Once a month, Steve Lowy – Founder and Chairman of Umi – kindly shares his thoughts about the current state of the hospitality industry.
“Well, what a summer it has been! With concerts and sports events, tourists all over the UK, the sun shining (and breaking heat records), and all sorts of political shenanigans, the summer of 2022 will definitely be one to be remembered.
Well, really the most important piece of news over the last 4 weeks is the crazy increase in utilities in the UK. It is quite frankly brutal. With the UK pretty much a rudderless ship at present, and with 5th September (when the new PM is installed!) looming, I hope both candidates have a plan for helping out both the people at homes and businesses. Without further support, there will be a double whammy for hospitality businesses whereby consumers don’t have the money to spend on hospitality-related activities, nor are hospitality businesses be able to remain open.
Moving onto data that was mentioned by Harry, and linking it to the current conversation. Wouldn’t it be interesting for hotels to be able to display guests’ live usage data for utilities or even CO2 emissions to encourage guests to be part of the energy-saving initiatives within a hotel? What we have seen in serviced apartments, is that you can be as “green” as you like, but it’s hard to prevent a guest from abusing the sage within the apartments. Would it be weird to start charging guests in accommodation a surcharge if they use too much energy compared to the average guest? Interested in your thoughts on this!”