UK hoteliers warned over health and safety
UK hoteliers are being warned to take more notice of health and safety issues following research commissioned by Check Safety First.
A survey of over 2,000 holidaymakers by Opinion Matters found 88% of tourists would not return to the same hotel where they had contracted an illness or had an accident.
“UK hotels may be benefiting from the ‘staycation’ phenomenon this year, but will struggle to maintain repeat business when the economy recovers if they don’t take the wellbeing of their guests seriously,” said Mark Harrington, CEO at Check Safety First.
The research cited poor hotel accommodation as being the factor that would spoil a holiday for most consumers (58%), followed closely by bad weather.
Survey respondents were asked to rank their reasons, with food poisoning coming fourth, named by 43% of consumers.
The researchers also quizzed consumers on their perception of resorts worldwide.
Unsurprisingly, Mexico was perceived by less than 2% of consumers as having the highest health and safety standards.
“On the contrary, Mexico is consistently one of our top three performing territories when audited for hygiene and safety, alongside Egypt and Spain,” added Harrington.
The survey also showed that over half of respondents don’t fully understand what the star system covers when booking their holiday accommodation.
“It’s worrying that many tourists are still confused about what the star system measures. Hoteliers should bear this in mind so they don’t drive away repeat business because guests don’t get the kind of experience they expected at their chosen hotel,” said Harrington.
Check Safety First works with UK hotels, advising on health and safety best practice.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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