Best Western boss says hotels still ‘in the dark' around quarantine plans

04 February 2021 by
Rob Paterson

Best Western GB boss Rob Paterson (pictured) has said the company is still "in the dark" around what will be expected of operators once quarantine procedures are introduced for inbound travellers.

The prime minister announced last week that travellers from high risk ‘red list' countries entering the UK will have to isolate in government-provided accommodation, such as hotels, for 10 days. He said the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) was looking to establish these facilities "as quickly as possible".

But despite several hotel companies, including Best Western, offering to accommodate quarantined travellers, Paterson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he was "yet to hear anything" from the government.

He said he had no understanding of what demand levels or security protocols would be expected, adding: "In any normal company, if you went out and announced a programme nationally and you hadn't thought about how you were going to plan that and you hadn't spoken to the people involved, I'm not sure if I'd have a job if I did that in my company."

A DHSC spokesperson said: "The government is taking a precautionary approach against the risk posed by new variants. We are building on the stringent measures we already have in place – adding another layer of protection against the virus. We will set out a detailed implementation plan soon."

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media Group is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking