Hotel & Catering Review - July 2014

Hotel

& Catering

Review

News Tower Hotel’s Bistro Wins AA Rosette Key to the Door European Investors Buy Aghadoe Heights Conferencing Converting Missed Opportunities into New Business Business Matters Calculating the Industry-Wide Impact of Refinancing

july 2014

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CONTENTS 2

Editor’s View

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News & Views

19 Dine

Hotel & Catering Review’s Dish of the Month is ‘Irish True’ Flambéed Dublin Bay Prawns from Alex Avel, Head Chef at Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre’s new restaurant ‘The Bond’.

20 Key to the Door

Openings, Closures, Refurbishments and Acquisitions.

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Cover Story Making the Most of a Buyers’ Market

iNua Hospitality CEO Noel Creedon talks to Maev Martin about future investment plans and about how much longer we can expect the current hotel buying and selling frenzy to last.

24 Conferencing

Ciara Feely of ConferenceConverter.com describes how hoteliers can convert what she believes is a missed opportunity into new business for their operations.

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22

business Matters Refinancing – Calculating the IndustryWide Impact Hotel & Catering Review reports on a recent presentation by restructuring and recovery specialist Aiden Murphy of Crowe Horwath.

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Interview In the Lap of Luxury

From receptionist to general manager, Elisabet Diaz Berzosa talks to Maev Martin about her career path in Spain and Ireland and her plans to further develop the Dunboyne Castle Hotel.

On the Move New Appointments, Promotions and Recruitment.

32 Food Tourism

Whether it’s the unique Hay Festival in Kells, the International Mushroom Festival in Co Leitrim, or the more high profile Taste of Dublin, there is plenty of culinary inspiration and new produce to be found throughout Ireland this summer.

34 Supply Line

Essential Product Knowledge.

36 Five Minutes With

This month Hotel & Catering Review talks to John Moore, Executive Chef at the Tower Hotel, Waterford about winning a coveted AA Rosette.

hotel & catering review

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EDITOR’S VIEW

Editor Maev Martin Email: maeve.martin@ ashvillemediagroup.com Telephone: 01 432 2271

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The tourism industry now supports almost 200,000 jobs, which is equivalent to 11% of total employment in the country, and 54,000 of those jobs are in the hotel sector.

Total revenue generated across all tourism-related businesses annually stands at over €5.7bn and accounts for four per cent of GNP. These statistics prove that the outlook for the tourism industry has improved significantly over the past year. The improvement can be attributed to a number of factors which have been highlighted in various issues of Hotel & Catering Review. But the support that the tourism industry has received from the government during a very difficult few years, more specifically from the outgoing Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, is perhaps the most significant factor of all in the industry’s changed fortunes.

In a statement issued on July 11th, Stephen McNally, President of the Irish Hotels Federation, welcomed the new Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe but also acknowledged the efforts of the outgoing minister.

“Since he came to office, Minister Varadkar has been pivotal in enabling tourism to stabilise and return to growth. During that time, tourism has benefited from measures such as the reduced 9% VAT rate, the Visa waiver scheme, and the reduction of the Air Travel Tax to zero, all of which have been of significant assistance to the industry.”

The appointment of a new Minister to a department is often a cause for optimism and brings with it the promise of a fresh start. However, in this instance, what the industry needs most is a continuation and expansion of the policies and general approach adopted by the outgoing Minister. IHF President, Stephen McNally, says that the Federation looks forward to working with Minister Donohoe to ensure tourism achieves a sustained recovery, building on the significant progress made since 2011, including the creation of over 23,000 new jobs. And Minister Donohue has got off to a very positive start, with the Government recently reiterating its belief in the critical role that tourism has to play in the country’s economic recovery.

“Tourism’s success over the last three years has been supported by a range of targeted, pro-tourism Government measures that have had an enormously positive impact on the industry,” says Mr McNally. “More needs to be done, however, and we believe the sector has the potential to create over 40,000 more jobs by the end of the decade. This will only be achieved if tourism remains to the fore of Government decision making and continues to be supported by longterm policies focused on growth and employment in the industry.”

The IHF believes that, with appropriate supports, Irish tourism is well-positioned to achieve an ambitious target of 10 million overseas visitors per annum by 2020 – up from the seven million overseas visitors achieved in 2013. This would generate an additional €540m in annual tax revenue for the Exchequer.

While these are ambitious targets, the growth that the industry has achieved since 2011 and the big turnaround in its fortunes that occurred pre and post-The Gathering, shows that these targets are achieveable. And Minister Donohue can rest assured that all of the representative associations in the industry are ready and willing to assist and advise on the formulation of future government measures to support this critical and increasingly buoyant sector of our economy.

hotel & catering review

“ Irish tourism is well-positioned to achieve an ambitious target of 10 million overseas visitors per annum by 2020 - up from the seven million overseas visitors achieved in 2013.”

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www.facebook.com /hotelandcateringreview Editor: Maev Martin Editorial & Production Manager: Mary Connaughton Design: Alan McArthur Layout: Alan McArthur/Jennifer Reid Advertising Design: Colm MacDermott COVER IMAGE: Thinkstock.com Stock Photography: Thinkstock.com Production: Nicole Ennis Sales Director: Paul Clemenson Managing Director: Diarmaid Lennon Published by: Ashville Media, Old Stone Building, Blackhall Green, Dublin 7. Tel: (01) 432 2200 ISSN: 0332-4400 All rights reserved. Every care has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this magazine is accurate. The publishers cannot, however, accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Reproduction by any means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. © Ashville Media Group 2014. All discounts, promotions and competitions contained in this magazine are run independently of Hotel & Catering Review. The promoter/advertiser is responsible for honouring the prize.

News & Views

NEWS & VIEWS Tower Hotel’s Bistro Wins AA Rosette The Tower Hotel’s ‘Bistro Restaurant’ has been awarded a prestigious AA Rosette for culinary excellence. This exclusive award is given to restaurants that display very high standards and show consistency and attention to detail combined with world-class ingredients and customer service. “We have an excellent team in the restaurant and kitchen and to receive this prestigious award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of Executive Chef John Moore, Head Chef Ray Kelly and his experienced team,” says General Manager, Alicia Maguire. AA Rosettes are awarded after a restaurant is successful following a series of tests carried out by the AA Hospitality Team, Staff at the Tower Hotel, Waterford celebrating the award of a prestigious AA Rosette for culinary excellence at the Tower Hotel’s ‘Bistro Restaurant’.

Hotel Franchising Set to Grow Across Europe Europe is likely to see a greater proportion of branded hotels coming on stream as the concept of franchising gathers pace among hotel operators in the region. Until now, the uptake of franchise agreements in Europe has been relatively slow.

However, according to a new report from global hotel consultancy HVS – Hotel Franchising in Europe – an increasing recognition of the strength of a hotel brand and brand affiliation has prompted the concept to expand. The fact that around two-thirds of European hotel stock remains unbranded presents a huge opportunity for branded operators keen to expand. The HVS report points out that franchising agreements enable rapid expansion for brands entering new markets. The franchises are increasingly operated with the assistance of independent management companies - the franchisor provides the brand name and marketing platform and the independent management company provides the expertise and know-how to manage the hotel. “There is clearly a huge opportunity for growth of branded hotels in Europe, including franchises,” says the report’s co-author, HVS London Director Sophie Perret.

“A few years ago hotel operators were keener on management contracts. Now, franchise contracts are equally as likely to be proposed to owners by the brands. Europe has seen a slower uptake of franchise agreements compared with the US, where some 70% of hotels are branded, with half of those held under franchise agreements. Over the past few years the presence of independent management companies has expanded greatly in Europe. The emergence and increasing presence of independent management companies has led to many brands making the strategic decision to expand via franchises as they know these companies can manage the properties efficiently and to a high standard.” Co-author Lucy Payne, a consultant and valuation analyst with HVS London, says independent management companies have a good track record and are an efficient way to grow brands.

“Their nimbleness certainly remains a key advantage compared with the heavier corporate structures of established brand operators,” she says. “We don’t expect the franchise sector to grow in Europe to the extent that it has in the US. However, we do expect a significant uplift over the next few years.”

hotel & catering review

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News & Views

Great Carvery Hotel of the Year 2014 - The Shortlist Leinster: Radisson Blu Hotel, Dublin Airport; Stillorgan Park Hotel, Stillorgan; Bracken Court Hotel, Balbriggan; Double Tree by Hilton, Dublin 4; Castle Arch Hotel, Trim; Whites of Wexford, Wexford; Munster: Midleton Park Hotel, Midleton; Carrigaline Court Hotel, Carrigaline; Castle Hotel, Macroom; Parkway Hotel, Dunmanway; Granville Hotel, Waterford; Heights Hotel, Killarney; Connacht: Dalton Inn Hotel, Claremorris; McWilliam Park Hotel, Claremorris; Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon; Galway Bay Hotel, Salthill; Imperial Hotel, Galway; Flannery’s Hotel, Renmore; Ulster: Western Arms Hotel, Monaghan; Four Seasons, Monaghan; Kellyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen; Silver Tassie Hotel, Letterkenny; Bailie Hotel, Bailieboro.

Great Carvery Pub of the Year 2014 – The Shortlist Leinster: Molloy’s Pub, Tallaght; The 51, Dublin 4; Arc Café Bar, Liffey Valley; An Poitin Stil, Rathcoole; Slevin’s Pub, Dunboyne; Dinn Ri, Carlow; Munster: Bull McCabe’s, Cork; The Elm Tree, Cork; The Red Store, Youghal; Bobby Byrne’s Bar, Limerick; Unicorn Bar and Restaurant, Limerick; Russell’s Bar, Limerick; Connacht: Mulroy’s Gastropub, Castlebar; The Merry Monk, Ballina; The Trappers Inn, Galway; Henry’s Bar and Restaurant, Sligo; Ulster: Fiddlers, Carrickmacross; Fox’s Bar and Restaurant, Bailieboro; The Golf Inn, Newry.

Great Carvery One-DayOnly 2014 – The Shortlist Harvey’s Point Hotel, Donegal; Celtic Ross Hotel, Cork; The Paddocks, Dublin 15; Causeway Hotel, Antrim; Castleview Mews/ Clarion Hotel, Carrickfergus; Martha’s Vineyard, Derry.

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hotel & catering review

We Can Now Reveal

The Result of the Public Vote...

The public has spoken and voted in their droves to determine a shortlist of Ireland’s top carvery venues. A team of mystery shoppers are now visiting venues in Dublin, Meath, Carlow, Monaghan, Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Antrim, Derry, Wexford, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Kerry, Mayo, Sligo, Galway and Leitrim, to whittle this list down to the top three pub and hotel finalists from each province. This year also sees the addition of a new category to find Ireland’s best one-day-only carvery. This category will search for the venue that serves the best carvery only one-day-a-week and will run alongside the established Great Carvery Public House of the Year and Great Carvery Hotel of the Year categories. The finalists will be announced on August 11th when they will be invited to attend the grand final in Dublin in September. The overall winning venues will each receive PR to the value of €2,500 and marketing support valued at €2,000. The winners’ prize also includes a specially-commissioned wall plaque to remind customers that they are about to sit down and enjoy the best carvery in Ireland.

