UK travel publication says government's tourism strategy is a "deplorable policy of neglect"

The Government is continuing “a deplorable policy of neglect’’ towards tourism, the editors of The Good Hotel Guide said today.

David Cameron had promised when elected that tourism would be a priority, the editors said. But they added that this year the tourism budget was cut by a fifth, "wasting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity provided by the Queen’s Jubilee and the Olympic Games".

Britain was missing a "golden opportunity to develop tourism’", added joint editors Adam Raphael and Desmond Balmer as they launched the 2013 edition of the guide. They said neglect of the hospitality industry was a major reason why Britain’s share of the world holiday market had declined by 40 per cent in the past 30 years and an annual balance of payments deficit of nearly £20  billion had built up.

The editors went on: "It is deplorable that this policy of neglect is being continued by the Coalition.

"We are missing a golden opportunity to develop an industry that has the potential to grow by 60 per cent, contributing nearly £200 billion to the economy by 2020."

One of the guide's 10 César awards – named after the hotelier César Ritz – went to the television presenter and hotelier Ruth Watson for the Crown and Castle Inn in Orford, Suffolk, which she runs with her husband, David, and their manager Tim Sutherland.

The other César awards in the 2013 edition were:

B&B newcomer - Number Thirty Eight, Clifton, Bristol;

Cornish hotel of the year - The Old Quay House, Fowey;

City hotel of the year - Jesmond Dene House, Newcastle upon Tyne;

Newcomer of the year - The Feathered Nest Country Inn, Nether Westcote, Oxfordshire;

Pub with rooms - The Black Swan, Ravenstonedale, Cumbria;

Dining pub of the year - The Stagg Inn, Titley, Herefordshire;

Scottish hotel of the year - Boath House, Auldearn, Nairn;

Welsh inn of the year - The Felin Fach Griffin, Felin Fach, Powys;

Irish country house of the year - Salville House, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.