LONDON — Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom and the second longest in history, died at her Scottish home of Balmoral Thursday at the age of 96.
Her death prompted companies and people in the hotel industry to share tributes and condolences.
Russell Kett, chairman of business advisory HVS London said he had the pleasure of meeting the queen on one occasion, at Clarence House in London for a celebration involving the Jewish community.
“[I] felt privileged to have been invited. She was presented with a silver menorah, an eight-branched candelabrum, which commemorates the festival of Chanukah and which — just like Her Majesty — brings light into everyone’s homes at this time of the year,” he said.
IHG, headquartered in Denham, England, Tweeted its "heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family at this sad time."
Succeeded by her eldest son, now King Charles III, Elizabeth came to the throne at the age of 25 following the death of her father King George VI and witnessed the U.K. and the world change dramatically over her 70 years on the throne.
To parallel that timeline specifically with the hotel industry, Elizabeth became queen six months before the opening of what is recognized as the world’s first branded hotel, a Holiday Inn in Memphis, which debuted on August 1, 1952.
Andrew Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group, the parent company of Hotel News Now, said, “we join you today in mourning Queen Elizabeth’s passing. She has served her country faithfully and diligently for her entire life. The history she has reigned through is truly awesome.”
Robin Rossmann, managing director of STR, CoStar’s hospitality analytics firm, added, “the queen’s passing is a time of great sadness, and many people in the country and the [CoStar/STR] team are deeply impacted.”
After the Mourning
The hotel industry will continue to operate almost normally.
The as-yet-unannounced date of the queen’s funeral will be an official day of mourning, but hotels and other employers are not legally mandated to give employees a day off, unless the government declares it a national holiday.
Kett said he expects a somber mood to prevail for the duration of the period of “official” mourning, probably for a week after her funeral.
“But gradually people will come to terms with her passing. I suspect some people will put off holding what might, with hindsight, be considered ‘frivolous’ events, but life must return to some sense of normalcy in due course, with some people taking longer than others to come to terms with their personal grief,” he added.
Some travel is expected to be generated from the news of the queen’s death as mourners desire to be in London or close to one of the other British sites associated with the royal family — Sandringham, Norfolk; Windsor, Berkshire, and Balmoral, Scotland.
On the other hand, sporting fixtures and other events have already been canceled or likely will be, resulting in the sudden cancellations of hotel bookings.
One example is golf’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club in the county of Surrey, just south of London, in which play was suspended three-quarters the way through its first day.
Strike action by members of train unions organized for Sept. 15 and 17 has been called off, as has industrial action on behalf of employees of other industries.