We can't expect VS.com to be free

Published on Monday 2 July 2007 00:15

THE ongoing controversy about VisitScotland.com (VS.com), the public-private website bitterly criticised in some parts of the industry, particularly the B&B sector, is doing Scottish tourism no favours.

This matters. We in tourism represent the "Heineken industry", reaching the parts of the country that others do not. We employ over 204,000 people, one in 12 of the Scottish workforce, plus their dependents. We need to be unified.

With a turnover of 4.1 billion, we make a substantial contribution to the cities and are often the lifeblood of rural areas.

The website's critics claim that VS.com's commission structure, and its ability to carry "live" inventory, along with other competition issues, represent a grievous wrong.

I understand the challenges that this part of the industry faces. I had to go over the same hurdles and dilemmas back in the late eighties, and had to make to make the choice embrace changing market conditions or go bust. I started contracting with travel agents and ground handlers - and in the late nineties put online booking on our website and contracted with third parties.

Our hotel only has 15 rooms but we had to look at the benefits and threats of not doing so and I am proud that I helped lead the way along this route, which also included the very successful vouchers-for-bedrooms scheme, launched in at the height of the recession.

The fact is that the way the consumer expects to access the market has changed. Some want to make a direct phone call, others still write with a request, but a large majority want to book on line.

How they find out about your business is up to you, no-one else. You have to pick your sales channels and there are plenty of options. You may take the proactive decision to contract or register with others to achieve this goal and for that service and promotion the third party deserves to be rewarded either by a commission or subscription. Third parties that don't perform, you don't renew. That's life.

Imagine the headlines if VS.com did this for free. The European competition authorities would quickly have them in the dock. The other website booking engines would be outraged and the market would be in a mess. A free national booking service would be an offence against the market economy. Why should tourism have this benefit when others don't? Can you imagine a hair salon relying on a government bookings agency to fill the chairs for free?

As professionals in the tourism business, we must act like professionals and pay for the services that we contract.

I agree market conditions are changing and the accommodation sector faces many challenges.

There is now more competition in the market than ever before and it is only going to grow.

I would also point out that the B&B sector, while offering a different experience, has helped contribute to the closure of small hotels. Four good B&Bs equals one 12-room hotel in a small community. The hotels pay VAT at commercial rates, and employ people to deliver the service. They have overheads way beyond that of a private house and provide a central hub for their community to meet.

There are business owners, including B&Bs, who do not have to offer employees the minimum wage.

The reality is that B&Bs will have to charge more to meet the operational costs that all in business have to pay. If customers want their distinctive and valuable service, they will pay up, if not then B&Bs will go the same way as many change-resistant small hotels.

By creating an attractive proposition and working together to create a valued product in Scotland, we can all grow together. Working in silos and not joining together will make us a second-tier, under-resourced destination.

I would urge everyone to play their part in building an economic future together and supply the various supply channels, including VS.com, with the information they require to build a more economic future.

That includes supplying dates of events and festivals to VS.com and products that the consumer finds compelling. The reality is there is no crystal ball in VS.com - they rely on us to supply them with the information.

And remember, none of us is perfect and we all have continuously to improve to stay in business.

VS.com has launched Web-in-a-Box, a more responsive new system designed to mitigate the problems that B&Bs' have identified. I urge all tourist business to contribute, and pay their 10 per cent commission for secured business with good grace.

My message to the anti-VS.com lobby is this - stop wasting time criticising and start contributing. We cannot return to the old system where tourism information centres provided bookings for free.

If they understood the costs involved in doing this, the Scottish taxpayer would not tolerate it.

A new vigour and discipline is required to ensure we don't let ourselves down through lack of training. We need to increase an understanding of why training needs to be endemic within our culture to ensure we compete on a world stage.

• Gavin Ellis is Scottish chair of the British Hospitality Association and owner of the Knockomie Hotel in Forres.