THE GEOGRAPHY OF EMPLOYMENT CHANGE IN THE HOTEL AND CATERING INDUSTRY OF GREAT-BRITAIN IN THE 1980S - A SUBREGIONAL PERSPECTIVE

The hotel and catering industry was an important employment growth sector in the British economy in the 1970s and 1980s. The spatial outcomes of this growth have received virtually no research attention. Studies of this important service industry have often been encompassed by tourism research. This paper argues for a specific analysis of hotel and catering using unpublished data which outlines the subregional pattern of employment change between 1981 and 1989. A demand-side explanation examines the role of hotel and catering as a local consumer service, as a producer service and as a response to tourist demand.