I would imagine that all of us involved in the hospitality and UK tourist industry are really looking forward to Saturday. We sincerely hope that most establishments will be re-opening and the pandemic has not hit them so hard that opening has become impossible.

Since March we have been told by government that we must ‘Protect the NHS’. The only way the NHS is to be protected is for there to be a consistent and continual investment. That investment can only come from taxes generated by the rest of us. By spending money in this country we will all have the opportunity of paying VAT into the Exchequer and the NHS will subsequently benefit. With this in mind it is disappointing to see and hear the BBC spending so much of its news time almost blatantly promoting overseas holidays.

A travel writer from the Independent enjoys a very privileged position by appearing regularly on the BBC. After stating ‘Well I’m sure the viewers are interested to know when they can go on holiday’ he proceeds to reel off all the overseas destinations, when they are available and completely ignores
the fact hospitality and tourism re-commences in the UK this Saturday July 4 th .

A couple of weeks ago the news broke that Shearings Holidays and National Holidays were closing. In addition to providing coach travel to many of our popular UK holiday destinations National Holidays owned over 40 hotels. What will happen to all those employees? There was hardly a mention on the BBC news and yet last week a lady seemingly representing Spanish tourism was given many minutes air time asking us to ‘think about the chap who owns a taverna on the Costas’.

I personally think we should be thinking about those hotel employees in the UK that are having their livelihoods put at risk.

July is the month where I normally receive my invoice for the Hotel TV licence. I pay for 25 TV’s. I must admit I am seriously questioning if I am receiving value for money from the BBC. This is not a blog about promoting the Portland Hotel, Buxton. It’s about asking everyone to make an effort to support UK jobs by booking weekends away, holidays and short breaks in this country over the next few months.

Money spent in this country will protect jobs, generate taxes and protect the NHS.

Good luck to everyone in the hospitality and tourism industry this weekend. In particular all those in Leicester. We sincerely hope that you will be able to get your businesses up and running as soon as possible.