Rugby ace and competition ambassador Tommy Bowe with Business Development Chef and Head of the Judging Panel Mark McCarthy from Unilever Food Solutions.

News & Views Coastal Tourism Worth €2bn Tourism in coastal counties could be worth up to €2bn to the economy with associated employment sustained locally in hospitality and tourism services probably in the region of 80,000 jobs. That’s according to Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn who was speaking at the ‘Our Ocean Wealth’ conference in Dublin Castle last month. The conference is the first annual review of progress in implementing the contents of the Government’s 2012 publication ‘Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth: An Integrated Marine Plan for Ireland’. “The current dividend from tourism in marine areas is significant but it’s also an area of considerable potential for further growth,” said Shaun Quinn. “And, here, I mean the possibility of real cumulative growth – from overseas markets with much-needed increases in foreign earnings rather than simply moving leisure euros from Rathfarnham to Rathmullan or from Wicklow to Westport.” Mr Quinn added that Ireland’s coastal regions had exactly the characteristics and assets which appealed to those market segments which had the most potential for growth. “Our natural heritage, whether landscapes or seascapes, can offer many of the experiences sought by those discerning target market segments most likely to want a holiday in Ireland,” he said. “That is where future growth lies but packaging and presenting our offering in a cluttered and noisy marketplace and standing out isn’t easy. We believe that for a relatively small destination like Ireland to be successful we must identify and develop ambitious projects of scale and singularity as a necessary first step and that is why we developed the concept of the Wild Atlantic Way – the longest themed touring route in the world.”

80,000 jobs

could be sustained locally in hospitality and tourism services with Tourism in coastal counties worth up to €2bn.

Supranational Celebrates 40 Years Supranational Hotels held their annual conference in London last month to officially mark their 40th anniversary celebrations, with over 75 industry experts, clients and member hotels among the guests. The day’s proceedings began with an address from Supranational Hotel’s Managing Director, Cho Wong, who reminisced about the expansive changes in technology since their inception 40 years ago, with memories of the telex, their first central reservation system, and the impact now of the internet and social media on travel booking and consumption.The conference welcomed an impressive lineup of guest speakers, including Joakim Everstin from Sabre Travel Network, Philippe Chausson of Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Michael McCartan of eRevMax, RJ Friedlander of ReviewPro, and David Taylor, a consultant in the world of social media who talked with Steve Lowy of Umi Hotels about modern day technologies, booking channels and the importance of social media for hoteliers. After a full day’s conference and networking session at the Guoman Tower Hotel, delegates were treated to a spectacular celebratory meal at Café Royal.

Supranational Hotels’ clients and member hotels celebrate 40 years, along with industry experts, at the Café Royal in London.

hotel & catering review

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News & Views

Erris is Best Place to Go Wild in Ireland The Irish Times has chosen the Erris Region in Northwest Mayo as the Best Place to Go Wild in Ireland.

The competition was a hunt for the best places in the 32 counties to experience nature, from empty beauty spots to dramatic locations that let visitors actively engage with nature through sports such as climbing, surfing, walking, biking or kayaking.

In late March The Irish Times asked readers to suggest their personal favourites and in the weeks that followed more than 3,800 people took to their website to tell them about a wealth of locations around the country. The nominations were put before The Irish Times panel of judges and the top contenders were visited. Erris, Co Mayo, was chosen as the winner from a shortlist of five places.

A range of events, which include festivals, recreational activities, arts and cultural events, and workshops take place throughout the summer. A new addition to the area is Wavesweeper Sea Adventures, a family-run sea adventure company offering coasteering, snorkelling, kayaking, boat trips, island tours and thrill rides, shark fishing, sea angling and guided coastal walks. To celebrate the award the family-owned Broadhaven Bay Hotel near Belmullet put together a selection of adventure packages.

The 90-bedroomed hotel features a 25 metre heated pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi in the Ealu Health and Leisure Centre and a fullyequipped gym, as well as the Spa Elysium.

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hotel & catering review

Enjoying a tour of the Waterford Museum of Treasures prior to Tourism Ireland’s June board meeting in Waterford are (l-r): Niall Gibbons, Tourism Ireland CEO; Richard Hurley, the Granville Hotel, Waterford; Éamonn McEneaney, Waterford Museum of Treasures; Anne Marie Lally, Waterford Institute of Technology; Tina Darrer, Dooley’s Hotel, Waterford; and Brian Ambrose, Chairman of Tourism Ireland.

Waterford is Ireland’s oldest city, founded by

the Vikings in 914 and celebrating its 1,100th anniversary this year.

Tourism Board Meets in Waterford The Tower Hotel in Waterford was the venue for the June board meeting of Tourism Ireland. The board members took the opportunity to meet with local tourism operators to discuss the 2014 season. They also outlined Tourism Ireland’s extensive promotional programme to highlight Waterford and the South East around the world, including the fact that Waterford is Ireland’s oldest city, founded by the Vikings in 914 and celebrating its 1,100th anniversary this year. “Waterford city and county, its events, history, heritage, gardens, outdoor and other activities, the Viking Triangle, the Copper Coast, as well as many other aspects of the area, feature prominently in Tourism Ireland’s promotions around the world,” says Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland. “Tourism Ireland profiles Waterford extensively on its global suite of websites, Ireland.com, which appears in 11 different language versions for over 30 individual markets around the world, attracting over 13 million unique visits each year. Our market guides, 1.1 million copies of which are distributed annually overseas, also feature Waterford, as do our social media campaigns to our 2.1 million Facebook fans and 130,000 Twitter followers across main markets.” In 2013 Tourism Ireland generated over €24m worth of positive publicity for Waterford and the South East in key markets around the world, through press releases, e-newsletters and various media events.

News & Views

Guinness Storehouse Makes it Two in a Row

Fáilte Ireland published their definitive list of Ireland’s top visitor attractions last year on July 1st, with the Guinness Storehouse once more topping the bill.

The Storehouse welcomed 1,157,000 visitors in 2013 - an increase of 70,000 visitors on its 2012 performance. Among the nation’s fee-paying attractions, the iconic Dublin attraction was followed closely by Dublin Zoo, with just over a million visitors, and the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience, which had a significant 10% boost in visitor numbers thanks to 960,000 paying visitors passing through. While the National Gallery of Ireland continued to lead the ‘free attractions’ listing, there was a significant new entry to the top ten in that category last year with the Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons entering the top ten listing at number five thanks to the interest of 350,000 visitors during 2013.

Overall, the combined top ten feepaying attractions in 2013 recorded a five per cent increase in visitors on the previous year’s top ten performance.

The combined top ten free attractions experienced a seven per cent jump

Top 10 Fee-Charging Attractions 2013 Name of Attraction

County

2013 Visitors

in visitors compared to the top ten performers in 2012.

“Today’s research provides another positive piece of news for tourism as our visitor attractions are quite clearly experiencing the same growth that we are seeing right across the tourism sector,” says Shaun Quinn, CEO, Fáilte Ireland. “Attractions such as these are an integral part of what Ireland has to offer visitors. Recognising the importance of having a good variety of things to do and see, Fáilte Ireland has directed significant investment into the tourism sector over the last five years with a total of €120m invested in almost 60 significant capital projects throughout the country. This year alone, we are investing €8m in capital infrastructure along the Wild Atlantic Way. Tourism is in a good place compared to five years ago but we can’t become complacent. In order to draw more visitors to our shores we need to ensure we are providing the right type of holiday experiences, particularly for our overseas markets, and Fáilte Ireland will continue to play our part in developing and improving Ireland’s tourism offering.”

Top 10 Free Attractions 2013 Name of Attraction

County

2013 Visitors

Guinness Storehouse

Dublin

1,157,090

The National Gallery of Ireland

Dublin

641,572

Dublin Zoo

Dublin

1,026,611

National Botanic Gardens

Dublin

550,000

Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience

Clare

960,134

Farmleigh

Dublin

435,476

National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology, Kildare Street

Dublin

404,230

Newbridge Silverware

Kildare

350,000

Science Gallery at Trinity College

Dublin

339,264

National Museum of Ireland - Natural History, Merrion St

Dublin

284,323

The National Library of Ireland

Dublin

260,152

Dublin

251,226

Dublin

250,659

National Aquatic Centre Book of Kells

Dublin Dublin

858,031 588,723

Tayto Park

Meath

435,000

St Patrick’s Cathedral

Dublin

410,000

Fota Wildlife Park

Cork

365,396

Blarney Castle

Cork

365,000

National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks

Kilmainham Gaol

Dublin

326,207

Chester Beatty Library

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News & Views

€2,000 Raised at IHF Gala Ball The Shannon branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) held the second annual Midwest Tourism Ball on June 16th at the Limerick Strand Hotel. The ball, which attracted over 400 guests, is part of a drive to raise funds for local tourism initiatives in the Mid-West region, including Tipperary, Clare and Limerick.

Guest of Honour on the night Minister Michael Noonan received an award in recognition of his contribution to the region, including the maintenance of the VAT rate, the abolition of airport tax, the creation of an independent Shannon Airport and many other tourism initiatives that the government have undertaken, including the Wild Atlantic Way. IHF President Stephen McNally spoke about the possibilities offered by Shannon Airport and about the importance for the tourism industry of retaining the VAT rate, which has provided nearly 24,000 thousand jobs this year alone. Raffle prizes on the night raised €2,000 which will go towards the fund. This will add to a total fund of nearly €14,000.

Left to right - Elaina Fitzgerald, Woodlands House Hotel, Sean Lally, Limerick Strand Hotel, Minister Michael Noonan, Donnacha Hurley, Absolute Hotel, Simon Hodgson, Dromoland Castle, Ivan Tuohy, Clarion Hotel Limerick, and Ciara Hanley, Limerick Strand Hotel.

Henderson Wins Prison Service Contract Mallusk-based Henderson Foodservice, one of the largest foodservice companies in Ireland, has won a contract worth up to £3m over two years from the Irish Prison Service. The company, a division of the Henderson Group, is now supplying dry goods, including the Country Range brand, to all 14 prison sites throughout the Republic through weekly deliveries. The contract is for two years initially, with the possibility of an extension for a third year. Henderson Foodservice has been expanding into the ROI market for some time and the Prison Service contract represents its biggest deal to date. “We were well-placed to win this contract as we have extensive experience in winning and managing similar business in the Northern Ireland market,” said Henderson Foodservice Managing Director Damien Barrett. “It further strengthens our position in the Republic of Ireland as we seek to grow our business there. We have recently made significant investment in our fleet and now have 50 lorries transporting deliveries across Ireland six days a week. We have also invested in a new warehouse management system to ensure customer service is even more efficient.

