‘W' is unwelcome say Scots hotels
The Scottish Tourist Board (STB) decision to highlight hotels whose employees have attended a Welcome Host training course in its 1996 accommodation guides has provoked an angry response from hoteliers.
Where 50% or more of an establishment's permanent staff have attended Welcome Host courses, a "W" logo will appear beside the hotel's entry in the guides when they are published in December.
But some hoteliers claim the scheme offers no customer benefits and is intended merely to force employers into putting their staff through the course. The implication, they claim, is that properties that do not have the logo are deemed to offer a lesser welcome.
There are also strong feelings that the "W" logo undermines the existing Crown grading and classification system. Equally, frequent staff turnover could mean that the logo becomes quickly out of date.
Dan Luscombe, proprietor of the Ballifeary House Hotel in Inverness, told Caterer: "It is a nonsense. If it requires only 50% of the staff to attend, then by sending the gardener along you could qualify for it."
He accused the STB of trying to con the public and has referred the logo to his local trading standards office, though officers told Caterer it had been decided no action was required.
David Bonsor, owner of Culduthel Lodge, also in Inverness, added: "Those of us who have retained the Deluxe rating from the STB are already meeting the required standards of welcoming."
But the STB insisted that putting the "W" logo alongside other symbols in the accommodation guides was an industry-led initiative that aimed to recognise an establishment's commitment to the Welcome Host course.
"There is no question of the grading and classification scheme being undermined in any way," said a spokesman for the STB. "This will remain the main device for assessing and indicating the quality of visitor accommodation."
Elsewhere, the Wales Tourist Board accredits hotels where more than 50% of employees have attended Welcome Host, and the English Tourist Board is finalising plans to indicate commitment to the scheme in its 1996 Where to Stay guide.
