Leisure and Hospitality – where are we now?
Sarah Healey Pearce, Business Advisory Director looks at the current state of the leisure and hospitality sector.
After the issues caused by Covid since March 2020, you would have thought that the hospitality and leisure industry would have been able to finally put the worst behind them and looked forward to a brighter future, but as we are all to aware, the last few months have seen further challenges to our sector.
I ssues such as labour shortages, the rising cost of key ingredients and other costs and travel chaos have continued to plague the industry, with recent worries for consumers over the rising cost of living becoming more real and potentially impacting demand in what should be the busiest season of the year.
However, I think there are a number of reasons for UK hospitality businesses to feel hopeful.
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Travel issues aside, Visit Britain is predicting that international tourism to the UK will increase to 59% of pre Covid levels and this trajectory will continue into next year. Whilst consumer spending in the tourism, leisure and hospitality industries is discretionary and will come under pressure with rising cost of living, some businesses may well see turnover increase - particularly cafes, pubs and restaurants which are seen as “treats” and a relatively cheap way to relax.
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Whilst there was an initial flurry of activity as people headed to foreign shores as countries started to open up, the news last week was full of flights being cancelled due to staff shortages. It is likely that this will mean that some families choose to stay in the UK again this year rather than risk being stranded at an airport. Whilst this piece of news is by no means something to be optimistic about, especially for tour operators and other related businesses, it is hopefully only a short-term issue. It also means that the staycation may once again be popular, boosting our local economy as East Anglia remains one of the most popular tourist destination in the UK.
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8 | SCRUTTON BLAND | LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY
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