Cost cutting is a priority for hotels

Cutting costs and staff has become a priority for hotels all over the world in the aftermath of the US terrorist attacks, said hotel executives speaking at the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne conference last week.

Jürgen Fischer, Hilton's president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "We have tried to avoid layoffs, but we had no choice. We were in the midst of building up for the season when we had to think again."

"Spending has got to be as little as possible," he added. "Business at the moment has to be very, very cautious."

But delegates at the conference were generally optimistic about the longer-term future of the industry.

Georg Rafael, vice-chairman of hotel chain Mandarin Oriental, said there was no need to panic about the state of the industry after 11 September but added that it did "need to rally round".

"We have to look forward," he said. "There will be opportunities. We will live for the next six to 12 months with very restrained and difficult conditions, but I think we will come out fast and rapidly," he said.

André‚ Witschi, senior vice-president for Europe at Accor, said: "Nothing is only bad or good… People will forget these things faster than they forgot them in the past."