Although many UK sectors appear to be feeling the bite of the recession, businesses making up the UK hospitality industry battled through an economical meltdown to post growth in late 2011.
In figures cited by bighospitality.co.uk, the industry managed to post a GDP increase of 0.4 per cent between October – December of last year. Although this figure doesn’t seem much on paper, it’s worth considering the amount of sectors that lost vast amounts of money during this same period.
The rate shows an improvement on the 0.3 per cent growth seen in Q3 of 2011 and due to the amount of holidaymakers expected to be taking a break this summer, Isle of Wight hotels, London restaurants and the thousands of UK pubs should be awaiting the next set of readings with anticipation.
Commenting on the figures, a spokesperson from the British Hospitality Association (BHA) said that the tail-end of 2011 was tough for most industries, but the constant demand for holidays and meals out has guided hospitality businesses through the rough patch.
“The GDP figures show that the hospitality industry is surviving the recession through quick action and quite a bit of determination,” they said. “It continues to be very tough, but there have been very few job losses overall (probably some job gains) and people still want to eat out and go away for a break.”
To build on this positive outlook, the BHA has also urged the coalition to introduce certain measures in an attempt to boost further growth. According to caterer.com, the association is proposing a cut in airport volumes and a reduction of VAT for businesses in the sector.