THE BHA FIVE CORE CAMPAIGNS 2012/13
The BHA is all about success. Much more than a lobbying organisation, the BHA combines a powerful voice and clear agenda with real, tangible benefits.
OVERVIEW
The BHA has five core campaigns for 2012/13:
1) Inspiring the next generation

The creation of 300,000 new jobs in the hospitality and tourism industry by
2020
2) Facilitating access

Asking the government to improve the process, the cost and the perception of visa access to the UK
3) Driving competitiveness

To be more competitive with the lower tourism VAT regimes in Europe
4) Responsible hospitality

Helping the hospitality and tourism community to achieve new standards in waste reduction, healthy and trusted food and advising the government on how to reduce red tape which costs money and slows down business
5) Hospitality bellwether

A new campaign starting late 2013 to support members with topical consumer insight
IN DETAIL
1) Inspiring the next generation...with the Big Hospitality Conversation
The Big Conversation – the hospitality industry’s biggest ever Hospitality job creation drive – is all about the thousands of young people who are looking for work. Hospitality is uniquely suited to employing young people and getting them on the first rung of a rewarding career ladder.
Led by the B HA, together with Business in the Community (one of the Prince of Wales’ charities) and the charity Springboard, it involves a series of discussion-based events where industry leaders meet young people to find out what they have to say and learn about the challenges they face in finding work, apprenticeships and work placements.
Alongside these events, the BHA is challenging every tourism and hospitality business in the
UK to pledge to employ more people aged between 18 and 24 or to offer apprenticeships and work experience.
Big Conversations have been held in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Darlington, Liverpool,
Birmingham, Colchester and St. Austell.
The biggest event to date was in Cardiff, April 2013, where industry leaders pledged almost
6,000 new hospitality jobs, apprenticeships and work placements for young people by 2015.

Inspired by the event, the head teacher of Glantaf High School in Cardiff even arranged a week-long placement working in different departments of the Cardiff Hilton to get a better understanding of the industry, so that he could advise his students better.
The BHA recognises that the quality of work experience can vary enormously and believes that, if not properly organised, it can be a missed opportunity; research shows that work experience is the single most important influence in career choice. One of the aims of this campaign is to encourage businesses to adopt a structured approach to work placements – something that will benefit businesses and young people alike.
2) Facilitating access
The potential market for visitors to the UK from China is massive, but restrictive visa requirements put the UK at a disadvantage compared with other European countries and, the BHA believes, costs Britain £1.2 billion in annual spend from Chinese tourists.
Visiting the UK from China costs considerably more than visiting France, Spain and Italy; it also take more time, involves an extra visit to a visa agent, a longer form that is not translated into Chinese and the collection of biometric data.
The number of Chinese visitors to the UK is falling and is thought to be hundreds of thousands fewer than visit France and Germany; the BHA believes this is because of the obstacles in the way of obtaining a visa for the UK.
The BHA has been campaigning for a visa reform that is realistic and manageable, and has gained the support of the Daily Telegraph, the CBI, Institute of Directors, UK Visa Alliance and the British Chamber of Commerce.
The message appears to be getting through; comments by the Home Office and the UK
Border Agency suggest that the balance of opinion within government is moving towards reform and towards improving the perception of the visa system. The BHA will continue to campaign on this issue until visa reform is achieved and many more Chinese visitors can be welcomed to our shores.
Three ways to boost Chinese visitor numbers:
Reform the tourist visa application process
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Deliver an efficient tax refund process
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Provide a warm welcome with Chinese language signage at London airports
In 2012 only 149,000 visitors came to the UK. Five times more visited Australia, which has a longer flight time. Until the UK Government improves the access to the UK for Chinese tourists, ability to bring groups here is limited.
3) Driving competitiveness

The BHA is at the forefront of a campaign to champion a cut in VAT on tourism to 5% so visitor accommodation and attractions aren’t priced out of the market by their European competitors.
The BHA believes that families get an unfair deal when holidaying at home, with VAT rates on hotels and attractions much higher than in nearly every country in Europe. Hotels in
France and Germany are at 7% VAT, Ireland 9% with Spain and Italy at 10%. Half of EU nations also have reduced rates for visitor accommodation. Small wonder that British holidays struggle to compete.
The BHA’s Cut Tourism VAT campaign aims to engage the government at policy level and win public support. Along with BALPPA, BHA members Bourne Leisure, Merlin
Entertainments and experts from Tourism Respect, the BHA have provided the leadership to a powerful alliance of over 500 supporting organisations and companies to make the case to government.
4) Responsible hospitality
Representing an industry that employs millions of people and that affects many more means that the messages the BHA gives out have a huge impact, and the example the BHA sets really matters. With this in mind, the BHA is a committed supporter of all aspects of responsible hospitality.
Sustainability : The BHA is conscious that the hospitality and tourism industry has a substantial carbon footprint so makes sustainability a priority. The BHA works with both the government and partners to support green initiatives and to help members reduce their energy and water consumption.
Take BHA member bartlett mitchell, for example – a business that provides catering services to businesses. They have introduced wormeries for food and paper waste disposal at two of their contract sites – an efficient and cost-effective way of sustainably dealing with waste that would otherwise release carbon and increase landfill.
The BHA is a founder supporter of the voluntary Hospitality and Foodservice Service
Agreement (HaFSA) to reduce food and associated packaging waste launched in June 2012 by WRAP on behalf of the four UK governments. The collective targets for the industry are:
To reduce food and associated packaging waste arising by 5% by the end of 2015
Increase the overall rate of food and packaging waste being recycled, sent to AD
(Anaerobic Digestion) or composted to at least 70% by the end of 2015
The BHA is also working to bring about changes in practice in sustainability at all stages of the food supply chain, encouraging the use of local suppliers; reducing food and packaging waste and exploring new ways of supplying reliable data to help measure and ultimately minimise energy consumption.
Health : The hospitality industry has a massive impact on the nation’s health as a major provider of food, serving one in every six meals consumed in the UK, some 8.3bn annually.
The BHA takes this responsibility seriously and works with government and member

organisations to ensure that the industry does its bit to make the food served within the industry as healthy, nutritious and safe as possible, and to communicate this to consumers.
In England, in March 2011, the BHA joined the government’s Responsibility Deal, which aims to improve the nation’s health, and has helped the government to develop a salt pledge specifically for caterers, as well as three salt pledges to help food providers progress towards salt targets without damaging their business.
The BHA is also working with members and government to help businesses be aware of and comply with the increasingly complex and widespread regulations on food labelling and are already working on practical guidance for members on the new regulations on allergens which come into force at the end of 2014.
The BHA has also committed to the Responsibility Deal’s physical activity guidelines pledge, which means it communicates and promotes the Chief Medical Officer’s physical activity guidelines.
5) Hospitality bellwether
More to follow later in 2013!