Tourism bodies attacked over looming deluge of hotel rooms
The city's guesthouses have accused Bath's tourism marketing bodies of launching a "direct attack" on them as anger mounts over a string of planned hotel developments.
The Bath Independent Guest House Association (Bigha), which has around 100 members, claims Bath Tourism Plus and Future Bath Plus are not doing enough to resist the tide of budget hotel applications submitted in recent months.
Bigha's members help fund Bath Tourism Plus through membership subscriptions. And while it says talk of withdrawing those payments is premature, the group says it is considering "all options".
Bigha accuses marketing organisation Bath Tourism Plus and public-private partnership Future Bath Plus of failing to follow through on the conclusions of the £37,000 Visitor Accommodation Study, a council-commissioned document published in August.
But Bath Tourism Plus (BTP) and Future Bath Plus (FBP) have defended their roles, saying they are doing much behind the scenes to lure the right hotel operators to the city.
The independent accommodation study called for the development of a four-star hotel with conference facilities and "two or more" boutique hotels as a matter of priority. It said a "modest expansion" of budget chain accommodation was also required.
The study concluded that Bath would need between 256 and 376 extra rooms by 2016 and between 444 and 761 rooms by 2026.
Bigha says that upper limit would be more or less reached should the current crop of budget hotel applications receive the go-ahead from Bath and North East Somerset Council.
Permission has already been granted for the 190-room Green Park House, with two more applications in the pipeline for the James Street West/Green Park area. Elsewhere, work on the Gainsborough Hotel in the city centre is imminent, while plans have been mooted for a hotel on the former Cattlemarket in Walcot Street.
Bigha has sent a strongly worded letter to Bath Tourism Plus and Future Bath Plus, with a meeting between all the organisations scheduled for Monday.
The letter says: "We are seeing this [Bath's] uniqueness being gradually eroded and we feel BTP and FBP is just standing by and watching it happen.
"Bigha's members are also paying BTP members, and some are feeling their voice is not being heard and their interests ignored by BTP due to its indifferent stance on the large hotel developments in Green Park.
"We fully understand the need for more rooms and that other BTP members need to see more visitors to Bath, but BTP needs to ensure it looks after the interests of all its members.
"Bath already has Hilton, Travelodge and Holiday Inn, and a big brand name at Green Park. How many more brands does Bath need?"
Bigha spokesman Les Redwood added: "If we continue to have no support we can only view that as being a direct attack on us as small businesses.
"We are supporting them through subscriptions and commissions, but they are supporting an influx of hundreds of extra hotel rooms beyond what is recommended in the study.
"We will have to take steps to defend ourselves. All options are on the table.
"We are not against growth, we just don't want a complete free-for-all where developers can do what they want and not what is good for the city. There should be managed growth for the good of the city."
Robin Bischert, chief executive of BTP, said his organisation was calling on the council to act earlier to marry hotel developers with the appropriate operators.
"We have urged the council to take much more of a proactive approach, linking up developers with operators," he said.
He added: "There is a lot of lobbying that goes on, but a lot of it isn't recorded and goes on behind closed doors."
FBP chief executive David Lawrence, who is also the council's divisional director for tourism, culture and leisure, said: "I absolutely recognise Bigha's strength of feeling. But on the other side of the equation it's incredibly difficult for the council to take a more prescriptive approach to this issue.
"There is a danger that Bigha wants more from the council than the planning system allows."
13 Comments
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by r, bath
Monday, May 09 2011, 4:07PM
“Why do we focus on the budget end of the market and not the 5 star quality end? Any new hotel needs to be a 5 star one which will bring wealthy visitors who will spend more in the local economy. A 5 star hotel will bring higher skilled and better paid chefs, maitre d and sommeliers. Germany is the 2nd largest exporter in the world because it produces the best quality goods not the cheapest. We have a great product in Bath which we should be using to attract the best visitors and 5 star employers. We need to maximise the wealth creation for Bath not minimise it.”
by len, bath
Monday, May 09 2011, 4:05PM
“As there are so few sites in central Bath to grow the economy we should not squander these redevelopment opportunities.
Surely we should be trying to get high tech or office jobs in Bath. These developments sites should link up with the university and provide the highly skilled and better paid jobs that we need in Bath. We need to diversify the local economy and not rely on the tourist economy which can stop due to volcanic activity or any major terrorist act. High tech and better paid jobs must be a better way forward for the Bath economy.”
by Paul, Bath
Sunday, May 08 2011, 1:32PM
“If people think approx 1000 new hotel rooms will not impact the character of Bath you are sadly mistaken. I live in central Bath and already witness daily traffic gridlock..this can only make a bad situation worse (of course I'm sure BANES will say guests will all be coming by bike and train).
As for the comments about the hen and stag problems; I think that the high number of clubs, bars etc in Bath that serve our large student population will absolutely make this a 'party' destination with all that goes with it. Exactly what happened to Dublin and other cities.
It is also interesting to see that many of the sites these hotels will occupy will replace valuable office space which is supposed to be in short supply in the city. To provide a rounded balance to the city environment shouldn't the council be looking to develop the usage of sites for high value / high skill jobs not what comes with hotels ... part-time, low paid work. BANES made it almost impossible for Dyson to invest in Bath but seem happy go down the easy route of developers throwing up hotels, that add nothing to the real future of our city but make it even more of a Disneyland museum for tourists.
Also if you think these hotel chains are coming to Bath to sell rooms at £39 a night you are sadly mistaken.”
by evelyn1, Bath
Saturday, May 07 2011, 2:13PM
“Isn't it about time we had some large reasonably priced hotel in Bath city center to accomadate "coach parties" for them to stay a night ot two, and spend some money, insteaad of the coaches roaming the city sightseeing and moving on.”
by B, Bath
Saturday, May 07 2011, 12:48AM
“Apologies, one more link, the current hotels have got it made, with national prices dropping by up to 12%, but Baths rising a steady 3%. It seems i am in the wrong job, I should dust off my old game of monopoly for some practice.
http://www.hotels.com/press/bath.html”
by B, Bath
Saturday, May 07 2011, 12:34AM
“I know its a couple of years old (and from the daily mail), but make what you will of it
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-482472/Bath-expensive-city-hotel-rooms-survey-finds.html”
by anil, n21
Thursday, May 05 2011, 11:47PM
“Agree with Phil and JC. Stereotyping budget hotels and their users isn't a way forward.
There's little doubt that most of Bath's B&Bs are overpriced. I have had colleagues and clients stay in Bristol's hotels and travel into Bath; that has worked out cheaper than staying in the heritage city.”
by Rob, Bath
Thursday, May 05 2011, 3:40PM
“A great leap of "B's" imagination in evidence here..... "Once again the wealthy minority try to price the majority of people out of this city."
Exactly when did small businesses and B&B owners become "the wealthy minority"?
The wealthy minority in this story are the developers pulling strings to build large budget hotels.”
by B, Bath
Thursday, May 05 2011, 2:49PM
“Once again the wealthy minority try to price the majority of people out of this city, clearly this issue is about nothing more than the desire to keep room prices too high for the stereotyped (Sean) low income worker. How about a different attitude towards those not on bloated salaries?”
by Phil, Keynsham
Thursday, May 05 2011, 1:25PM
“This all sounds like sour grapes to me, the massively overpriced B&B owners trying to protect their over inflated prices. All anyone needs when touring is somewhere clean and comfortable to sleep at night. This is the niche the budget hotels fill. I have never encountered stag/hen parties in any of the dozens of budget hotels I have used. The same cannot be said for some of the more expensive hotels I have been forced to use on some occasions.”