Consultation launched to combat city and town centre slump

After the Vaccine - Saving the UK’s Town and City Centres Post COVID-19 will carry out a ‘holistic review of the future of hospitality and tourism businesses in town and city centres across the UK’ and is seeking responses from operators and other stakeholders. 

The consultation will tackle a diverse range of issues including business operation, business taxation and how to rebuild these vital sectors in a green and sustainable way.

The All Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism is seeking contributions from businesses, trade associations, DMOs, think-tanks and other relevant bodies. 

Over the last year, as a result of the pandemic, Britain has witnessed a hollowing out of city and town centres across the UK, accelerating trends that have been challenging high street businesses for years. 

Before the pandemic, town and city centres accounted for around 60% of the country’s economic output and more than half of the population.

Due to restrictions on socialising, travelling and the ‘work from home’ order, central areas have become deserted and high streets shuttered over the course of the last year with hospitality and tourism businesses feeling the brunt of this impact.

Oral evidence sessions began last week, with ‘significant engagement from Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum’.

The final report aims to set out the support that hospitality and tourism businesses in town and city centres need in the short term, along with a series of recommendations for Government on how to maximise the potential of these sectors by creating a positive trading environment.

“It is clear that a great deal of hard work is needed to rebuild the economy post-COVID. Rather than being an insurmountable challenge, it gives us an opportunity to rebuild a better, greener system that works for the country, says chair of All Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism Steve Double MP. 

Prior to the pandemic, these areas accounted for a huge chunk of the UK’s total economic output, with hospitality and tourism businesses responsible for a significant portion of this,” says UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls.  

“Restoring these sectors in towns and cities across the UK will be a long and intricate process, with thousands of jobs dependent on getting it right.”