Bangkok--5 Feb--eTurboNews
Chairman of VisitBritain, Christopher Rodrigues, has warned Britain's tourism industry to brace itself for more than 50,000 job losses in the industry forced by "stay away" tourists as a result of the economic downturn.
Britain's hospitality industry is further bracing for a loss of ?4 billion (US$5.7 billion) from earnings in hotels and restaurants, according to the venerable worldwide industry magazine HOTELS.
Despite receiving 32 million visitors and bringing in an estimated ?114 billion (US$163.8 billion) into the economy last year, Rodrigues says, Britain as a holiday destination still projects the image of an over-priced, over-rated holiday destination. "It's expensive, and the people are as cold as its weather."
In a research undertaken by VisitBritain, the British tourism industry still lacks the "service with a smile" and courtesy "found in the Mediterranean, the US and the Far East."
His remarks came following similar criticisms made last year by Margaret Hodge, former UK tourism minister, who said UK hotels are not only expensive but offer "poor" quality, citing reused soaps, threadbare towels and poor amenities as examples of Britain's "poor service.”