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The UK government has signalled its intention to deliver a “landmark sector deal” for the UK tourism industry to attract more domestic and overseas visitors, helping to drive “major economic growth”.
Speaking to the Tourism Industry Council, made up of leading members of the tourism industry and government, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport Jeremy Wright confirmed the government will begin negotiations with the sector on an “ambitious” Industrial Strategy sector deal that will “benefit the whole country”.
The sector has been asked to look at the key themes of:
- Making tourism and hospitality a career for life
- Making the UK the most accessible tourism industry in the world
- Sharing industry data to identify growth opportunities in new and emerging markets
- Increasing accommodation capacity
UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls said “we are delighted that a sector deal has been agreed in principle”, and added that securing a sector deal for hospitality has been a priority for UKHospitality and the group has “worked very hard to achieve it”.
Nicholls said: “A supportive sector deal will provide us with incredibly useful support to enhance the skills and training that hospitality already provides. As a sector, we are a fantastic employer and proud of the work we do to develop young employees, but a sector deal will enable us to achieve even more.
“UKHospitality is committed to enhancing the development and training on offer across hospitality, the roll out of high-quality apprenticeship schemes and on-the-job training. Additional support from Westminster will allow the sector to capitalise on such schemes and augment the training we provide.”
