years to destinations across the UK, it is clear that job creation — at every skill level - is going to be central to the strategy’s success.
And new job opportunities won’t just come from the ‘traditional’ hospitality roles – for example, web designers and app developers will be needed to help create products for tourists navigating their way round destinations and attractions in the UK.
But for the Government, it’s not just about quantity, it’s about quality too. It wants to tackle the sometimes ‘snobbish’ view of job opportunities in the tourism and hospitality industry and establish more professional, structured career paths. By building on the work of organisations such as People 1st and the National Skills Academy for Hospitality, it will support further apprenticeships and greater access to courses to help improve basic and managerial skills. The sector already has form in this area — it has the highest expenditure on hospitality training per employee out of any sector in the economy.
The extra visitors the Government wants to entice to the UK could mean an extra £2bn for the economy. And in difficult economic times, it plans to do everything possible to make sure nothing rains on our parade.
Job searches:
- Search for hotel jobs
- Search for restaurant jobs
- Search for bar jobs
- Search for pub jobs
- Search for catering jobs
- Search for chef jobs
- Search for hospitality jobs
