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Minimum alcohol price would hurt hospitality: AHA

By Peter Cutforth

August 28, 2012

AHA, Hospitality, hospitality industry, Minimum alcohol price

According to The Australian Hotels Association, imposing a minimum national alcohol price would be harmful to the hospitality industry in Oz.
 

A paper released by The Australian National Preventative Health Agency has advocated that government implement a minimum pricing for alcohol in an effort to reduce the amount of alcohol addictions that occur in the country. Such an initiative has already been put in place in other countries in Europe such as Russia and Scotland in order to prevent the health consequences caused by excessive drinking and its cost on the economy.
 

Basically by increasing the minimum price consumers have to spend on alcohol, the amount of alcohol consumed is lowered. Such a strategy has even been advocated by The World Health Organisation. The organisation also claims that problem drinkers tend to prefer cheaper alcohol, so implementing a national minimum price would discourage them from drinking so much.
 

The Australian Hotels Association has criticised the proposition, citing a lack of evidence in the claims that it would reduce excessive alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse.  The Association believes that moderate drinkers who do not abuse alcohol are the ones who will suffer the most from this initiative. Hotels would also suffer financial losses together with Australian wine producers, according to the Hotels Association.
 

The issue was highlighted by a post on Hospitalitymagazine.com:
 

The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) has announced its opposition to a national minimum alcohol price, claiming it would have an adverse impact on the country’s hospitality industry.
 

AHA’s position is in response to an Issue Paper released by the Australian National Preventive Health Agency (ANPHA), which provides an overview of alcohol consumption in Australia and promotes discussion on the issue of minimum pricing.
 

Already seen in countries including Russia, Scotland and Ukraine, minimum pricing would introduce a minimum price per standard drink (or unit of alcohol) that alcoholic beverages must be sold for.
 

The paper released by ANPHA, a government agency aimed at strengthening Australia’s investment and infrastructure in preventive health, states “…evidence consistently suggests that the price of alcohol influences alcohol consumption and harms. Whilst the relationship between alcohol price and consumption of specific beverages can vary significantly, in general, an increase in the price of alcohol leads to a decrease in alcohol consumption and alcohol related harm.
 

“The Preventative Health Taskforce’s technical report on alcohol reviewed more than 50 studies from around the world indicating that when alcohol increases in price, consumption is reduced. The World Health Organisation states that increasing alcohol price is one of the most effective strategies for reducing alcohol consumption at the population level.”
 

However the AHA argues that there is insufficient evidence that such a policy would actually result in a reduction in excessive and harmful drinking. In fact a statement issued by AHA argues that minimum pricing could actually hurt responsible, moderate drinkers more than problem drinkers.
 

“The available evidence on minimum alcohol pricing suggests a national minimum alcohol price would have a significant impact on the majority of Australians who consume alcohol responsibly in moderation, and a lesser impact on the minority of people who engage in harmful drinking behaviour,” it reads.
 

To counter this, the ANPHA argues that problem drinkers prefer cheaper alcohol beverages, more so than responsible drinkers, and therefore a minimum pricing policy could achieve the desired result of curbing excessive alcohol consumption.
 

The hospitality industry would also suffer reduced patronage at the hands of minimum pricing and the viability of the domestic wine industry would be threatened, says the AHA.
 

“The available evidence suggests the introduction of a national minimum alcohol price would have a significantly adverse impact on the hospitality industry despite the fact that most alcohol sold in hotels for consumption on the licensed premises is sold for well above any suggested minimum alcohol price.”
 

It is also possible that the clustering of products around the nominated minimum price would see other products hike up their price in order for them to differentiate themselves and be perceived as being a higher quality offering.
 

Source: http://www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au/beverage/minimum-alcohol-price-would-hurt-hospitality-aha

 

The initiative seems to have been successful in countries like Scotland, which previously saw a large number of alcohol related deaths, a figure which has dropped since the implementation of the national minimum pricing on alcohol as many drinkers simply could no longer afford to abuse alcohol.  Whether or not it will have the same effect on Australian drinkers remains to be seen.

 

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