Growth to be focus of BHA's first-ever Hospitality and Tourism Summit
The British Hospitality Association is set to showcase the breadth and depth of the UK's hospitality and tourism industry by bringing together a host of industry leaders and key politicians at its first-ever Hospitality and Tourism Summit on 1 June.
The event, to be hosted at the InterContinental hotel on London's Park Lane, will take place on the Friday of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend and barely a month before the 2012 Olympic Games.
Keynote speakers will include: Alan Parker, former chief executive of Whitbread and the current chairman of the BHA; John Penrose MP, minister for tourism and heritage; and Richard Solomons, chief executive of hotel group IHG. A large number of other industry heavyweights will also speak at the event.
The audience of around 400 people will be made up of attendees from the summit, BHA members and special guests.
The BHA said it hoped the event would ensure hospitality and tourism was recognised as a leading UK industry, helping to forge closer relations with government.
The summit is expected to focus on all aspects of growth and will explore the potential for improved links in the industry, under the theme "Ready, Set, Go".
Ufi Ibrahim (pictured), the BHA's chief executive, emphasised that tourism and hospitality was the UK's fifth-biggest industry.
"It is hugely important in economic terms, but it also impacts on the country's culture, its heritage and its social life. The summit will look to inspire change, partnership and collaboration between industry and government in all these areas," she said.
Attendance at the summit, and the gala dinner in the evening, is limited. Anyone wishing to attend should contact Philippa Brady at BHA - philippa.brady@bha.org.uk.
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By Neil Gerrard
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