The Hotel Confidence Report produced by hospitality insurer NFU Mutual and the British Hospitality Association (BHA) has shown a cautiously optimistic picture for the future of the hotel industry.
The report found that 81% of hotel businesses sampled expected to maintain or increase investment levels to mid-2020 led by property refurbishment and expansion (69%), technology (53%), marketing (53%) and staff training (47%).
However, less than half of businesses stated that they train staff in cyber security (46%) and only 1% stated that they had taken cyber insurance, which could cover against financial losses and fines, provide access to IT experts to protect and rescue data and public relations experts to protect reputation.
Data security emerged as important to consumers as almost half (48%) of 18-24 year olds said that payment and data security was an important technology consideration when choosing a hotel to stay at, compared with 37% overall. While 59% of people have never considered what data hotels might take and how it might be stored.
The Hotel Confidence Report, reveals the views of over 2,000 general consumers and 141 businesses in the hospitality industry.
Overall, consumers expect to spend more time in hotels in 2018, with 18% looking to increase their number of stays and 24% expect to increase their actual spend.
Ufi Ibrahim, BHA chief executive, said: “The hospitality industry has a hard fight ahead. As Brexit deadlines fast approach with no deals on trade or immigration in sight, there remains a great deal of uncertainty for the industry.
“Nevertheless, we are determined and resilient. The hospitality and tourism industry contributes £141bn to the UK economy each year and employs more than 3.6m people. We are the fastest growing sector since the 2008 downturn and have become the fourth biggest industry in the UK as a whole. As this report demonstrates, our sector is expected to continue growing in spite of punishing commercial conditions.”
