Hoteliers could face court over

By Sara Guild

Failure to tackle the problem of the so-called "millennium bug" in hotel computers could lead to expensive legal action, hoteliers have been warned.

"If you cannot fulfil your legal commitment to provide a conference with facilities because the power is off, or there is no food, you could be liable. If you cause damageto other people's business,you could be liable," said William Sullivan, assistant professor at the University of Delaware, USA.

His warning came at the Eurhotec conference on hotel technology, held in Nice, France, last week. The problem is caused by computer components which, because they read only the last two digits, are unable to distinguish the year 2000 from 1900.This can throw systems into chaos.

Sullivan added that further difficulties could be caused by the failure of accounting systems, which could see customers being sent incorrect bills. Hospitality businesses could also be unable to keep track of information such as VAT payments, and be prosecuted as a result.

UK hoteliers attending the conference said they were already working towards ensuring their computer systems could deal with the millennium bug.

But Paul Dermody, chief executive of De Vere hotels, said it was not computer software that was likely to cause the biggest problems. "Where we are exposed by lack of knowledge is in items that have no apparent use of dates, but contain computer chips: things like freezers, microwaves and ovens," he claimed.

To guard against legal action, Dermody said De Vere was asking all its suppliers to give assurances that their products were "year 2000-compliant" in order to prove the hotel company had done all it could to prevent problems.

According to John Cahill, senior vice-president of information technology for Inter-Continental, hotels are taking a cautious approach. "The hotel chains are not making a commitment about products being year 2000-compliant. The advice is to say nothing now, just emphasise youare working towards providing a high level of service,"he said.

The Tussauds Group has launched a £5.5m revamp of refreshment outlets at Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventure, which includes deals with McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut.

The three chains will open themed outlets at the parks later this month, and the Tussauds Group, which runs the parks, has refurbished its own existing outlets, modernising equipment and retraining staff, as part of the overhaul.

The group decided on the move after a survey of visitors found a demand for cheaper alternatives to the food provided. Many respondents said they wanted a McDonald's.

Under the deal, McDonald's will open a 250-seat restaurant and two stand-up satellite outlets at Alton Towers, and Pizza Hut and KFC two shared units boasting 120 seats each. Chessington will get one 250-seat McDonald's and one 175-seat shared outlet.

The three chains will run their outlets directly under an arrangement described by Tussauds as "a kind of lease".

Restaurants that use wood-burning ovens could be breaking the law by releasing fumes and adding to pollution, according to some local authorities.

Environmental health officers (EHOs) have delayed the opening of Mash in London while they check that two ovens comply with rigorous pollution checks.

Owner Siobhan Peyton has had to spend £24,000 installing special filters called scrubbers, while the group's Manchester restaurant was able to use a carbon filter at a minimal cost.

Westminster City Council had also swooped on A-Z Restaurants' La Spiga, due to open this week, where it has fitted sensors to the oven to check on emissions.

"I was extremely surprised," said group director Claudio Pulze. "The type of ovens we use were built in the USA, where there are very stringent pollution rules."

But Westminster City Council is warning restaurants to take the problem seriously. Head of pollution services Chris Cawley said that many manufacturers were producing non-compliant ovens. Prosecutions of restaurants have not been ruled out.

Emissions could be contrary to the1956 Clean Air Act, introduced to rid London and other cities of the notorious "pea-souper" smogs. Under the act, you cannot burn coal, wood or similar fuel unless it is smokeless.