DEAR READER,

THIS is a time of year when we are encouraged to count our blessings.

But my friend Adam Raphael, founder of The Good Hotel Guide, has instead been counting how many tourism ministers there have been in the past 14 years — and is into double figures. Which means no one stayed in the job long.

Adam remembers the scene in Yes Minister when the PM is asked why culture, media and sport are bundled together as one department. ‘ Because none of them matters,’ he replies.

The current Minister for Tourism, within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, is Nigel Huddleston, MP for Mid Worcestershire. Not exactly a household name, in big demand on the airwaves or a regular guest on Question Time.

But you might think he would be given more of a voice at a time when Covid has the potential to destroy vast swathes of the hospitality industry, which employs more than three million people and generates £130 billion annually for the economy.

Now a group of hoteliers and restaurateurs, including Rick Stein, has started a parliamentary petition calling for the creation of a Hospitality Minister. It has already drawn more than 160,000 signatures and is due to be debated in Parliament on January 11. You can still sign too, at: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/552201.

Meanwhile, we are full of hope that the bleakest of midwinters will give way to the brightest of springs, and that holidays abroad (Rome pictured above) and at home will once again become a cherished part of our lives.

From the hundreds of letters and emails we receive each week, we know that for us in the UK, perhaps more than any country on earth, travel, in all its myriad forms, is in our blood.

We might not quite know which passport queue we’ll be joining — but we’ll be on the march once more. And it will be sweeter than ever.

Until then, a very Happy Christmas from all of us here at Escape.