Also, as we have the exclusive right to sell and distribute the Country Range brand across Ireland we have access to additional resources and more competitive prices that allow us to compete more keenly in a largely cost driven sector.” Henderson Foodservice has seen sales growth of 33% in the last two years and staff numbers have increased by 20% to over 250.

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hotel & catering review

Henderson Foodservice Managing Director Damien Barrett.

News & Views

Announcing the partnership were Frank Gleeson, Head of Aramark Food Services and Cathy Meade, Account Manager, Unilever Food Solutions Ireland.

A Match Made in Cupcake Heaven National Cupcake Week kicked off on Monday, June 30th and ran until Friday, July 4th.

As part of the celebrations, Aramark Food Services teamed up with Flora Buttery from Unilever Food Solutions and sold a range of cupcakes across all of its food services sites in Ireland in aid of Aramark’s Charitable Fund’s four nationwide charities for this year: GIY (Grow it Yourself), Children’s Heartbeat Trust, St Patrick’s Mental Health Foundation and Galway Hospice. Each cupcake was made with Flora Buttery, which contains 72% less saturated fat compared to butter. Aramark encouraged people across the country to host a cupcake party during National Cupcake Week to raise funds for the Aramark Charitable Fund.

O’Callaghan Group Raises €10,000 for Temple Street

Pictured are the staff who took part, (back row left to right): Bryan O’Callaghan, Chief Executive Officer; Mary Vaughan, Director of Human Resources; Paul McGreal, HR Manager; David Malanaphy, Group General Manager; Gerry Colreavy, IT Manager; (front row left to right) Graham Cooley, Davenport Hotel Manager; Catherine Bodley, Director of Sales & Marketing; Marian Lyne, Marketing Executive; Noel Healy, Head Chef, Davenport Hotel.

Almost €10,000 has been raised this year to date by the O’Callaghan Hotel Group for Temple Street Children’s Hospital. The hospital is one of the O’Callaghan Hotels’ selected charities for 2014. Nine staff from the O’Callaghan Hotels brought the sponsorship total to €10,000 recently when the group did the Cycle 4 Life 55k charity cycle event and raised over €2,000 in the process.

The gruelling 55k challenge started and finished in Dunboyne, Co Meath. Some of the team members had adhered to a busy training schedule in the lead up to the charity event, while for others it was their first time on a bike in over 10 years. The group managed to stay together for the first five minutes of the race. However, it wasn’t long before ‘the men separated from the

boys’ and the pressure was on to keep up the pace. Human Resources Manager, Paul McGreal and Head Chef at the Davenport Hotel, Noel Healy, led the group, but Noel got into difficulties early on, encountering two punctures during the race. The main challenge for the O’Callaghan Hotels team was reaching the top of the Hill of Tara, an exceptionally steep hill at the 25k mark, but the encouragement and support from the volunteers helped the cyclists and everyone made it up and over in one piece. The entire O’Callaghan Hotels team crossed the line within a respectable three hours.

Following the success of the Cycle 4 Life cycle, members of the O’Callaghan’s Hotel team have decided to invest in racing bikes and plan to cycle the longer distance race of 105k in 2015.

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News & Views Compass Partners with Action Cancer NI Compass Group Ireland’s Northern Ireland division is partnering with Northern Ireland’s leading local cancer charity Action Cancer over the next year to help raise funds for the charity. The partnership will see Compass Group hold a wide range of fundraising activities across all its Northern Ireland units including raffles, branded product sales and individual fundraising attempts. To date the Group has raised almost £4,000 for the charity through these initiatives. The Compass Group NI team will also be participating in an ‘Apprentice’ style challenge where they will put all their retail knowledge to the test against other Northern Ireland companies. The team will take over an Action Cancer shop in Belfast for one day in September and will compete against other organisations to raise the most money for the charity. The results of the task will be announced at a gala ball in October.

Niall Gibbons, Tourism Ireland CEO (left), with Mr Liu Yunshan and Sarah Slazenger, Managing Director of Powerscourt House and Gardens, enjoying the gardens at Powerscourt in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.

Recent research, commissioned

by Tourism Ireland, reaffirms the strong growth potential from China, with higherthan-expected recognition for Ireland among Chinese travellers.

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Powerscourt Welcomes Chinese Leaders Delegation Tourism Ireland welcomed the visit of Mr Liu Yunshan and his delegation from China to Ireland on June 16th. Mr Liu is a member of the Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee and First Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the CPC. He and his delegation enjoyed a visit to Powerscourt House and Gardens, in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. Mr Liu’s visit was widely covered by the media in China, providing a unique opportunity to shine a spotlight on Ireland for potential Chinese holidaymakers. Recent research, commissioned by Tourism Ireland, reaffirms the strong growth potential from China, with higher-thanexpected recognition for Ireland among Chinese travellers and an association with beautiful landscape and scenery.

Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons said the outbound Chinese tourism market is set to grow considerably in the next few years and that the organisation’s research shows that Ireland is well positioned to benefit from this growth. “We will continue to highlight Ireland’s landscape and spectacular scenery, placing particular emphasis on our natural, unspoilt environment, our UNESCO World Heritage Sites and other iconic attractions, which are among our unique selling points in China,” he said.

hotel & catering review

Compass Group staff Anne Marie Agnew, Siobhan Day and Deborah Loughins with Correna McMullan, Compass Group Ireland.

Kelly’s Cafe Wins National Award Kelly’s Café, Drinagh, Co Wexford won the ‘Best Café’ category in the sixth annual Restaurants Association of Ireland awards in association with the Sunday Independent LIFE Magazine. The awards recognise excellence in the restaurant industry throughout the island of Ireland in 25 categories. The café was nominated by Sunday Independent readers and subsequently judged by members of The Restaurants Association of Ireland. “Our team, including Executive Head Chef Stephane Rochard and Restaurant Manager Nichola Dempsey have worked hard to create this new space and have sourced the best natural foods found abundantly in Wexford,” said Bill Kelly. “The staff and I are thrilled to have won.”

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News & Views Aghadoe Heights Hosts Spa & Fitness Evening The team at The Aghadoe Heights Hotel & Spa hosted a special spa and fitness evening last month. Invited guests were treated to deliciously fresh summer ‘skinnylicious cocktails’, including blackberry margaritas, lemon & lime margaritas and non-alcoholic frosty basil lemonade, as well as a selection of healthy canapés on the terrace overlooking the Lakes of Killarney. Guests then enjoyed pampering treats in The Spa (which took home two awards at the recent Irish Tatler Spa Awards) where they sampled the paraffin hand treatments, mini hand and arm massages and the organic Voya and Neom product range.

They also received helpful advice from their therapists, such as product recommendations and best application techniques etc.

Post spa, pampering fitness experts Paul and Siobhan Byrne of Bodybyrne joined the group for a chat and offered their expert advice on how to use Killarney and its environs to get fit. Paul Byrne has won numerous physique classes in Mr Ireland, Mr Northern Ireland & UK, Mr Titan and, remarkably, is a six times Irish Karate Champion, twice European Karate Champion and holds a very impressive third Dan Black Belt! He has trained everyone from Olympic athletes to beginners to get them in the best possible physical shape and is one of Ireland’s most experienced personal trainers. Siobhan Byrne is coowner of Bodybyrne and a full-time trainer and regular panelist on TV3 where she discusses the female diet and training, and is a weekly columnist with The Irish Independent’s FIT Magazine, amongst other publications. Over 80 guests attended the exclusive evening and they included Aileen Garvey, Helen Sheehan, Angela Ring, Niamh Bowler, Linda Kennelly and Olivia Buckley.

Guests were free to relax afterwards and enjoyed sharing plates, cocktails and light bites while being entertained by the in-house pianist in The Heights Lounge.

Pampering fitness experts Paul and Siobhan Byrne of Bodybyrne.

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Four Stars for Temple Gate Hotel The family-owned Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis, Co Clare, has been awarded four star classification by Fáilte Ireland. Opened in 1996 and just a short stroll from the centre of town, the Temple Gate Hotel features the AA Rosette-awarded Legends restaurant as well as Preacher’s Bar. The hotel also comprises 70 bedrooms, including executive rooms and junior suites, each of which offer complimentary Wi-Fi. Additionally, the Temple Gate Hotel offers meeting rooms for corporate guests as well as areas such as The Library or Lobby. The Great Hall at the Temple Gate Hotel, which still has many of its original features including stained glass windows, vaulted ceiling with oak beams and hand painted batiks, provides a stunning room for wedding receptions.

Managing Director Paul Madden is delighted with the recent reclassification. “We have dedicated ourselves over the last few years to bringing the hotel to a higher standard for our guests with room refurbishments and significant investment,” he says. “It is fantastic to have our efforts recognised by Fáilte Ireland and we look forward to giving our future visitors a four star welcome.”

News & Views

g Hotel Sponsors Best Dressed Man at Ladies Day The five star g Hotel in Galway will be sponsoring the Best Dressed Man competition on August 7th at this year’s Blossom Hill Ladies Day at the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show 2014. The hotel will be bringing its special guest and judge on the day, world renowned milliner and Galway native, Philip Treacy. The Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show will take place from August 6th to 10th. The winner of the Best Dressed Man category, chosen by Philip Treacy, will win an exclusive VIP package for two people in the g Hotel to the value of over €5,000, including two nights’ bed and breakfast in the Linda Evangelista Presidential Suite with access to a private butler, dinner on both nights in Restaurant gigi’s, and afternoon tea, plus a selection of holistic treatments from the ‘ESPA at the g’ spa.

Models Darren King and Carl Shabaan with MC for the Best Dressed competition Brendan Courtney.

Irish Hotels Hooked on Wi-Fi Bitbuzz, Ireland’s leading Wi-Fi network operator, recently announced contract wins and renewals across the board, including the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa Galway, the five star Lough Erne Resort, host to the 2013 G8 summit, the Best Western Montenotte Hotel in Cork, and the Mooney Hotel Group in Northern Ireland. The Wi-Fi provider now supplies 150 hotels throughout the UK and Ireland. A preferred supplier for the Radisson Blu Hotel Group throughout Ireland, Bitbuzz started working with the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa Galway in 2005. “A strong Wi-Fi connection has become a prerequisite for guests staying in luxury hotels,” says Michael Stapleton, General Manager, Radisson Blue Hotel & Spa Galway. “Since we signed our initial contract with Bitbuzz in 2005, the demand for faster broadband continues to increase.” Buswells Hotel on Dublin’s Molesworth Street has been a Bitbuzz customer since 2005. “In the heart of Dublin’s political and economic activity, it’s vital that we provide industry-leading Wi-Fi to our guests and customers,” says General Manager Paul Gallagher. “Working with Bitbuzz for nearly ten years, we have been consistently happy with the service provided. There are constant innovations and upgrades to the service which help to keep Buswells ahead of our rivals.”

