By Daniel Cecura

The Scottish hospitality industry faces challenges on a daily basis. But why do students in the sector play a surprisingly important role as employees as well as customers? Reporter Daniel talks about this topic with people from the hospitality sector.

The hospitality industry is an important sector for the Scottish economy. According to a report on the future of Scotland’s hospitality industry, before the pandemic, the hospitality industry accounted for about 3% of Scottish GDP and 8% of Scottish jobs. Around one in every ten jobs in Scotland is in hospitality. During Covid, this sector was the most affected by the lockdowns. In times of Brexit and cost of living crises, Scotland’s pubs, cafes and hotels are struggling to generate revenue.

Pub manager Daniel Slattery talks about daily new challenges. His pub, Kitty O’Sheas, is an Irish pub and not only had to deal with Covid, but is still feeling the effects of Brexit today.

For the Kitty O’Sheas, students play an important role in daily business. Not only does the pub have many young students as a flexible staff, but it is also a popular pub for international students who want to see Scottish nightlife. After the pandemic, there was a real student boom, as three year groups wanted to catch up with the Freshers, thus putting a lot of money into the pub’s coffers.

For the “Platform” location, students are an equally important part of the clientele. Thus, students are part of the marketing strategy and are targeted. Marketing staff member Heather Bedford explains that “Platform” specifically approaches universities and also looks for opportunities to host freshers parties. If you look at the “Platform’s” Instagram presence, the appeal to the young target group becomes very clear.

To get another perspective, the executive director of the “Scottish Hospitality Group” Stephen Montgomery confirms the importance of students. Scotland’s hospitality industry thrives on the fact that many things are fast-moving and difficult to plan for. Students are an important part of it because they are needed as a workforce and in addition flexibility plays an a vital role. However, Stephen does raise the issue of Brexit. Indian workers are much more in demand and the focus is less on European students and employees. This is mainly due to the problems with the VISA in Scotland.

Students play an important role in Scotland’s hospitality industry and are part of a development. With all the problems such as Brexit, Covid aftermath, cost of living, students are a key pillar for the survival of the hospitality industry in Scotland, both on the consumer and staff side.