The UK hospitality sector achieved a total annual turnover of £102bn and 4% year on year growth, according to the latest ONS data.
However the rate of growth in the sector is down from an average of 6% achieved between 2013 and 2017.
More than 2.35mpeople are employed in the sector - an increase of nearly half a million in five years.
The number of businesses operating in the sector fell by around 8% in the last year, from 202,060 to 185,955 today.
Terry Payne, UK country manager of Adia, the hospitality recruitment platform which analysed the date, said: “Although there is much to be encouraged by in these figures, the declining number of businesses operating in the sector makes for uneasy reading. An industry that contributes more than £100 billion annually to the UK economy is significant and its role as a wealth and job creator needs to be protected.”
“The significant growth in employment reflects both the demand from consumers and from those who want the working flexibility that the sector is able to offer. But, as an industry, we need to be even more agile in the way we employ and recruit staff, making greater use of technology and social media, for example, to recruit staff and help businesses more effectively manage costs and resourcing according to peaks in demand.”