Shane Deasy, Managing Director, Bitbuzz, says these contract renewals are a key indicator for further innovation. “We signed many of these hotel contracts for the first time almost a decade ago,” he says. “Since then the Wi-Fi landscape has changed irreversibly. When Buswells Hotel signed with Bitbuzz in 2005, there was no RTÉ Player, Sky Go or Netflix. If we didn’t innovate to meet the users demand we simply would not exist. Now hotel guests are turning off the television and watching shows on Netflix through their iPad.” Bitbuzz now has 2,353,429 registered users and recently announced the installation of its 500th hotspot, located at the Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa in Sligo town.

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Commercial Profile

A Bright Summer Forecast As

Tourism Sentiment Soars The latest Fáilte Ireland survey shows that tourism businesses are anticipating a busy and profitable summer season, while the Wild Atlantic Way initiative attracts major publicity – and capital investment.

Interesting points from the survey include:

1

The majority (62%) of serviced accommodation providers report an

increase in visitor volumes so far this year, compared to the same period last year.

2

The accommodation sector in Dublin performed very well last

year, with a strong growth continuing into the first part of 2014 and 77% of respondents in Dublin reporting an increase on 2013.

3

Outside the capital, across the rest of Ireland, business is also on the

up with the south of Ireland performing particularly well so far this year, with two thirds of respondents from both the South East (66%) and South West (65%) reporting increases.

4

Hotels remain the strongest sector, with 69% of respondents reporting

an increase.

Almost three quarters (74%) of tourism businesses are anticipating an increase in business in the year ahead. That’s according to the latest Fáilte Ireland Tourism Barometer, which was published in June. The survey of tourism businesses, which was carried out in April and May, records business sentiment at a height not seen since the Celtic Tiger years.

The high level of optimism about the performance of the rest of the year is prevalent around the country with all sectors of tourism expecting an increase in visitor volumes on 2013. Hotels are particularly bullish with 80% expecting an increase in business.

“This optimism is firmly rooted in improved facts on the ground,” says Failte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn. “For example, the majority of accommodation operators are reporting an increase in visitor volumes so far this year, compared to the same period last year. Of these, hotels remain the strongest sector, with more than two thirds of respondents reporting an increase. The industry members we work with are not only forecasting further growth from European and American markets but are also telling us that they detect growing confidence in the British and home holiday markets. This is incredibly encouraging and, if this translates into additional breaks and travel from those parts, 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 we could be in 45 14 15 28 39 48 68 74 Up for a bumper season this 24 18 11 25 31 26 21 18 same year.”

31 68 75 47 30 25 11 8 down

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5

For the accommodation sector, the domestic market is expected

to show significant growth for the remainder of the year, with 67% of respondents expecting an increase in visitors from Ireland.

6

Compared to this time last year, the average room yield of hotels is

looking much stronger with two thirds (66%) of respondents reporting their average room yield to be up (a good increase on 2013 when only 42% of respondents reported an increase).

7

Profitability has also moved upwards in 2014 with more than half

(54%) of hotels reporting an increase (compared to 48% last year).

8

Two thirds (67%) of responding restaurants expect their visitor

volume to be up in 2014, compared to 2013.

Commercial Profile

Capital Investment Boost for Tourism June was a busy month for funding allocations with Dublin and the Wild Atlantic Way receiving further boosts. €300,000 was allocated under Fáilte Ireland’s Capital Investment Programme for a new visitor attraction at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin and the development of a new whiskey museum on College Green. The Wild Atlantic Way was boosted by an allocation of €3.2m for a programme of improvement works for 133 Discovery Points and 22 embarkation points which have been identified along the 2,500km Wild Atlantic Way route. The discovery points which have been identified for upgrade are essential to the success of the project and represent locations where the visitor can stop off, get out and explore, and find out about some unique stories relating to the natural heritage of the area, as well as the culture and social history associated with the location.

“Increasingly, a successful tourism destination needs to be able to tell its story and to provide opportunities for visitors to engage with that narrative and to bring stories alive for our visitors,” says Fáilte Ireland CEO, Shaun Quinn. “These projects allow us to do just that and contribute to our overall ambition of marketing Ireland as a ‘must-see’ and ‘must-do’ destination.”

Adventure Travel VIPs Showcase Wild Atlantic Way Two of the world’s top adventure travel specialists were in Ireland last month as part of a 10-day journey of discovery along the Wild Atlantic Way.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Shannon Stowell and Chris Doyle from the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) toured the route on motorbikes showcasing all that the Wild Atlantic Way has to offer via social media, including video blogs and twitter updates. The trip profiled the Wild Atlantic Way as an exciting tourism destination, action-packed with dramatic coastal scenery, adventure and unique Irish culture. It also provided an opportunity to create fresh and compelling digital content for the Wild Atlantic Way which can be used in future promotional activity.

“To have these adventure travel VIPs visit Ireland gives us a fabulous opportunity to showcase the Wild Atlantic Way to a global audience and, most importantly, to the adventure tourism audience who are a key target market for the route,” says Fiona Monaghan, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of the Wild Atlantic Way. “There is only so much we can say about the Wild Atlantic Way, sometimes it just has to be experienced.

As experiences such as these are shared through social media and online, we are confident that more and more people are going to be as excited as we are about the Wild Atlantic Way.”

Tracey Coughlan and Josephine O’Driscoll from Fáilte Ireland join the ATTA storytelling team at Celtic Riders HQ before they started their Wild Atlantic Way adventure.

Adventure tourism is high on the agenda for Fáilte Ireland this year as the country gears up to host the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) 2014 in Killarney from October 6th to 9th. The Summit is an executive gathering for the travel tourism industry, which is attended by up to 650 of the most influential global decision makers (buyers, media and VIPs) from the important and growing adventure travel industry.

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Cover story

Making the Most of a Buyers Market iNua Hospitality CEO Noel Creedon talks to Maev Martin about future investment plans and about how much longer we can expect the current hotel buying and selling frenzy to last.

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i

Nua Hospitality is a specialist hospitality investment vehicle designed to acquire four-star hotels in Ireland. “We established the company in 2012 and we created a structure that allowed us to take investment from disparate investors in disparate locations and apply it to a specific asset,” says Noel. “We formally launched the company in early 2013 and we were able to raise money on the basis of what we were aiming to do so that was a leap of faith on the part of our original investors but I think the significant investment value and profitability appealed to them.

In late 2013 and early 2014 we

applied the funding that we raised and acquired two assets.”

Radisson Blu in Cork & Limerick With a guide price of €8m following an original valuation of €37m in 2005, the sale of the Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa in Little Island in Cork in November 2013 represented excellent investor value and secured the future of the fourstar, 126-bedroom hotel and its 150 staff. More recently, on June 16th, iNua announced the acquisition of their second asset, another Radisson-branded hotel, this time the four-star, 154-bedroom Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa on Limerick’s

Ennis Road for €3.5m.

Is iNua Hospitality planning to acquire more Radissonbranded hotels? “The first property that we acquired happened to be a Radissonbranded hotel so we were happy to continue the relationship with Radisson in managing the property,” says Noel. “Our acquisition of the Radissonbranded hotel in Limerick was based on the fact that it was a similar asset to the one in Cork and we saw synergies in having Radisson as the operator there also. In Cork, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group (whose global brands include Radisson Blu and Park Inn) were managing the Little Island property. We

cover story OPPOSITE: John O’Brien, Chief Financial Officer, iNua Hospitality, who previously worked as Financial Controller for the Randles Hotel Group in Kerry, Managing Director Noel Creedon, and David Conway, Independent Non-Executive Director, iNua Hospitality, and a former director of Ulster Bank; LEFT: Glandore Suite

took vacant posession and we invited Rezidor back in as the operator. In the Limerick property all Rezidor had was a franchise – they had no operational involvement – so we re-appointed Rezidor to that hotel as well. However, when it came to making a decision to invest, the branding and operation of the hotels was the last part of the jigsaw rather than the first. In other words, we are looking at acquiring other properties and they may or may not have a brand. If we acquired a hotel that didn’t have a brand, for example, we would look at appointing a bespoke management team with a good General Manager and overlay our asset management expertise on top of that to ensure that we get a good return on our investment.”

A Unique Investor Noel is keen to differentiate iNua Hospitality from other hotel investment or management companies in the market.

“Unlike the Dalata Group, for example, we don’t manage the assets on behalf of banks or NAMA– we are solely focused on acquiring assets on behalf of our investors,” he says. “Also, unlike Dalata, we are not hotel operators – we are interested in properties not because we want to manage them but because they make investment sense and we appoint the most appropriate operator to manage the asset.

At Little Island, for example, it was apparent to us that Radisson was doing a good job so we were happy to continue working with them. iNua Hospitality brings together consortia of potential investors in hotel properties.

Our investors are focused on making an investment return rather than on being hoteliers.

There has been incredible value in the sector in the last 12 or 18 months when you consider the properties being brought to market by the banks and NAMA at huge discounts from their original purchase prices.

“iNua Hospitality is well placed to double its portfolio of assets in the coming year.”

Also, a lot of these assets that are coming to the market are profitable and certainly can be profitable with some capital expenditure. The only problem is that many of them had racked up too much debt but when you recalibrate the debt – ie, when you bring the properties back to the market at a particular price point and they are profitable at that price point – they become compelling business opportunities.”

Acquisition Plans Noel says that iNua Hospitality doesn’t have a definite acquisition plan for the Irish hotel market. However, the company is confident that it is “well placed to double its portfolio of assets in the coming year. We will be driven by whether we see value or not but I expect that value will remain in the market for the next 12 to 18 months. Of course, that could change but once we perceive value for our investors we will continue to actively seek further hotel acquisitions. The type of property that we are looking to acquire is primarily a four star hotel and possibly high end three star hotel, north of 80 bedrooms, ideally 100 beds, and in good urban locations where there is strong footfall and you can pitch at a good business mix as opposed to being over reliant on one market. So it is hotel properties in Cork, Limerick, and Galway, or in strong market towns, that we are primarily interested in.” iNua is also looking at some hotel investment opportunities internationally. “If the value remains in Ireland we will remain focused on Ireland but inevitably that will change because of the improving economic situation and the fact that the market here is finite,” he says. “So we may look to other European countries that are experiencing similar economic improvement cycles to us but may not be as advanced in coming out of those cycles

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Cover story

LEFT AND BELOW: The Radisson Limerick; BELOW LEFT: The Radisson Cork Exterior

“The occupancy and rates being achieved in Dublin make compelling reading and I think over time, and with the improving macro economic situation, that this will drip feed out into other urban locations.”

as we are. That means that there may be good value to be had and we would apply the same investment criteria in those jurisdictions as we apply in Ireland. We are looking at Europe – Spain, Portugal and the regional UK markets - they all have similar investment opportunities to Ireland but our primary focus at the moment is Ireland because the value is still there. The market in Ireland is more competitive now in order to acquire the assets available.

