Hospitality in the News - 17 October 2019

Your latest instalment of articles and opinions from across the Hospitality sector.

TW: thinkingdifferently

Watch this space!

Aerospace company Gateway Foundation has announced that construction has started on the world’s first commercial space hotel which is due to open by 2025. Although Virgin Galactic says it has 2,500 people on the waiting list willing to pay US$250,000 per person for a trip to space – we're not convinced there will be a long line of people wanting to have a holiday in space. But let’s watch this space to see what happens!

On a much more serious note, how much of the service charge you paid at your last meal actually went to the waiter?

Practices vary widely around the world when it comes to services charges and tipping. In the US, tipping is absolutely expected, especially in a restaurant where the waiter will be waiting for a tip of 15% to 20%, which they may keep or share with other staff. In Japan it may be considered rude to tip. Currently in the UK there is a voluntary code of practice in relation to tipping but no requirement for all of the service charge to be paid to the waiting staff. The Government has now proposed that all of a service charge must be passed on by employers to their staff. Initial reactions are mixed, and we need to see the detail, but we welcome a clear rule and an end to the practice of service charges not being passed on to the staff.