Guides face struggle to win back confidence

Rising concern about the future of the Egon Ronay Guides has not been alleviated by confusing messages coming from the guides' owners. The alarm bells began ringing last weekwhen Egon Ronay resigned as a consultant to the restaurant and hotel guides that bear his name.

Mr Ronay originally sold the guides in 1985, allowing subsequent owners to use his name, and he returned as a consultant last year following another change in ownership. The new owners announced ambitious expansion plans for the guides, launching a CD-Rom version of the main guide last year and setting up an Internet site called Egon Ronay Alert.

Some hoteliers complained last year at the tactics of sales reps attempting to sell them adverts alongside their entries on the CD-Romand many people in the industry were sceptical of the financial viability of such an enterprise.

This week a telephone call to the company's CD-Rom direct sales line, asking whether the CD-Rom would be produced next year, got the response: "I don't know, possibly not, you had better speak to our managing director." And the Internet site was carrying no information at all on Monday.

In addition, many hoteliers and restaurateurs say they have not been aware of inspections of their establishments for up to two years, although the guides' owners say prior to this year inspectors rarely identified themselves.

It is understood that to continue to use the Egon Ronay name, each guidebook must have inspected a minimum of 60% of the entries in the previous year. With many inspectors refusing to carry out more inspections until they have been paid, it looks like it will be extremely difficult for the company to publish the 1998 guide in November, as planned, and meet the 60% requirement.

The owners of the guides will have to work very quickly to restore confidence in the publications. To make ends meet each guide is highly dependent on sponsorship revenue.

Yet potential sponsors will be very worried at the resignation of Mr Ronay, the confusion over payments to inspectors and the apparent poor performance of the electronic products.

For hoteliers and restaurateurs this is all a great shame. The independence of the guides has always been highly valued by consumers but the credibility is being undermined by the present uncertainty.

That uncertainty will begin to clear only when delays in payments and fees to inspectors comes to an end and a clear statement is issued about how and when the guides will be produced for 1998.

GARY CROSSLEY

Editor

Caterer & Hotelkeeper