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Four-star Radisson Edwardian hotel in Guildford, launched in September 2011

Room to grow – hotel expansion continues

A new report from the British Hospitality Association (BHA) suggests that the UK hotel industry is continuing to expand.

More than 100 hotels opened in the UK in 2011, adding around 11,800 rooms to the country’s hotel stock. The BHA expects another 170 hotels to open next year.

Despite these encouraging statistics, the picture isn’t all rosy: this time last year the organisation predicted that 18,838 rooms would open in 2011 – around 7,000 more than the actual figure.

The report states: “This year’s actual total suggests the scale of the difficulties in fund-raising as well as in planning problems and developers going into administration.

“However, only some of these projects have been lost; our forecast for 2012 – 21,500 – includes many of the projects postponed from 2011, with some even moving to 2013.”

Ufi Ibrahim, BHA’s Chief Executive, says that the key to the industry’s future is removing some of the barriers to growth, such as the high rate in the UK of VAT on hotel accommodation, attractions and restaurant meals compared with other EU member states.

“This is making the UK uncompetitive with much of Europe,” says Ufi. “The BHA is the only organisation leading discussions on this with the Government and we believe they will bear fruit in the long term.

“Certainly, only through reasoned argument and discussion will the industry’s case be considered.”

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