However, a lot of hotel stock continues to be held by the banks and NAMA and that stock still has a lot of debt attached to it that will have to wash through in some shape or form. Either the debt will have to be recalibrated or the properties will have to be sold

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hotel & catering review

and both options will continue to happen so you are probably looking at another 12 to 18 months of high levels of hotel trading. It will be an interesting few months and after that the sector should return to some sort of normality. The banks are also becoming more interested in or comfortable in saying ‘we are dealing with a very good hotel operator or hotel owner who has too much debt on the property but is still doing a good job so maybe we can come to an arrangement with that owner or operator whereby the hotel can continue to be operated by them’. We are also seeing and will continue to see the alternative approach which is the sale of properties at a significant discount.”

Bright Outlook Following his acquisition of the Radisson hotel in Cork last November, Noel Creedon said there was a lot to be positive about in the hospitality sector and that the industry was starting to see a clear pathway to recovery that is supported and backed by Government policy. Is he still positive about the industry’s prospects or does he see any major impediment to further investment in the sector?

“I’m still pretty optimistic about the industry’s prospects,” he says.

“There is a momentum now that points to the sector being on a solid footing. The occupancy and rates being achieved in Dublin make compelling reading and I think over time, and with the improving macro economic situation, that this

will drip feed out into other urban locations. I believe that Cork will be first in line for that general improvement and that is being reflected in various statistics. Also, Limerick has had a good year and Galway has its own dynamic so I think there is a very good hotel stock in the country generally. One of the benefits of the Celtic Tiger was that the hotel stock is relatively new, even if it was starved of ongoing capital expenditure to keep the aesthetics good.

Structurally, the hotels are in good shape so the stock of hotels is pretty good in comparison with other jurisdictions. When you take that into consideration and add it to the other positive market indicators I would continue to be optimistic for the sector.”

Dine

SERVES

2

People

‘Irish True’ Flambéed Dublin Bay Prawns with a Whiskey-Infused Twist

Hotel & Catering Review’s Dish of the Month comes from Alex Avel, Head Chef at Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre’s new restaurant ‘The Bond’.

The Tullamore D.E.W. recipe for flambéed Dublin Bay prawns with a whiskey-infused twist is inspired by Tullamore D.E.W.’s distinct ‘Irish True’ personality. The dish was created by talented French Chef Alex Avel at the newly-opened restaurant ‘The Bond’ at Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre in Tullamore, Offaly. Chef Avel is known for his dishes of imagination and flair which combine the finest local ingredients. Signature dishes include Lamb Shank Redemption, a slowly braised lamb shank resting in onion and rosemary jus with seasonal farm vegetables and potatoes. Whiskey inspired dishes include the ‘D.E.W. York D.E.W. York House Burger’ and the ‘Irish Drunken Mushrooms’ flambéed in Tullamore D.E.W. Old Bonded Warehouse release.

Ingredients: • 12 large prawns peeled and veined • 50 ml of Tullamore D.E.W. original • 1 soup spoon of chopped flat parsley • 1 small clove of chopped garlic • 120 ml of fresh cream • 1/3 tea spoon of good quality sweet chilli sauce • 1 hazelnut sized knob of salted butter Prep Times: 5 minutes Cook Times: 5 minutes

Method:

1. Heat up a frying pan with the salted butter.

2. Cook your prawns for 45 seconds on each side.

3. Pour 50ml of Tullamore D.E.W. original into your pan and leave it to reduce.

4. Add parsley and garlic first. Then add fresh cream and reduce it again.

5. Once reduced, add the sweet chilli sauce and season it to your liking with salt and pepper.

This dish makes an ideal brunch or light lunch.

It is best served on a thick slice of toasted brown soda bread with a side of tossed baby leaf salad. The flavours in the sweet chilli and garlic balance off the mellow depth of Tullamore D.E.W original.

The Bond’s Head Chef Alex Avel.

The new 70-seater ‘The Bond’ restaurant combines high end gastro-pub style food with a whiskey-infused twist. Cathy Sullivan, Marketing Manager, Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre, says a lot of care and attention to detail has gone into designing “a restaurant worthy of its beautiful setting in the Tullamore D.E.W. Visitor Centre along the banks of the Grand Canal. Chef Avel, formerly of the Hilton in Lyon, has designed a menu that reflects the unique spirit and heritage of Tullamore D.E.W. and the rich palette of worldclass Irish ingredients available on our doorstep.”

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Key to the door

Carlow Hotel Buys ‘The Dome’ The four-star Talbot Hotel Group announced on June 23rd the addition of The Dome, a family entertainment centre in Carlow, to its four star hotel property, The Talbot Hotel Carlow. “The Dome offers an array of family entertainment, including a 12-lane bowling alley, an 8,000 square foot children’s play and activity area, pool and snooker rooms, and kids go-karts and, as a result of this addition, the Talbot Hotel Carlow will offer the best kids club offering at any hotel in the country,” says the Group’s Managing Director, Philip Gavin. “The Dome, which was a purposebuilt construction in 2004, closed in early 2014 with the appointment of a receiver and the loss of 35 jobs. It re-opened on June 23rd securing these jobs for the town.”

key to the

door Openings, Closures, Refurbs and Acquisitions

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Pictured at The Dome are Ken Battigan, General Manager, The Talbot Hotel Carlow, Cormac Pettitt owner of the Talbot Hotel Group, The Talbot Tiger, Philip Gavin, Managing Director of the Talbot Hotel Group, and Mary French, Sales and Marketing Manager, Talbot Hotel Carlow.

Key to the door

Adare Manor to be Sold The five star Co Limerick golf resort Adare Manor is to be put on the market by CBRE with a guide price in excess of a10m.

The property includes a 62-bedroom hotel, 60 villas and town houses, and its Robert Trench Jones-designed champion golf course. US businessman Tom Kane and his family are believed to own an 80% stake in the property. Financier and Celtic FC backer Dermot Desmond is among those holding the remaining 20%. Meanwhile, Dublin investment group Brehon Capital Partners is teaming up with the entrepreneur Emmet O’Neill to take control of the Mount Wolseley resort in Carlow. Brehon and Emmet O’Neill are investing a7.5m to buy the four star resort out of examinership. Emmet O’Neill and Brehon are 50/50 partners in the deal.

European Investor Buys Aghadoe Heights The O’Reilly family have sold the five star Aghadoe Heights Hotel & Spa in a private deal to an unnamed European investor with significant international hotel interests. The Davy Group completed the purchase on their behalf. Since purchasing the Aghadoe Heights Hotel & Spa in 1998, the O’Reilly family has significantly redeveloped the property, adding 20 rooms, 24 suites, a 3,000 square foot penthouse suite, and a 10,000 square foot spa. Pat and Marie Chawke have been General Managers at the hotel since 2000. “The hotel is being sold as a ‘going concern’ and the management and staff will ensure that it is ‘business as usual’ for our customers and suppliers,” said Pat Chawke. Hotel Director Jerry O’Reilly said they had enjoyed their association with the Aghadoe Heights Hotel & Spa and were very proud of the achievements of the hotel and the staff.

Spencer Hotel Opens Dublin’s latest luxury hotel, The Spencer in the IFSC, opened earlier this month. Formerly The Clarion Hotel Dublin City, the new four star hotel welcomed a host of celebrities, including Bono’s artist friend Guggi and X Factor’s Louis Walsh, as well as RTE presenters Aidan Power and Derek Mooney, on its opening night. The hotel is the newest addition to the Fitzpatrick Lifestyle Hotel group, which includes The Beacon in Sandyford and The Morgan on Fleet Street.

Middleton Park House On Market from €950,000 The Middleton Park House Hotel in Castletown Geoghan, Co Westmeath, is for sale by Savills for a guide price of a950,000. The current owners purchased the regency style period mansion in 2004 and set about converting it to a hotel. The property sits amid approximately 26 acres of gardens and woodland and is hidden from public view at the end of a long avenue over one kilometre in length. Noteworthy features of the main house include a cantilevered staircase, spacious entrance hall and a restored period conservatory. Middleton Park House consists of the main house, The Bell Tower Wing and the Chapel Wing. Accommodation is laid out on ground, first and lower ground floor levels. The main banqueting hall caters for up to 200 people. The property can accommodate up to 50 guests in the existing 16 en-suite bedrooms consisting of four luxury suites and 12 standard bedrooms. There is potential to create an additional 10 bedrooms within the existing structure of the Chapel Wing (subject to planning). The restaurant and private dining room, as well as the wine cellar, are located in the basement. The property has strong forward bookings and is being sold as a going concern.

Tower Hotel Derry for Sale CBRE Hotels has been appointed to sell the Tower Hotel, Derry, and is inviting offers in excess of £3.75m for the property. The 93-bedroom hotel is located within the historic Derry City walls. It has conference and banqueting facilities for up to 400 people, 28 basement parking spaces, and planning permission for an additional 52 bedrooms. The hotel houses the Lyric Bar and Grill, Walls Bar and Restaurant and The Tyrconnell Suite function room. The Lyric Bar and Grill was refurbished in 2013 and is licensed for 250 patrons. The Walls Bar and Restaurant is the hotel’s main restaurant and overlooks the City’s Walls and Butcher Gate. The Tower Hotel is located off The Diamond in the heart of the city centre.

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Business Matters

Refinancing Calculating

the IndustryWide Impact How have the restructurings that have occurred to date impacted the various stakeholders in the hotel sector?

Hotel & Catering Review reports on a recent presentation by restructuring and recovery specialist Aiden Murphy, who is a Partner with Crowe Horwath.

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T

wenty months on from the first ‘Time to Invest’ conference, a follow-on conference organised by the Irish Hotels Federation was held recently in the Clyde Court Hotel Dublin. Key topics presented by industry professionals included progress made to date, the challenges remaining, and the changed ownership and operational landscape that is emerging. The conference was addressed by an economist, property agent, banker, stockbroker, and funders and accountants who provided specialist advice to hoteliers, as well as by a hotelier who has had firsthand experience of a successful refinance.

A number of recurring themes emerged from the IHF conference and these will, no doubt, shape the thinking, strategies and actions of both lenders and borrowers, whether they are existing hotel owners or those seeking to acquire, expand or restructure. Aiden Murphy was invited back as a speaker to outline how the restructuring that has taken place to date has been impacting the various stakeholders in the hotel sector. Aiden also reviewed transactional activity, refinancing from exiting banks to new banks, and the restructuring of over indebted loans for existing customers of banks who remain committed to the Irish economy.

There are at least 200 hotels

out of 900 Irish hotels, circa 23%, which still need to be recycled from their existing lender to a new funder or new owner as the lender closes down their loan books. Aiden provided a snapshot of the imbalance between those hotels where their funders wished to exit the underlying loan and the appetite from the remaining banks – AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank – to provide replacement funding. This imbalance is creating the need for financial institutions such as NAMA and BOSI to include hotels in more general property loan portfolio sales.

The desire to speed up activity has created opportunities for groups with funding available.

Dalata Hotel Group, with equity capital of a235,000 and with potential to borrow a165m, have a warchest of a400m and the capacity to buy upwards of 30 hotels in a short space of time.

