hotels Gulliver’s to build new £4m hotel PETE Hayman


Gulliver’s Teme Parks is to commence construction work on a new £4m hotel at its Warrington location – part of a five-year expansion plan. It is anticipated that the


DRJ-designed property will create 30 construction jobs and a further 55 roles when it opens in late 2011. Gulliver’s has confirmed


that a footpath has been closed for the duration of the construction phase, although it plans to reopen a section upon completion. Julie Dalton, the attraction chain’s managing


An artist’s impression of the new property being developed by Gulliver’s “As more and more families opt for


director, said: “Our Milton Keynes site success- fully moved into the short-stay market with the opening of our campsite last year, so we’re excited to be able to offer tourists from the North West and beyond the option to enjoy a great value short break with us too.


UK-based holidays and short breaks Gulliver’s is well-placed to offer a great value and fun- packed solution.” Gulliver’s operates three attractions at


its Warrington location, along with sites in Matlock Bath and Milton Keynes.


Dylan Thomas hotel plans receive £230,000 PETE Hayman


A hotel synonymous with poet Dylan Tomas – Browns Hotel in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire – is to be given a new lease of life. Te £230,000 Welsh Assembly Government grant will help owner Nigel Short transform


T


the Grade II-listed property into a 15-room boutique hotel, with a further £62,500 con- tribution from Cadw. Work is due to start on the scheme next


month, with the new-look hotel scheduled to open its doors in Easter 2012.


Hotel groups report strong trading in 2010 PETE Hayman


InterContinental Hotels Group chief execut ive Andrew Cosslett has wel- comed an ‘excellent year’ for the company, aſter it saw global RevPAR increase by 6 per cent during 2010. In its preliminary results


for the full year ending 31 December, the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn owner also saw a 22 per cent growth in operating profit compared with the previous year. Cosslett said: “Aſter a slow


start to the year, the industry staged the sharpest recovery in its history, exceeding all expectations.” Meanwhile, Millennium and Copthorne


© CYBERTREK 2011 InterContinental Hotels Group saw global RevPAR grow by 6 per cent Te group said changes at operating level


reported a 47 per cent increase in pre-tax prof- its for the year ending 31 December.


had helped boost trading for the year, with total revenue up by 10 per cent and RevPAR growing by 14 per cent compared with 2009.


Twitter: @leisureopps


LEPs must recognise tourism’s crucial role


ufi ibrahim is chief executive officer of British Hospitality Association


he government is about to publish its long-awaited tourism strategy – too late to comment on in this column, but the industry should


certainly welcome its publication. One thing, however, is clear – there will


no extra funding for overseas promotion, so VisitBritain’s recent decision is certainly right to focus on certain key overseas mar- kets rather than spreading its funds too thinly over the entire globe. Te need to re-focus its priorities became clear once a 34 per cent cut in funding was announced. Such a large reduction meant drastic action and some tough decisions were necessary. One of these was to decide that the cor-


porate market - worth more than £3.6bn in overseas revenue – is not to be a priority. Tis market is significant and many hotels in major cities rely on overseas business travel, as well as corporate meetings and events, so it’s unfortunate that resources don’t spread to this sector. Te cuts in VisitBritain funding only highlight the importance of the sub- mission by VisitEngland for funding from Lord Heseltine’s Regional Growth Fund. Tis funding application will certainly be of critical importance to the future success of English domestic tourism. With a soundly financed, part match-


funded programme, VisitEngland can really develop a three-year marketing campaign with local partners to encourage more people to holiday at home. If the bid isn’t successful, the opportunity to boost domes- tic tourism will be lost. Tose local partners include Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and the Destination Management Organisations which are so important to domestic tourism promotion. Without their support, tourism in the regions will suffer. LEPs must recognise that tourism is one of the country’s main economic drivers and it needs to be encouraged. But what funds do they have? Who is influencing them? Te local hospitality industry must get


behind its LEP to ensure tourism is not forgotten. LEPs must also bring pressure to bear on national issues. Instead of erect- ing barriers to tourism growth, we must be working to remove them.


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