Tourism Award
Every day, Gardner Merchant serves two million people. The success of our business relies upon delivering a quality product to these customers each and every time. To do so, we must understand their motivations and respond to their changing needs.
The same is true for the hospitality industry as a whole. It is vital that we understand the sectors that support our businesses: those that we work with at high-profile events such as the British Grand Prix and Ascot.
Tourism is a good example. In 1996 24 million foreign tourists chose the UK as a holiday destination, creating a market worth £12b. When added to the £22.7b earned from domestic tourism, the impact on our economy becomes clear.
The total figure - £34.7b - is equivalent to 5% of the country's gross domestic product. It has created a sector large enough to absorb 7% of the UK's workforce. In fact, in 1998 1.7 million jobs were supported directly and indirectly by tourism.
All these tourists - both foreign and domestic - had a choice about which country they visited, and they chose the UK. It's important that they continue to do so. The world is getting smaller and travellers are getting more and more adventurous, so we need to keep attracting them to this country.
That is why Gardner Merchant is sponsoring the 2000 Tourism Award. This category aims to identify someone who has a great influence on the number of people who visit the UK. The high calibre of the award is evident when we consider past winners. These include Sir Colin Marshall, Ken Robinson, James Hoseason and Victor Middleton.
Whoever is chosen this year, one thing will be sure, their actions will have helped maintain the UK's image as one of the world's premier tourist destinations.
We have assembled a distinguished panel of judges to help us make this important decision. However, we want to canvass opinion as widely as possible. Help us by sending in your nomination - you are one of the residents who enjoy the UK's entertainment and shopping, so we would like to hear your views.
The Caterer & Hotelkeeper Awards encourage the very highest standards across our industry, and Gardner Merchant, the UK's leading food and sports service business, is proud to lend its support to these prestigious awards.
