Analysts Predict the Effects of a UK Smoking Ban on the Leisure Industry.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c44956) has announced the addition of Focus Report: The Smoking Ban to their offering.

This unique report provides an in-depth investigation into the smoking ban and the possible effects on the industry.

The report explores all the facts behind the ban, investigates the implications for the UK leisure industry and looks at how smoking bans have worked in other countries. The report brings together opinion and analysis from commentators across the industry. Read views from every sector of the leisure industry from pubs and nightclubs to bingo and tenpin bowling, and from groups such as the anti-smoking lobby and the pro-choice lobby.

Confusing and detrimental legislation has become almost synonymous with the UK leisure industry.

Just as the furores surrounding the Licensing Act and Gambling Act start to settle (at least for now), the industry finds itself facing a whole new set of uncertainties thanks to the government's proposals to ban smoking in public places.

A smoking ban has long been viewed as inevitable by large chunks of the population, despite the best efforts of parts of the hospitality industry to try to prove to government the workability of a voluntary code of practice to keep non-smokers safe on their premises. However, the inconsistency of the proposals for England, which include exemptions for wet-led pubs and private members clubs for a few years (although at the time of going to press it was looking increasingly likely that these could be removed), compared to the outright bans to be adopted from the off in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, left operators across leisure's sectors rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

Despite the recommendations of the Select Committee on Health, the chief medical officer, and, according to many of the opinion polls on the issue, the views of the majority of UK citizens, the government dug in its heels over its plans for a partial ban in England for a long time. Just as this report was to be published, however, the government announced it would allow a free vote on a complete ban, news that was welcomed by most of the industry. There remained, though, very real concerns that many MPs, who may not fully understand the potential implications for all parts of the leisure industry, would vote to remove the exemption for licensed premised that do not serve food but to retain the clause relating to private members clubs. This could cause problems for community pubs where smokers, denied the chance of indulging in their habit at their local, could migrate to their nearest working men's club or British Legion where they would be allowed to continue smoking.

Also, as the proposed clubs exemption only applies to members clubs, it would exclude proprietary-owned clubs including casinos, bingo and snooker clubs. As private members clubs can offer bingo games (up to a limit), bingo halls in particular could suffer.

The commercial downsides of any two-tier approach and the questionable morality (and potentially litigious fall out) of how it would protect the health of some workers while allowing others to still be exposed to second-hand smoke continue to cause concern. The continuing uncertainty over the whole issue is a frustrating, if not unfamiliar, experience for leisure operators. By allowing the free vote, the government has given itself a get-out clause from its own highly-criticised proposals. Aside from this, the conflicting evidence of the effects on overseas leisure operators of bans already operating in their home countries also illustrates the practical problems of implementing a full-on ban.

While many aspects of the proposed ban are still unclear, this report examines how leisure operators in the UK can prepare for any negative impact, learning lessons from their overseas counterparts, whatever shape the legislation here finally takes.

Contributors

Introduction

Setting the scene

The facts behind the proposed UK smoking bans

Implications

What the proposed bans mean for operators

Smoking bans in practice

Ireland

Italy

Sweden

US

The industry view

The anti-smoking lobby

The betting shop association

The bingo association

The hospitality association

The leisure association

The nightclub association

The pub industry

The pro-choice smoking lobby

The tenpin bowling association

The trade union

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c44956