Other groups, including Brehon Capital and iNua Partnership, remain active while others such as Ostán Capital Partners appear to be gearing up. These funds represent a change in ownership that is likely to have a preferred operational approach.

These factors are changing the ownership landscape for hotels and moving it towards a more investment-led and return model.

The purchase of hotel loans by loan acquisition specialists creates an opportunity for individual hoteliers to conclude

a refinance deal which may not have been possible with their existing lender. The loan portfolio purchasing groups such as Lone Star, Car Val and Blackstone will have an

2012

2014

Total Outstanding Loans to the Hotel Sector

€6.7bn

€5.3bn

Number of Hotels Requiring Refinancing from Exiting Banks

300

300

% of Hotels Requiring Refinancing

33%

23%

Source: Crowe Horwath

Business Matters

Connacht & Ulster 20%

Dublin 26%

Munster 30%

rest of Leinster 24%

Concentration of operating hotels by location (102 Hotels). Source: NAMA.

exit-oriented strategy whereby time and ease of recovery on the loan are motivating factors. The clear message at the conference was that time was of the essence and hoteliers in these situations need to be ready and prepared to complete a deal. The current climate also allows for significant debt forgiveness, either through a refinance or restructure, where debt is set at a realistic level. The new funding regime recognises the need for ongoing investment in hotels and the level of cashflow taken for debt service will factor in this requirement.

So far NAMA has exited from 19 Irish hotels and

expects disposals to ramp up significantly over the next two years. The agency recognises that the sale of hotels on an individual basis will slow the process and may not be attractive to emerging buyers who are well funded and have an appetite for scale transactions.

This thinking has led NAMA to launch its first hotel portfolio, Project Venue, consisting of the Ormonde Kilkenny, Malton Killarney and Metropole Cork.

In their presentation, AIB asked hotels seeking to refinance that they engage with banks early and have financial information and cashflows available. The

quality and confidence in such information can be enhanced if the figures provided are corroborated by external advisers who understand the hotel sector and can adjust the information for sensitivity analysis as is often required by a bank. They also asked hoteliers to work on sourcing new equity that would be required to allow a transaction to be completed. AIB warned that deals had fallen at the last minute as the anticipated equity did not materialise.

All speakers agreed that the availability of equity to support a refinance was the most difficult aspect in any transaction. Sources such as EIIS (Employment Investment Incentive Scheme) and family/ friends money are seen as likely sources for a certain class investment where private investors are difficult to attract.

As part of his presentation, Alan Aherne, NUIG economist, called on the government to allocate a100m of the a6.8bn Ireland Strategic Investment Fund towards equity to invest in viable Irish hotels for capital improvement, creation of small hotel groups, and working capital needs. Aiden indicated that 33 hotels were sold in 2013, up from

24 in 2012, with a further 83 hotels in the hands of Receivers which remain to be sold. The actions of NAMA, BOSI and the acquirers of the IBRC loans will also create additional sale situations, as will the dismantling of the seven-year capital allowance hotel investments put in place from 2006 to 2007.

The future ownership landscape will include an increased number of hotel groups which are set to attract capital. There are also likely to be many opportunities for general managers or younger generations of the traditional hotel family to acquire regional hotels at affordable levels. These would be hotels that represent a good lifestyle opportunity and where asset values are likely to increase if the hotel is operated profitably.

About Aiden: Aiden Murphy is a Partner within the Corporate Recovery Department in Crowe Horwath. He deals primarily with hotel, tourism and leisure projects and property, and trading insolvency cases.

Aiden is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Financial Advisor with 19 years’ experience.

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Conferencing

How to Generate Business from the

Meetings Market

Ciara Feely of ConferenceConverter. com describes how hoteliers can convert what she believes is a missed opportunity into new business for their operations.

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hotel & catering review

I

hear a lot of hoteliers saying to me - “we are a wedding hotel”.

I challenge that with a question - do you want to be busy two days a week or seven days a week? It’s interesting to watch people’s reactions when I point out to them how completely focused they are on filling their hotel at the weekends. One hotelier in Leitrim said “That is us! If we even moved 20% of the effort we put into weddings into your approach to winning conferences we would not have the same problems mid week”. Monday to Friday is where the real profit is and it is easy business to get - if you are going about it the right way. I will share a few tips on where to start and what you need in place to attract, convert

and win a lot more mid-week business from the conference and meetings market.

Money Talks Lets do the Math You could be losing out on as much as a1.2m if your conference room is empty two days a week. a15,000 is the average value of a conference. If you multiply

that by four days it comes to a60,000 per week. The cost of the conference room being empty two days a week is a30,000.

Can your hotel afford this loss in revenue of a1.2 million per year? And that’s just based on 10 months of the year.

Business guests spend twice as much as a leisure guest - it’s not their money so they are generally

“Many wedding co-ordinators are moved into this role and treat the planner the same way they would a bride. This is detrimental to your sales efforts in the corporate and association world and it will only serve to damage your reputation.”

Conferencing

more generous with it. They are there for morning and afternoon coffees, lunch, evening meal and some, although not all, stay over.

Operationally they are easier to plan for as you know their eating times and where they will be.

They are repeat business – if you build the relationship they will come back. A bride will not get married in the same venue twice!

And there is a ripple effect to the business. I focus on how to turn conference delegates into advocates and fans. They are influencers who will talk about your hotel and recommend you if they have the right experience.

At least 20% of a conference audience are influencers or members of an association, or their company runs events or conferences. At the very least, they run meetings! What are you doing to plant the seed in their minds to ensure that they recommend your hotel?

The biggest challenge conference planners have is to capture the attention of the delegates. However, taking their event out of the city gives the planner a captive audience. If you market your hotel as a destination where the organiser can sell a lot more products, build better relationships with their audience, and get amazing feedback from their delegates saying they will definitely come back next year because they made such great connections at the event, do you think the organiser will listen?

Absolutely.

Where to Start?

Change of Mindset Set aside time and resources to dedicate to a market that can fill your hotel five days a week. If you are serious about this market, one to two days a week will get you started. Then review this after six months. I conducted a workshop in a west of Ireland town last year where the sales managers asked me how to sell their destination to the conference market because location was always coming up as an obstacle. They always lost out to the ‘bigger’ destinations.

We did a simple strengths and weaknesses analysis. At the start of this exercise, their body language wasn’t exactly exuding confidence - their shoulders were hunched, their heads were down a little. At the end of the exercise we had come up with 13 strengths and just two weaknesses. Their perspective had changed. I loved that they were now sitting up straight, smiling and feeling confident in their approach. They had switched their pitch to what their location can help the conference planner deliver in terms of attendee engagement and participation.

Their mindset about the destination had a renewed focus and that is the focus the conference planner wants to hear.

Be ‘Conferencised’ (Yes, I did make that word up!)

Whoever is focusing on this market must be versed in the language of the conference/ meeting planner. Many wedding co-ordinators are moved into this role and treat the planner the same way they would a bride. This is detrimental to your sales efforts in the corporate and association world and it will only serve to damage your reputation. When dealing with the meetings and conference market you must remember that you are handling someone’s reputation and brand (and maybe even their job!). It took years to build this and, indeed, perhaps hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of euros. They will not hand it over and trust a hotel with it if they feel that the person they are working with does not understand their world.

Have the Right Tools for the Job This is essential in order to send out the right message that your hotel can ‘handle’ and run successful conferences, meetings or team builds. WiFi is extremely important for both the organiser and the delegate experience. Free would be fabulous but make it

Ciara Feely Cahalane

“One hotelier in Leitrim said ‘If we even moved 20% of the effort we put into weddings into your approach to winning conferences we would not have the same problems mid week’.”

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Conferencing

as easy as possible for them to get access to the WiFi – ideally click and go. You must have a decent screen and projector and you must create a Conference Converter Toolkit. This comprises a conference-friendly website, a dedicated brochure for this market that has a believable marketing pitch, the perfect pitch, and floor plans, which are the secret weapon when it comes to converting more conference business. All of these tools are designed to make life easy for the conference planner. Having the Conference Converter Toolkit in place immediately means that you are giving the organiser all the information they need before they have to ask for it. This assures the planner that they are dealing with professionals who understand their market.

In the August issue of Hotel & Catering Review I will talk about how to start generating leads from your lobby traffic.

About the Author:

“You could be losing out on as much as a1.2m if your conference room is empty two days a week.”

A room full of delegates at a conference in a hotel in Copenhagen.

Conference planner Ciara Feely runs monthly webinars and workshops, both online and offline, where she helps hoteliers to ensure that the meetings and conference market adds significantly to their bottom line. According to Ciara, 98% of the feedback from 200 trainees has been “excellent to very good”. She has created the Conference Converter System which, she claims, helps hotels to increase conversion rates by up to 40%, double the power of their existing marketing spend, and fill their hotel with more profitable guests.

For more information visit ConferenceConverter. com, email: Ciara@ ConferenceConverter.com, or call 086 3611428.

Festival Essentials from

Bunzl McLaughlin

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On the move

New Head Chef at Hayfield Manor

Unilever Ireland Gets New MD

Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson has been appointed Managing Director and Vice President (VP) Customer Development for Unilever Ireland, succeeding Jill Ross in the leadership role. Nick has held various senior posts since joining Unilever in 2011, most recently as Shopper Marketing and Category Management Director with Unilever UK, and will take up the new role in Ireland in July.

Based in Unilever Ireland’s head office in Citywest, Nick will lead the company’s Irish sales and marketing team to ensure that Irish customers receive quality Unilever products at affordable prices. He will be responsible for Unilever’s business development in Ireland, working in close partnership with the company’s retail and wholesale customers.

Nick joined Unilever UK Ltd in January 2011 as Business Operations Director within Customer Development. He then assumed role of Category Management & Business Operations Director in July 2011. In October 2013, he took on leadership of Unilever’s Shopper Marketing function while retaining the category management function. Before joining Unilever, Nick held various senior positions in a number of global FMCG companies, including Birds Eye, Procter & Gamble, Gillette and JTI/Gallaher.

Compass Appoints HSE Advisor

Patrick Mahon

Compass Group Ireland has appointed Patrick Mahon as Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Advisor/Lead Auditor.

In his new role, Patrick will be responsible for managing the Silver Standard Health, Safety, Environmental and Quality (HSEQ) audit programme throughout Ireland. Patrick will also assist the operations team and their unit managers to achieve silver standard. Prior to joining Compass Group, Patrick was a Group HSE Advisor with CVV Group, a heavy manufacturing business, EHS Senior Inspector at Union Papelera, Risk Manager at MMC/FM Global, and Group EHS Advisor with Amcor. He holds diplomas in Business Management from NVCQ Dublin and in Risk Management from the Military Training School. Patrick has a Certificate in Safety, Health and Welfare at Work from UCD and has completed Lead Auditor Training with the Military Training School.

