Hotels checking in business boom
Thursday, 14 August 2008
NORTH Coast hotels are benefiting from a boom in visitor numbers, according to an annual survey of the hotel industry published this week.
Figures released by a team of industry consultants show that demand for hotel bedrooms has pushed up occupancy and letting rates throughout Northern Ireland.
Tourism Minister Arlene Foster called the results of the ASM Howarthn survey very encouraging.
“The past 12 months have brought significant progress in the number of visitors coming to Northern Ireland, with an overall 28 per cent increase in holiday visits and particularly strong performances from Europe and the USA," said the minister.
“We must capitalise on the demand for Northern Ireland as a tourist destination, particularly in light of the stretching tourism targets set in the Executive's Programme for Government. Ms Foster's department aims to increase the number of tourists visiting the region from 1.98million to 2.5million by 2011 and increase tourism revenue from £370m to £520m.
“We must build on our success to date and maximise the contribution that tourism can make to the Northern Ireland economy," added the minister
The increased demand for hotel bedrooms has been fuelled by overseas holiday makers, short-break and business tourists - clear evidence that Northern Ireland is increasingly seen as an attractive and competitive tourist destination.
Demand for increased hotel capacity has been proven by the successful opening of Coleraine's Premier Inn at Riverside Retail Park, according to its operators.
General Manager, Graham Kelly, said room occupancy rates regularly over 90 per cent,
“We are confident that the Coleraine site will continue this success and cater for the growing business and tourist market in the North West area," he continued.
“As the report suggests, we are finding that the growth in Northern Ireland hotel occupancy is reflected in our early performance at our new hotel in Coleraine.
“We still have a lot of work to do to ensure that people know about our great hotel and restaurant offer and how good our location is in Coleraine - with its access both to the town and the whole of the North Coast but we are more than content with out performance so far."
“Premier Inn has invested heavily in Northern Ireland and plans to open up to 10 more hotels here over the next 5 years," added Mr Kelly.
A number of new hotel projects are already in the pipeline. Planning permission has already been secured for sites on Portsush's Bushmills Road and Main street with further projects proposed in Portstewart and Bushmills.
The authors of this week's report said the industry in Northern Ireland now outperforms its counterpart in the Republic but warned of the consequences of the economic down turn.
“It is important that industry stakeholders do not get carried away with current success," said Michael Williamson, Director of Hotel, Tourism and Leisure Consulting at ASM Horwath
“The 'credit crunch', soaring fuel and food prices and the threat of economic recession must have some degree of impact on the demand for bedroom accommodation in the short term, although I am of the opinion that Northern Ireland will be 'cushioned' to some extent from the worst effects of any downturn for several reasons. It remains an emerging destination with significant growth potential. The recent introduction of Aer Lingus and Ryanair services will increase the flow of inbound tourist traffic over the short and medium term; and the recent Euro/sterling exchange rate movements have worked to Northern Ireland's advantage.
“Northern Ireland continues to have a positive profile in the media and a strong economy," added Mr Williamson.
