UK: In a survey conducted by Apart Hospitality, independent hotel owners cited consumer confidence and sales as the top priority for business in the next six to 12 months.
At the time of the survey, 87 per cent of respondents were open for business to the general public.
Consumer confidence and sales (40 per cent) ranked the top issue for business within the next six to 12 months, followed by cash flow (33 per cent).
Dealing with legislation and guidelines on COVID-19, staffing issues, banking support and operations were all cited as equally important at six per cent.
When asked what areas of the business need most attention in the next six months, 37 per cent cited sales activity, followed by financial management (31 per cent) and business restructuring (18 per cent).
The restructuring measure was lower than expected when factoring in the feedback of one-third being concerned about cash flows and financial management.
57 per cent however stated they were confident that the business will be profitable or at least break even during Q4 of 2020.
Apart Hospitality launched last week by Tim Penter and Paul Abson will be undertaking regular surveys aimed at supporting independent hotel owners.
Penter has over 30 years of experience in the UK hotel sector working across all areas of operations and finance. He said: “Having operated in the independent sector for many years I believe there is a requirement for support and advice that not only aids owners but enables them to be involved and reap all of the benefits. Our industry is becoming ever more complex and faces multiple challenges and dealing with those challenges without external support is becoming increasingly difficult. We are able to offer the right support, packaged in a cost-effective way.”
Abson has over 20 years of hotel management, asset management, financial, sales and marketing experience. He added: “After several years of working alongside independent owners I’m delighted that we are able to provide hotel owners with this unique service and most importantly, at fair value. My experience from the last seven years of putting together sales, marketing and revenue management services will enable us to drive revenues for our hoteliers, whilst our financial management expertise ensures attention to profit is one of our key deliverables.”
Further information on Apart Hospitality can be found here.
