Almost eight hundred guests attended the BHA’s 2006 Annual Luncheon at the Royal Lancaster Hotel last week, making it the most successful annual luncheon in the association’s history.

With a theme of ‘Put the Bed Tax to Sleep’, hundreds of attendees lent their names to the anti-bed tax campaign by signing a huge postcard, sponsored by Travelodge, which was later due to be delivered to Downing Street.

Addressing his guests at the luncheon, BHA chief executive Bob Cotton said that there could hardly be a more inappropriate time to suggest introducing a bed tax on accommodation users at a time when the country’s tourism trade deficit was running at a record near-£20bn.

“A bed tax, as currently being considered by the Lyons Inquiry into local authority funding, over and above the 17.5 per cent VAT on accommodation – the third highest in the EU – will only drive this deficit further into the red. It will deter overseas visitors from visiting this country and it will encourage more UK citizens to holiday abroad,” he said.

He added, “The suggestion of a bed tax is immensely damaging to the tourism industry. We will continue to campaign vigorously against it.”

Cotton said the BHA had achieved some notable successes during the past year, but he also said that there was more for the association to do.

“There are currently more than 40 government Bills in the current parliamentary session, many of which add complexity and cost to the industry. We will not let up in lobbying on the industry’s behalf on these proposals,” he said.

Also held for the first time on the day was the Hospitality Live! Exhibition, organised in partnership with BHA patron suppliers The Media Pack, and featuring 26 industry suppliers, including other BHA patron supplier members.

Members and guests at the luncheon also donated £7,000 to Hospitality Action, the benevolent organisation for the hospitality industry.