The UK Government's attitude to the hospitality and tourism industry has been strangely reminiscent of Joni Mitchell's song Big Yellow Taxi - a case of "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone".
It has taken a crisis like foot and mouth for ministers and civil servants to wake up to the importance of the sector to the nation's economic well-being, yet it still isn't clear if anything material is going to be done to support it in the future. A few reassuring words for the Americans is hardly a strategy.
Short-term cries for help are fine, but the long term standing of the sector is what really matters.
Calls for the abolition of the Ministry of Agriculture are growing by the day. It might be a good time for this industry to join in the chorus too, as perversely MAFF is the government department that is supposed to be responsible for the pub market and brewing, though little help it has been over the years.
Restaurants, hotels and tourism are the responsibility of the Department of Culture, Sport and the Media, though that placement always seems to make the sector appear like a minority special case rather than a mainstream, grown-up industry and employer.
Where the whole of the hospitality industry should have its voice heard is the Department of Trade and Industry û with the Department of Education and Employment a strong runner-up.
When the DTI starts jumping up and down about the closure of car plants, steel works and electronic factories, it would be worth someone reminding them of the new jobs being created in hospitality and that a little active support could well create some more.
Only last week, the Government-sponsored Cambridge Econometrics reported that around 700,000 jobs lost in manufacturing would be offset by increased opportunities in tourism and leisure. It's a message that needs to be hammered home.
The Government, especially its old Labour faction, is fond of mourning the passing of traditional industries. Perhaps, it should try fostering the ones it still has.
It has taken a crisis like foot and mouth for ministers and civil servants to wake up to the importance of the sector to the nation's economic well-being, yet it still isn't clear if anything material is going to be done to support it in the future. A few reassuring words for the Americans is hardly a strategy.
Short-term cries for help are fine, but the long term standing of the sector is what really matters.
Calls for the abolition of the Ministry of Agriculture are growing by the day. It might be a good time for this industry to join in the chorus too, as perversely MAFF is the government department that is supposed to be responsible for the pub market and brewing, though little help it has been over the years.
Restaurants, hotels and tourism are the responsibility of the Department of Culture, Sport and the Media, though that placement always seems to make the sector appear like a minority special case rather than a mainstream, grown-up industry and employer.
Where the whole of the hospitality industry should have its voice heard is the Department of Trade and Industry û with the Department of Education and Employment a strong runner-up.
When the DTI starts jumping up and down about the closure of car plants, steel works and electronic factories, it would be worth someone reminding them of the new jobs being created in hospitality and that a little active support could well create some more.
Only last week, the Government-sponsored Cambridge Econometrics reported that around 700,000 jobs lost in manufacturing would be offset by increased opportunities in tourism and leisure. It's a message that needs to be hammered home.
The Government, especially its old Labour faction, is fond of mourning the passing of traditional industries. Perhaps, it should try fostering the ones it still has.
