Green Tourism, a sustainability accreditation and support programme, has launched its ‘Care to Make a Difference’ campaign, backed by the Scottish Tourism Alliance, (STA), Living Wage Scotland, Loch Melfort Hotel and the Achnagairn Estate.
In the ‘Care to Make a Difference’ paper, industry figures explain how Scotland’s tourism and hospitality businesses can use the challenges of the pandemic, including supply costs and staff shortages to their advantage, by putting their employees front and centre.
Andrea Nicholas (pictured), chief executive of Green Tourism, said: “Caring for people, for example, by paying the real Living Wage and treating staff well, along with a long-term focus on sustainability, can make a massive difference to tourism and hospitality and help it ride the current storm.”
Nicholas added: “We know how challenging it has been for everyone working in the hospitality and tourism sectors. We are calling on the industry across Scotland to come together to try to improve the situation for everyone.”
This call to action follows after the STA published figures stating one in three tourism and hospitality businesses are likely to fail in 2022.
Key points
The call is for tourism and hospitality businesses to ‘Care to Make a Difference’ by:
• Paying staff well – consider paying the real Living Wage which currently stands at £9.90 and become accredited by Living Wage Scotland
• Offering security, flexibility and value-added benefits to employees e.g. long-term contracts; flexible working hours; time off to spend with family and friends
• Offering mentoring and training to upskill the existing workforce
• Focusing on the mental health and wellbeing of all colleagues
• Taking a long-term approach to sustainability to protect the world for future generations
Industry figures
The call to action is led by Andrea Nicholas, chief executive of Green Tourism, and backed by Marc Crothall, chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance and Anna Hirvonen, Living Wage Scotland accreditation officer.
It is also backed by Calum Ross, owner of Loch Melfort Hotel, chair of UK Hospitality Scotland, board member of Scottish Tourism Alliance, Argyll & the Isles Tourism Co-operative, Highlands & Islands Tourism Awards and a member of University of the Highlands & Islands Court, and Marina Huggett, chair of Achnagairn Estate, board of Hospitality Industry Trust, runs Tourism Excellence Consultancy, director of Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards and vice chair on board of Visit Inverness Loch Ness.
