Customers urged to be kind

UKHospitality’s Kate Nicholls has urged customers to treat hospitality staff with respect, after reports of rude and abusive treatment of workers during the summer staycation boom.

Staff in tourist hotspots have reported being subjected to a barrage of complaints from “impatient” visitors and “Tripadvisor warriors”.

Restaurant and hotel owners said visitors were regularly complaining about slow service amid high demand.

Susan Briggs, the director of the Tourism Network in North Yorkshire, said businesses had reported an increase in grumpy customers who were “more demanding and even abusive when they can’t get a table in a restaurant or have unrealistic expectations of service”.

Hospitality businesses have reported record bookings as travel restrictions deterred consumers from travelling overseas.

This has coincided with a chronic shortage of staff across the industry, as hundreds of the thousands have been told to self-isolate.

Hospitality workers have taken to social media urging customers to #BeKind.

Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “After such a difficult 18 months for staff in the hospitality sector, to hear of this behaviour is extremely disappointing and completely unacceptable. The past year has shown the value and importance of hospitality and the staff that make up our sector are at the very heart of all the good the industry does.

“I urge all customers to treat hospitality staff with respect and remind them that just like any other person, staff are trying their best to navigate the pandemic.”