INTRODUCTION
The hotel industry, (despite its importance to the UK economy) has not received the attention that it deserves from the central government at Downing Street. A report by the British Hospitality Association in 2010 showed that it has grown over the years to contribute 45 billion pounds to the UK economy. The hotel industry also employs about 3.64 million people both directly and indirectly making it the fifth largest industry in the UK in terms of labour force (British Hospitality Association, 2010). The hotel industry is regarded by Downing Street to be a segment of the leisure industry to which it is strongly related. It is pertinent to state here that users of hotel facilities can be categorized into mainly three groups: Leisure travellers (about 44%), Business travellers (about 45%) and Organizations (11%) like the London 2012 committee and perhaps London 2018 committee if a certain Octopus by the name of Paul is right.
INDUSTRY BOUNDARY AND STRUCTURE
The UK hotel industry for the purpose of this paper will follow the most commonly set boundaries which refer to the industry being inclusive of all hotels, motels and inns with or without restaurants, conference centres and other hospitality related facilities with operations in the UK. The structure of the hotel industry can be divided into two major groups: the hotel chains and the independent small hotels (Brooks and Weatherston, 2000; and Medlik and Ingram, 2003). Hotel establishments may also be categorized into: * Economy and Budget hotels like Travel lodge and Campanile * Mid-Market Hotels like Swallow and Garden Court * Upper market hotels like Thistle and Hilton
The Hotel Value Chain Structure
Acquisitions
Orders
Bed Capacity
(BC)
Supply Chain
(SC)
Desired SC
Adjust SC
This industry does not include campsites, trailers and parks, youth hostels and flats for short or long rent (in accordance with