EVENT REPORT
Hospitality: How are we doing?
July's event was around the theme of post-pandemic changes and challenges facing the hospitality sector. A expert panel shared some very useful insights on how emerging trends were presenting
Lawrence Bailey introduced the three speakers: Gavin Davies, General Manager Village Hotels Swansea, Dr Ben Reynolds of Urban Foundry, a dynamic partnership specialising in creative regeneration and Dr Jayne Griffith-Parry from Programme Manager, International Gastronomy Management & International Hotel Management at University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
Each gave a perspective of how they saw trends evolving and possible ways to link resources with opportunities.
Gavin spoke comprehensively about how the hotel industry had seen a series of dramatic shifts. The result was that whilst demand was improving, problems persisted over staff recruitment and retention. Although many hoteliers had opted to furlough their workforce rather than introduce redundancies, a significant proportion of experienced workers had left the industry for less stressful employment. Newer staff did not acclimatize to the long hours and/or the full-on nature of the industry. Attrition was a consequent problem. Generally however, the prospects remained positive.
Ben outlined the work of Urban Foundry and the remit involved. He listed several key factors that now needed to be taken into account in regeneration strategies. Not least was the integration of new ventures and how so-called "pop-up" phenomenon was a key contributor to the changing landscape of consumer expectations. He provided several examples and explained that such venues were supplementary to the local retail and catering economy rather than detrimental.
Jayne explained the scope of the Hospitality & Management programme within the work of UWTSD. Much of what she share with the audience was drawn upon extensive public-private sector experience. It was apparent that the non-traditional approach to engaging students was in keeping with the community-based ethos of the university. As a result, there were more that a thousand students evolving specific skills that would help boost the hospitality and tourism industries.
Following a lively question and answer session, Lawrence thanked the speakers.
(No presentations are available at present)
Dr Jayne Griffith-Parry, Dr Ben Reynolds, Gavin Davies
Lawrence Bailey
Gavin Davies, GM, Village Hotels, Swansea SA1
Dr Ben Reynolds, Managing Director, Urban Foundry
Dr Jayne Griffith-Parry Programme Manager, Int Gastronomy Management & Int Hotel Management (UWTSD)