New Appointments, Promotions and Recruitment

Stephen Sullivan

Stephen Sullivan is the new Executive Head Chef at Hayfield Manor. Stephen is an accomplished chef who, en route to Cork, has gained invaluable experience in the finest establishments in Dublin, most notably Chapter One and The Merrion Hotel. “My first priority as Head Chef is to build on our relationships with local farmers by sourcing local and seasonal artisan produce which will inevitably bring food from the farm to fork,” he says. “I want Hayfield Manor at the very forefront of the gourmet scene in Ireland. To this end, I feel it is imperative to create cutting edge dishes that will challenge people’s tastes and culinary horizons, as well as building a reputation for presentation that will make us the standard bearer for everything five star, not only provincially but nationally.”

New Sales Manager at Ashford Castle

Eilish Wall Ashford Castle has appointed Eilish Wall as Senior Sales Manager at Ashford Castle and The Lodge at Ashford Castle.

Eilish has 12 years experience within the hotel industry, having previously held roles as Senior Sales Manager with Powerscourt Hotel, formerly Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt, and Sales and Marketing Manager at The g hotel. “I’m delighted to be returning to my birthplace and to be part of the exciting times ahead with the Red Carnation Group at the iconic Ashford Castle estate,” says Eilish.

on the

move hotel & catering review

27

Interview

In the Lap of

Luxury

From receptionist to general manager, Elisabet Diaz Berzosa’s career trajectory has been meteoric since she got her first taste of the industry as a teenager. She talks to Maev Martin about her career path in Spain and Ireland and her plans to further develop the Dunboyne Castle Hotel.

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hotel & catering review

Q: You have been General Manager of the Dunboyne Castle Hotel since 2011.

What changes have you introduced to either the physical product or the services on offer over the past four years?

A: We were lucky to be able to refurbish The Ivy restaurant in the hotel and we introduced a revenue management system – IDEAS – to help us manage our rates and increase our RevPAR and that is one of the biggest changes that we have implemented. It is a very good system and is used by a lot of hotels in Dublin as well.

Regarding services, we introduced a customer care programme which resulted in a five per cent improvement in guest satisfaction and we have won a number of awards as a result of the benefits of this programme which have been felt throughout every aspect of the hotel operation.

The awards include the CIE Award of Excellence for Best Hotel Accommodation in 2010, a Silver Merit Award of Excellence in 2011, 2012 and

Elisabet Diaz Berzosa

2013, a Hospitality Diversity Award, the Meath Chronicle Award for Customer Service and Welcome 2013, a Judge’s Commendation Award for Hotel Venue of the Year in Leinster 2014 through Weddingsonline, and the awarding of two Rosettes for culinary excellence to our Ivy Restaurant. We have a big focus on training and standards in the hotel. We offer a lot of in-house training and we work closely with consultants who help us to develop bespoke programmes in different areas – it could be food and beverage or welcome/ front office.

Q: Can you tell me about any new services that the hotel is planning to introduce over the next 12 months or any refurbishments that you might be planning?

A: We are planning a full revamp of the ballroom in the autumn, and some soft refurbishment for our 145 bedrooms and the Seoid Spa. We recently replaced the bedroom TVs with smart TVs, and all of our customers are delighted with their free WiFi!

Interview

A: Leadership skills, planning and organisational skills, forecasting and an understanding of the hotel business and of how all departments work. Being able to adjust easily to change is very important. The recession has shown everyone that you really need to be able to adapt quickly to major market upheaval and be able to think outside the box.

Q: Is conference business a market that you target specifically in terms of your marketing collateral and facilities?

A: Yes, we do target conference business and we have been successful in attracting new clients as well as retaining existing business. Our ideal location close to Dublin city and the airport, along with our spa facilities, award-winning restaurant and complimentary WiFi access in all areas, facilitated this.We target this market in a very specific way with our marketing material and you have to do that to be successful. We have an events manager that focuses mainly on weddings and then we have an operational/conference manager.

We host conferences for a range of industry sectors, including pharmaceutical, IT, and food and beverage suppliers. The pharmaceutical industry is a big conferencing customer of ours.

Q: What do you believe are the most important attributes of a hotel general manager?

Outdoor jacuzzi.

The thermal pool at the hotel.

Q: Do you believe that the training provision in this country, both in the colleges and on-the-job, is sufficient to facilitate speedy progression up the career ladder in the hotel industry or is there room for improvement?

A: I don’t think the training available in the colleges is sufficient to meet the requirements of the industry. For example, there is a huge shortage of chefs but there are probably shortages in all areas. In Spain it is very different. There is a lot more interaction between the colleges and the industry – there is more on-the-job training and when I trained in Spain there were lots of opportunities to complete on-the-job training in different types of hotel and tourism-related businesses. Training should be a combination of in-house training plus external companies and consultants, as well as the colleges, so there is definitely room for improvement. I think in order for anyone to advance in the industry it is not about speedy progression but about giving themselves time to grow and develop in the role.

As an independent property we work closely with training and development consultants Conor Kenny & Associates who help us to train and develop our employees along with the training provided by our own HR department. We don’t have the resources that big hotel chains have in terms of training but our staff really appreciate the training they get from Conor

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Interview

Kenny & Associates. When they attend these training courses outside the hotel they meet staff from other hotel properties and they really benefit from that interaction.

Q: What do you believe is the ideal way to start your career in the hotel industry – via a summer job or going straight into a catering college after finishing school?

A: Coming to the industry through a summer job will give the candidate a realistic idea of the industry. However, I believe if they are serious about embarking on a career in the industry and are aiming for a senior role, attending a catering school will certainly boost their chances of success.

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hotel & catering review

Bridal suite – bedroom.

Junior suite bedroom – living area.

Q: What level of growth has Dunboyne Castle Hotel experienced in recent years in terms of room bookings and revenue from your F&B operation?

A: We have experienced a significant increase in both areas and that increase has been above the industry average.

Achieving our two Rosettes in 2013 certainly helped boost revenue in our food and beverage operation, as did maintaining those awards in 2014.

Q: How do you market the hotel’s services to the general public?

A: Social media, third party websites, our own hotel website, ezines, advertising in print and on radio and TV, and attending exhibitions and fairs.

Q: Do you operate an active social media presence and a responsive website? Have you established links with websites such as Expedia and Booking.com?

A: Yes, we are active on social media, most notably Facebook and Twitter. We find it an effective form of marketing as you get immediate feedback. We are also present on Tripadvisor, where I personally respond to each comment, be it positive or negative. I feel if a person has taken the time to provide feedback, it is important to take time to thank them. We have a good presence on OTAS such as booking.com, Expedia, Ebookers/ Orbitz etc. This ensures that we have excellent online exposure and we have seen a huge increase in online bookings from our own website and the OTAS.

FARM FRESH

m a e r C e c I y r r e B r e Summ Ingredients Fresh Berries from Keelings At our farm in North County Dublin we welcomed our first harvest of Irish blackberries this month. From now until September we will grow approx. 30 tonnes of Irish blackberries.

The blackberries from the Keelings Farm will be harvested today and in your kitchen tomorrow. The Keelings Irish blackberries are a sweeter eating variety and a perfect addition to your Summer recipes.

Nutritional Tips

by Aveen Bannon Blackberries are great source of vitamin A & C, folate, fibre, and potassium. Blackberries rich, dark blue colour is provided by disease fighting phytochemicals, which can help reduce the risk of certain cancers and heart disease.

• Vitamin C is important for our immune system and skin.

• Vitamin A is important for healthy bright eyes.

• Folate is necessary for all people but especially for women of child bearing age.

• Fibre keeps our digestive system healthy, our energy levels stable, and keeps hunger pangs at bay.

• Potassium helps prevent high blood pressure.

• Phytochemicals act as antioxidants that scavenge our body for harmful properties that are created naturally in our bodies, in response to pollutants in the environment and general living.

• Blackberries are good for your skin.Vitamin C is an important antioxidant that aids collagen production in our skin, thereby keeping it taut. Although they have their own unique benefits, both vitamins A and C will also help prevent cell damage caused by skin aging free radicals.

Ser ves 4-6 • Ready in 10 mins

Blackber ries • 1 punnet KEEL INGS Blueberries or • 1 punnet KEEL INGS Straw ber ries • 1 punnet KEEL INGS raspberries • 250g mascarpone • 200g Condensed mil k

Method

1. Hull one punnet of KEEL INGS Straw ber ries and cho p roughl y.

2. Add to a bowl wit h 1 punnet KEEL INGS Blueberries and 1 punnet KEEL INGS raspberries.

3. Mash together wit h a for k. cheese and 200g 4. Add 250g mascarpone or any soft cream Condensed mil k and mix wel l. cream tub or int o 5. P lace the mixture in a plastic 1 litre ice individual freezer-proof dishes. .

6. Cover really wel l and freeze overnight.

When only the freshest will do...

To order please contact: Dublin: +353 (0)1 895 5301 • Cork: +353 (0)21 496 8088 Wexford +353 (0)53 914 7447 • Belfast +44 28 9032 4236 • www.keelings.com

Food Tourism

Olivia Duff and John Healy. Photograph courtesy of Clodagh Kilcoyne.

Enjoying a

Taste of Summer Whether it’s the unique Hay Festival in Kells, the International Mushroom Festival in Co Leitrim, or the more high profile Taste of Dublin, there is plenty of culinary inspiration and new produce to be found throughout Ireland this summer.

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T

he Hay Food Tent was a new addition to this year’s Hay Festival ( July 2nd to 6th) in Kells, Co Meath. Fáilte Ireland Food Ambassador Olivia Duff of the Headfort Arms Hotel and Kevin Sheridan of Sheridan’s Cheesemongers put together a fantastic programme of food tastings, demonstrations, stalls and talks.

Perched on the front lawn of Eureka House, The Food Tent hosted demonstrations, foodie discussions and book presentations on July 5th and 6th, with guests including Richard Corrigan, Sally McKenna of the renowned McKenna Guides, Rory O’Connell of Ballymaloe Cookery school, organic chef Evan Doyle of Brooklodge, and nutritional cook SusanJane White. MC’s included John Healy from RTE’s ‘The Restaurant’, Kevin Sheridan of Sheridans Cheesemongers, and Olivia Duff.

“The inspiration for the food tent came from the huge growth in food tourism in Ireland at the moment and the demand for a strong food element at events and festivals around the country,” says Olivia Duff of her programme for the Hay Food Tent. “The Hay Festival is described as the ‘Woodstock’ of the mind so it offered the perfect platform to introduce a foodthemed experience to an already hugely diverse festival calendar.”

A Food Bloggers Forum on July 6th saw some of Ireland’s leading food bloggers discuss what drives their passion for food. Kevin Sheridan chaired a panel debate which featured Kristin Jensen of Edible Ireland, Imen McDonnell of Modern Farmette, Aoife McElwain of I Can Has Cook?, Caitriona Redmond of Wholesome Ireland, and Lily Ramirez-Foran of A Mexican Cook. Both days concluded with a social event.

