Confidence has been shattered
Oh dear, what a mess. Three weeks ago, as the foot-and-mouth crisis began to capture the headlines, this magazine urged the hospitality industry not to panic. At the time, it looked as if restrictions to the countryside were already being relaxed and the bans imposed on major sporting events such as the Cheltenham Festival were about to be lifted.
The advice was given in good faith, and it is still applicable because panic never helped any crisis. However, what none of us could have predicted at that time was just how quickly the situation would deteriorate or how widespread the problem would become.
Much has been written about foot-and-mouth in the past few weeks, both about the disease itself and the consequences of the measures taken to prevent it spreading. A disturbing picture of a countryside under siege has emerged. Rural hospitality has been hit so fast and so hard that many operators, deprived of spring customers after the close season, are facing ruin. When cash flow ceases so abruptly and unexpectedly, businesses collapse.
It is too early to draw any sensible analysis yet. Is it right that the countryside should be shut down because less than 1.5% of farms are affected? Is farming alone worth more to the economy than the thousands of small rural businesses facing ruin? Shouldn't earlier and better use have been made of veterinary services? Are EU regulations governing the slaughter and transportation of animals to blame - indirectly - for the spread of the disease? The answers to these and other questions will have to wait.
What is important now is for urgent action to be taken to protect the wider community in rural areas. Some estimates put the losses to rural tourism at between £100m and £250m a week. But it is more than that. Incalculable damage is being done to the image of Britain abroad just as the Easter peak would normally be coming into effect.
The Government's response to the crisis so far has been well meaning but uninformed and slow. It called a summit at Downing Street last week and, as a result, environment minister Michael Meacher now heads up a rural task force; BHA chief executive Bob Cotton and minister for tourism Janet Anderson have left on a PR visit to the USA; and, as this magazine goes to press, fresh guidelines are being issued offering advice to the tourist industry.
It is a positive move for the Government to recognise (but belatedly) that tourism and hospitality businesses make a big contribution to the economy. But by missing that point early on in the crisis, by concentrating solely on the disease itself and the farmers affected, the Government has lost the confidence of the rural tourist industry, which has been left feeling isolated and abandoned. It will take a long time for trust to be restored.
Relief on rates, VAT and national insurance will help, but this is still meagre acknowledgment of the depth of the problem. When compensation payments begin to the farmers who have lost their livelihoods, the same consideration should be given to country hotels, restaurants and pubs.
It's not the farmers' fault that foot-and-mouth is here, but neither is it ours, and the same rules should apply.
Forbes Mutch, Editor, Caterer & Hotelkeeper
