Best Western boss urges PM to holiday in flood-hit Yorkshire

Chief executive of Best Western, Rob Payne, has invited Prime Minister David Cameron and George Osborne to holiday in Yorkshire to help boost trade following the recent floods.

The flood struck parts of Yorkshire, including York, over the Christmas and New Year period and has badly affected independent businesses in the county.

Occupancy in Best Western’s York hotels was down 12.6% for the period covering 27 December to 31 January and revenue was down 11.5% – equating to a loss of £947,115.

This combined with cancellation of forward bookings means the financial impact of the flood has cost Best Western hotels in York more than £1m alone, without taking into account lost revenue from other hospitality businesses such as visitor attractions and restaurants, Best Western said.

Payne said: “The hospitality industry needs more support from the government. Mr Cameron frequently takes advantage of lower Tourism VAT rates in Portugal and Spain every time he holidays there, but he won’t cut Tourism VAT in Britain to allow us to compete with those destinations.

“£1m loss in a month is a lot to recover, so I’d like to invite Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne to lead by example and to commit to holidaying in the north of England this year too, helping those people, places and businesses that badly need support.

“Best Western hotels would be happy to host them, we have over 60 [properties] in the north of England and an award-winning call centre in York waiting to take their call.”

A funding package announced by David Cameron last week for Cumbria was called “totally inadequate” by the leader of Cumbria County Council. The funding included £2m for repairing infrastructure and a £1m media campaign to encourage British staycations.

Martin Couchman, the British Hospitality Association’s deputy CEO, said the funding was “rather insufficient” when compared with the £500m estimated damage to Cumbria’s infrastructure.