Do you recall the general election of 2010 in which Gordon Brown famously tried to spoil things for David Cameron by claiming to agree with Nick Clegg during the leaders’ debates?

I was reminded of this at the recent National Hotel Marketing Conference, organised by Martin Evans and the Hotel Marketing Association, where several speakers kindly said they agreed with comments I’d made in my own presentation near the start of the day. The gist of my piece was that although we are judged by the number and value of rooms we sell, what we’re actually selling is service. This is especially true at the top end of the market, given the many luxuries our customers already have access to at home, such as beautiful rooms and bathrooms and a good wine cellar.

A high point of the day was an interview with Eamonn Elliott, chief executive at Pride of Britain’s current ‘Hotel of the Year’ Rockliffe Hall. He gave generous credit to members of his team for the hotel’s success, saying each of them drew upon their “inner demons” to work harder and achieve more.

The conference is always a pleasure to take part in and, as I have proved, you don’t need to know very much to make a useful contribution.