The ‘Wine and Cheese’ event on Saturday was hosted by Kevin Sheridan and presented the best

Food Tourism of Irish cheeses with matching wines. On the Sunday evening, local craft brewery Bru presented their much acclaimed array of beers and this was matched with a tapas style ‘Taste of the Market’ as the Boyne Valley producers presented a taste of the region.

Artisan foods, locally produced in the Boyne Valley region, were on display and available for purchase. This was coordinated through the already thriving ‘Boyne Valley Food Series’ in the region – a range of food events and experiences taking place in the Boyne Valley over the summer months. “The Hay Food Tent is one of the central summer events for the series,” says Olivia Duff. “The foodie spotlight is already firmly shining on this region and, according to Failte Ireland, it is a template for the future development of food tourism in Ireland.”

Over 32,000 Visitors at Iveagh Gardens It was foodie heaven in the Iveagh Gardens last month as the Taste of Dublin 2014 event featured world-class chefs, 20 of Dublin’s top restaurants and over 100 foodie exhibitors. And the Taste of Dublin food festival enjoyed its most successful ticket sales ever this year with over 32,000 tickets sold over the course of the festival ( June 12th to 15th). A stellar line up of internationally renowned chefs, including Michel Roux Junior, Simon Hulstone, Tom Kitchin, Monica Galetti and Tim Anderson, demonstrated their skills in the Electrolux Taste Theatre. They joined forces with Ireland’s finest culinary talents, which included Darina Allen, Rachel Allen, Clodagh McKenna, Stuart O’Keeffe, Derry Clarke, Kevin Dundon, Edward Hayden, Paul Kelly, Kevin Thornton and Ross Lewis.

For the ninth year running, Taste of Dublin featured a selection of restaurants at the festival. Guests enjoyed delicious offerings from the established restaurants and from new

businesses that are making their mark on the culinary scene including Brioche, Chapter One, The Chop House, Clodagh’s Kitchen, Diep le Shaker, Dylan Restaurant, Il Primo, Jaipur, Marcels, Matt the Thrasher, Rock Lobster, Saba and The Green Hen. O’Briens Fine Wines, the official wine sponsor of the event, presented a range of wines to match dishes that were available from the Taste of Dublin visiting restaurants.

Cora Jane Wynne and Sara Lipsett.

Andrew Rudd and Lorraine Keane.

Katherine Mulrooney, Liz Dwyer and Aisling O’Loughlin.

Maia Dunphy, Clodagh McKenna and Annette Scanlon.

Guests could also participate in a series of masterclasses given by the winemakers themselves.

A total of 35 classes were held over the course of the four days, giving visitors the opportunity to try new wines and take part in blind tastings. Other beverage providers on hand to quench the summer thirst included Hardy Bucks, Celtic Whiskey, Crabbies Ginger Beer, Cremin and Radley, Dublin Wine Rooms, French Wines, Premier Beer and the Havana Club Cocktail Bar. The Asia Markets, Aldi, Ballymaloe Relish, Choco Allure, Coffee Bean Co, Empire Doughnuts, Ferdia Fine Foods, Gelato, Knorr, Aunty Nellies Sweet Shop, Freeda Fine Foods and Jens Gourmet Foods were among the food exhibitors at the event.

Chefs Kevin Thornton, Kevin Dundon, Clodagh McKenna, Ross Lewis, Michel Roux Junior, Joy Beattie, Denis Massey, Edward Hayden, Niall Sabongi, Tom Kitchin and Paul Kelly at the opening of Taste of Dublin 2014 .

International Mushroom Festival Killegar Estate in Co Leitrim is hosting the fourth annual International Mushroom Festival on October 11th and 12th. Forest foragers, gardeners, leading researchers and serious foodies will be able to explore and enjoy 400 acres of ancient, beautiful and ecologically diverse native woodlands. Apart from learning which wild mushrooms are poisonous and which are safe to eat, visitors can attend wildlife talks or expertly guided forest tours, as well as gourmet cookery demonstrations, or take a peek at Irish social history from inside the last remaining familyoccupied ‘Big Houses’.

Darren Kennedy and his mother Valerie.

Sarah Costello and Susan Clarke.

hotel & catering review

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SUPPLY LINE

SUPPLY LINE Essential product knowledge

Patchwork

New Pâtés for Summer The Patchwork Traditional Food Company, the producer of handmade foods from the Welsh countryside, has launched three new pâtés ideal for summer - Rabbit Liver with Rhubarb Vodka Pâté available in 120g - RRP £4.30, 230g - RRP £8.10 and 450g - RRP £3.45 (per 100g); Chicken Liver Pâté with Godminster Elderflower Vodka - available in 120g - RRP £3.75, 230g - RRP £6.65 and 450g - RRP £2.70 (per 100g); and Smoked Summer Trout Pâté with Sunblush Tomatade - available in 120g - RRP £5.20, 230g - RRP £9.20 and 450g RRP £3.99 (per 100g). All Patchwork’s products are free from artificial additives, preservatives or hydrogenated fats. Patchwork Pâté has won over 100 awards for its products since its inception in 1982.

Patchwork Pâté products are stocked by selected independent retailers across the UK. All products are available online at www.patchwork-pate.co.uk and a range of pates are available on www.ocado.com.

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hotel & catering review

Hoshizaki

First Hydrocarbon Cube Ice Maker The IM-240ANE-HC is Hoshizaki’s first cube machine to use hydrocarbon as a refrigerant. This high capacity machine is targeted primarily at larger outlets under pressure to demonstrate environmental awareness and realise major energy and water savings. The R290 refrigerant used reduces energy consumption by approximately 20%. The Hoshizaki IM-240ANE-HC produces 210kgs of perfect ice over 24 hours. Made to an exceptionally cold -25°C, the ice remains solid for the longest possible time.

In addition, the machine will operate continuously at temperatures of up to 40º C. For further information visit www.hoshizaki.com.

SUPPLY LINE Cream Supplies

Smoking Gun Adds Unique Flavour Chefs, bartenders and home cooks are finding new ways to enjoy smoke’s unique flavour as a ‘seasoning’ in sweet and savoury dishes and cocktails. Cream Supplies says its new range of wood chips is sourced from a British Retail Consortium-certified supplier and from PEFC-Certified sustainable sources in the UK, US and Europe, assuring their quality as a product meant for food smoking. They also claim that the chips’ angular shapes encourage a healthy airflow and, consequently, the wood chips burn far better than shavings. The chips can be used to create hot smoke in dedicated food smokers or in simple stovetop smokers. They can also be sprinkled on to barbecue coals, just as they come towards the end of cooking, or pre-soaked so they smoke slowly right through the cooking process. Another way to use them is in The Smoking Gun, a cold smoker that adds flavour without cooking because the smoke is cooled as it passes through a tube attached to the gun. This means foods like cheese, chocolate, oil (and many more) can be successfully smoked. It’s also great for flavouring cocktails or whiskey. The wood chips are sold in 500ml tubs and are priced at just £1.99 (inc VAT). The Smoking Gun cold smoker is £59.99 (inc VAT). Camerons Mini Stovetop Smoker is £39.49 (inc VAT) and Camerons Gourmet Stovetop Smoker is £49.99 (inc VAT).

They are all available for next day delivery from Cream Supplies’ online shop www.creamsupplies.co.uk.

Cuisinequip Netwrx

Wall-to-Wall WiFi IT network support company Netwrx is working with Motorola to promote a front panel unit which can be easily fitted to in-room telephone sockets, allowing business guests to access high-speed wall-to-wall WiFi coverage in their room, using existing telephone cabling. Based on the fact that guests can typically have up to three separate devices running at any one time, including tablets, laptops and smartphones, this new system makes it possible for hotels to provide increased coverage, without the need to invest in costly surveys or cable installations. Further benefits of the system include no disruption to business during upgrade due to the fast installation, as well as the fixing of additional ports allowing for increased features such as IPTV or on-demand movies and games. In addition the panel supports 2.4 and 5 GHz band to match today’s latest technologies, along with a tamper-resistant design and reduced problems with spotty coverage and bandwidth.

Visit www.netwrx.co.uk

Eco Kitchen Cuisinequip have recently added EcoKitchen induction cookers to their range – designed for less intensive use. The range intends to capitalise on a growing trend towards induction cooking – providing faster cooking times, lower energy usage and a safer, cooler environment.

The induction cookers come with rotary controls, pan indicators and a stainless steel case, allowing for ease of cleaning and maintenance.

For more information visit cuisinequip.co.uk

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Five minutes with

John Moore

Hotel & Catering Review recently spoke to John Moore, Executive Chef at the Tower Hotel, Waterford about winning a coveted AA Rosette.

Describe your typical day at the Tower Hotel I arrive in work about half past eight and go through the business of the day, checking with the events team about what’s happening and doing the daily orders. Then it’s down to doing mise en place and getting things ready for functions. The rest of the team come in about half past ten. We have a daily meeting with managers and I pass on that information to the kitchen. After that it’s about making sure that everything is up to scratch and that work schedules are organised. I’m often off for the afternoon and then back for the evening service to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

What goes on behind the scenes?

Sometimes I think ‘should we not be talking about football?’ but we’re always talking about food and what the latest trends are from those hot chefs in London.

We want our guests to go away thinking ‘that was a good evening, I had a super meal’.

Do you make use of local suppliers and produce?

When we have seasonal products that are good it is important that the kitchen gets them to the guests because that is when they are at their best and there is a financial advantage to buying things in season. We buy vegetables and potatoes from suppliers in Annestown on the far side of Tramore. Asparagus, peas, tomatoes, and courgettes are coming into season now. We’re lucky because we are close to the coast so we get a lot of our fish from Dunmore East Co-Op and Kilmore Quay and it comes in fresh everyday. Dawn Meats supply our beef. Michael Wall handpicks our beef, hangs and

ages it for 21 days – customers tell us our steaks are super. Without our suppliers we’re nothing so I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone that we work with in the entire food chain, from farm to fork.

You were recently awarded an AA Rosette?

How did that feel?

I’m still pinching myself. We have been working with Declan Conor from the AA for the past few years and for the last two years he has sat down with us and said ‘John you were so close’.

This year he came in and had his starter, main course and dessert and I was actually prepared to go out to him and say ‘Declan, don’t tell me anything, I don’t want to know’. But this year he was smiling and we got the Rosette. It was phenomenal. The work ethic in our production and service teams is tremendous so they really deserved this award. We have the Rosette in the Bistro but the product that we offer in The Lara restaurant, Adelphi Riverside bar and in our banqueting area is serviced by the same culinary team. That means that product quality is replicated across the hotel and that is very important to us.

General Manager Alicia Maguire and Executive Chef John Moore with the Tower Hotel’s Bistro Restaurant’s AA Rosette.

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hotel & catering review

WE’RE CELEBRATING OUR FIRST ROSETTE

Same Great Menu Same Great Value & Service

The Mall, Waterford. T +353 (0)51 862300 E leisure@thw.ie www.TowerHotelWaterford.com

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