Broken Brexit: Scots hospitality and tourism firms 'not listened to' over chronic labour shortages

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scotland's tourism industry has been devastated by Brexit after warnings it would hit the sector hard were ignored.As part of the Daily Record's Broken Brexit series, we spoke to struggling hospitality and tourism firms around Scotland - and they are convinced that Brexit has been a disaster for them.They told how Scotland urgently needs a better-managed migration system to encourage European workers back here to work in hotels, restaurants and bars.One island hotelier said the sector "hadn't been listened to" over concerns about the disruption caused by leaving the EU.Business bosses also spoke of a loss of "cultural diversity" from workforces as the number of EU nationals coming here to study or work fell as a result of the loss of freedom of movement.They say the Tories' hard Brexit sparked a crisis in hospitality and tourism - two key Scottish industries - by making it much harder to recruit and retain high-quality staff.Anne Gracie, director of the Sonas Hotel Collection on the Isle of Skye, said their recovery from the Covid lockdown had been hit hard by a slowdown in the flow of workers to Scotland.She added: "It has had a significant negative impact on the hospitality sector.

It is now much more difficult to recruit the number of team members required each season."The majority of our team members stay with us all year on permanent contracts.

However, the busy summer season requires additional positions to match the business volume."The number of applicants, and often the quality of the applications, has reduced, making it more challenging to find the right people for the positions available."The number of vacancies available means you have to compete to attract the right people to the vacancies."Gracie continued: