Briefing: Hospitality is a valuable job creator

Travel & Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries and offers many fantastic opportunities for a great career. According to figures from WTTC the industry supports 277 million jobs and generates 9.8 per cent of world GDP. In the UK hospitality currently has a 3 million strong workforce and, in the run up to the general election, is being recognised as a key contributor to the UK economy.

In this briefing four experts discuss hospitality careers and share why they fell in love with the industry:

Key political parties in the UK have mentioned hospitality and tourism in their election manifesto’s, with each pledging to support the sector through various means. The recognition for this suburb industry has been welcomed by the British Hospitality Association, an organisation which campaigns for jobs and growth in the industry. The organisation is campaigning for 60,000 new job opportunities for young people in the UK by 2016 and has recently reached the 40,000 milestone. A report from the TourismAlliance, UK Tourism Statistics 2014, states that, ‘Tourism is the fastest growing sector in the UK in employment terms, responsible for almost one third of the net increase in UK jobs between 2010 and 2013.’

According to UNWTO one job in tourism generates 1.5 jobs elsewhere. UNWTOs publication Measuring Employment in the Tourism Industries says; ‘International tourism continues to exceed expectations, supporting economic growth in both advanced and emerging economies and bringing much needed support to job creation, GDP and the balance of payments of many destinations.’

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Video clips produced by yBC for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: UK and Europe expect growth in 2015

A new forecast from PwC suggests that in 2015 the UK could see a 1.6% increase in hotel occupancy (to 78%), a 5.6% gain in RevPAR, and a stabilisation of GDP growth to 2.5%. In wider Europe, 17 out of the 20 cities in PwC’s European Cities Hotel Forecast 2015 and 2016 are expected to enjoy RevPAR growth close to or in excess of 2%.

According to the UK Hotels Forecast 2015 the number of hotel rooms in London will increase 5.3% in 2015, and with the current UK housing shortfall, hospitality is not the only market set for development. The UK real estate market in general has a positive outlook, as reported in the FT advisor, having seen 19.3% returns in 2014, the best since 1988.

In these videos four experts discuss the hospitality and real estate markets in the UK:

In Europe; Dublin, Madrid and London are set to have the highest RevPAR growth at 8.8%, 5.6% and 4.6% respectively. However no significant new supply is expected in Dublin in 2015. Room supply in London stood at 135,000 in 2014 and 7,200 more rooms are expected this year. The London Olympics in 2012 encouraged tourism to the capital city. In 2015 PwC predict that the Rugby World Cup will once again drive demand up in the UK. The forecast also predicts that UK regional rooms supply will increase by 1.7% in 2015, adding 9,000 rooms to the 2014 total of 464,200.

Hoteliers in the UK are recognising this positivity and feeling confident, according to the Hotelier Confidence Index from TripAdvisor. 77% of hoteliers are optimistic about profitability and 48% expect room rates to increase. According to the report UK hoteliers’ highest investment priorities are small scale renovations and online reputation management.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by yBC for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Serviced apartment sector is mature and growing

A new report from Travel Intelligence Network (TIN) shows that there has been a 14% growth in the serviced apartment supply chain globally since last year. The report, commissioned by The Apartment Service, found that there are almost 750,000 serviced apartments worldwide. It shows that serviced apartments are increasingly used by businesses for project work. And, like the rest of the hospitality industry, this sector has not gone unaffected by changes in distribution with 75% of operators receiving bookings from OTAs.

As serviced apartments gain prominence in the hospitality industry, four experts discuss the unique benefits and challenges of business and investment in the sector:

According to The Apartment Service: ‘The report highlights that the serviced apartment industry has reached a level of maturity that is showing future growth of supply.’ Deals are being done across the industry. At the end of 2014 there were approximately 1.700 units in the development pipeline in London according to the UK Serviced Apartment Report – Q4 2014 by Savills. There is also strong industry growth in Scotland with RevPAA up 16.2% year on year.

A recent merger between SACO and Oaktree Capital Management, announced on the 2nd March 2015, has resulted in the formation of a £60m hospitality company. The combined company has an inventory of 1645 apartments and is launching a new brand – Beyonder ApartHotels, which will focus on millennial travellers and will open its first ApartHotel in December 2015.

Frasers Hospitality announced the development of a new property in Hamburg recently (20th March 2015) which is the 50th city the company has entered.

Dublin based serviced apartment company StayCity has 1000 apartments across Europe and is due to open properties in Birmingham, Lyon and London in 2015.

And an industry leader BridgeStreet Global Hospitality, which rebranded last year, is going strong with 50,000 apartments in 60 countries and a collection of awards.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by yBC for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

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