Llandudno Hospitality Association celebrates 50 years

Oct 27 2011 by Judith Phillips, North Wales Weekly News

Llandudno Hospitality Association is 50 years old. How have our holidays changed over the decades?

FIFTY years ago visitors flocked to Llandudno for a week at a time, but the holiday season only ran from Easter to October and many hotels closed for the winter months.

Now people are more inclined to go away for short breaks of two or three days, but may take more than one of these a year. Winter bookings mean year round trade for hoteliers.

This is one of the most notable changes since Llandudno Hospitality Association (formerly Llandudno Hotels and Guesthouses Association) was formed in 1961.

“This is one of the biggest changes we’ve encountered,” said chairman David Williams. “The resort used to cater for the bucket and spade brigade and people would have only one annual holiday, traditionally during the summer.

“Now trade is spread more evenly through the year and is more dependent on the weather, with people looking at the weather forecast before they decide whether to go away or not.”

His father, the late Jimmy Williams, was one of the founders of the Association and also its chairman for many years. David runs the family owned Ambassador Hotel with his son Nigel.

Year round trade has brought year round employment for the hospitality sector.

“It’s definitely been better for the local economy, but it’s very labour intensive, particularly for the smaller hotels, because there are more change-over days when people come for short breaks,” he explained.

And the industry has had to weather the storm of changes imposed on it by the government and EU.

“In the 1970s there was the introduction of more stringent fire precautions which meant considerable expenditure providing fire doors and fire escapes.

“The 1980s recession hit businesses hard with interest rates rising to 17%.

“Since the UK entered Europe there have been more regulations and the introduction of VAT meant our prices had to increase. We have the highest rate of VAT on tourist accommodation in Europe which means we are at a disadvantage against our competitors abroad,” he said.

But it isn’t all doom and gloom.

“We’re lucky in Llandudno that we have a loyal following and visitors keep coming back year after year,” he added.