Britain needs more homes – we should never shy away from that fact. But, if we are serious about growth, and giving people the financial means one day to be able to own their own homes, we also need to ensure that we have an economy which invites the world to come and spend money here.
For far too long, hospitality has been treated as a secondary part of the development conversation. It’s often been seen as something just nice to have, falling well below homes and retail space in the hierarchy of political discourse and public opinion, rather than what it really is all about: namely, a serious engine of investment, employment and local regeneration.
Every visitor who comes to Britain spends money here: they spend money in our restaurants, shops, theatres, museums, taxis, airports and high streets – but they also need somewhere to stay.
Tourism is one of Britain’s greatest economic strengths and a key driver of our route to growth. In the most recent figures (2024) from the Office for National Statistics, overseas visitors made an estimated 42.6m trips to the UK and spent an estimated £32.5bn here. Hotel occupancy, meanwhile, sits around 80% currently, meaning the margin for growth in inbound tourism is limited. On top of this, the hospitality sector is the third largest employer in the UK by sector and accounts for £140 billion in annual turnover. All of this is irrefutable evidence of the vital role of hospitality in the economy.
What these statistics also do is send a clear and unmistakeable signal to developers, investors and policymakers: we need to keep building more hotels. And this signal is being received. The UK leads Europe’s hotel development pipeline, with 268 hotel projects and more than 39,000 rooms in construction at the end of Q1 2026. Hotels are also a litmus test of where demand is growing, where capital is moving, and where development can deliver immediate and significant economic value.
I have consistently argued that Britain needs a more pro-growth approach to planning, investment and enterprise, both to the construction sector through my leadership of the Westcombe Group, and to policymakers through my role as the Senior Treasurer of the Conservative Party. And hotels show what this can look like in practice.
By creating a pipeline of high-quality jobs from planning, through construction and into operations, hotels can be a key driver in unlocking that elusive growth the UK so desperately needs.
Through our Acre Hotels collection, rhe Westcombe Group is privileged to be working with premium global hospitality brands including Hilton, Accor and IHG, playing our part in delivering hotel developments that support jobs, create growth, and develop local enterprise.
That’s our contribution to building Britain. And we’re proud of it.