Hotel and Restaurant Times Aug/Sept 2015

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER ‘15

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BUSINESS

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INDUSTRY

ASHFORD CASTLE A RARE AND PRECIOUS FRAGMENT OF IRISH HISTORY

SPARKLING RADISSON BLU LIMERICK MAJOR REFURBISHMENT COMPLETED

IRISH TOURISM INDUSTRY CONFEDERATION CANDID INTERVIEW WITH ITIC'S PAUL GALLAGHER

UNDER-COOKED NO FOOD AVAILABLE AT TOURISM GROUP

www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie

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05/06/2015 09:56

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COVER: Ashford Castle, Victorian Deluxe bedroom

CONTENTS NEWS APPOINTMENTS A SPARKLE OF (RADISSON) BLU FÁILTE IRELAND NEWS ASHFORD CASTLE TOURISM IRELAND NEWS IRISH TOURIST INDUSTRY CONFEDERATION RAI NEWS BOOKASSIST SMITH & WILLIAMSON BUNZL CDS GMIT NEWS BEWLEYS IFSA NEWS JUNE ROGERS AT THE RED COW MORAN FÁILTE FOCUS MICRO-BREWERIES ALLERGENS NEW TOURISM GROUP DALCASSIAN WINES

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Hotel & Restaurant Times is circulated on subscription to Chief Executives, Directors and Proprietors of Hotels and Restaurants in Ireland along with Architects, Interior Designers and Suppliers to the Hotel and Restaurant Industry.

Managing Editor: Cyril McAree (01-6285447, cyril@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie) Contributors: Pavel Barter, Frank Corr, Dr Des O Mahony, Holly Lenny, Caroline Leddy, Fáilte Ireland, IFSA, Tourism Ireland, Restaurants Association of Ireland, GMIT, Áine Reidy - Smith & Williamson Printing: W G Baird All paper used in the production of this magazine comes from certifiably sustainable forestry.

ALL CONTENTS OF THE MAGAZINE ARE COPYRIGHT OF HOTEL & RESTAURANT TIMES: H&R HOUSE, CARTON COURT, MAYNOOTH, CO. KILDARE. TEL/FAX: 01 628 5447.

E-MAIL: editorial@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie WEB: www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie H&RT AUGUST/SEPTEMBER ‘15

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Forward planning Thankfully, the economy is beginning to show real and continued growth. Recent tax receipts show the exchequer was about €800 million ahead of target. In this regard, tourism has played a key role and will continue to. Over 30,000 extra jobs have been created due to the VAT rate being retained at 9%. Room rates are growing again, and new restaurants are emerging around the country. Employment within the sector continues to grow.

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All very positive. So when the Tourism Minister announced the formation of a tourism group to assist with this continued growth, people wondered how it would shape up.

It has a lot of seasoned practitioners involved, who in one way or another have helped steer the industry on its steady course. Unfortunately a key element seems to have been overlooked: the restaurant sector, culinary expertise, and the food sector in general.

The group had been tasked with ensuring we get it right regarding people, place and policy. Surely food is relevant here? Let’s wait and see what happens over the next while. Hopefully common sense will prevail and this anomaly will be rectified.

There has been more good news in relation to tourist figures. Growth is continuing from key markets such as North America, Great Britain, and mainland Europe. Part of the success is due to increased air access - and it looks set to continue. From June 2010 to June 2015, CSO figures show overall growth up by 48%. GB grew 31%, North America 64%, Mainland Europe 59% and other regions 76%. This growth is expect to be maintained until year end, so let’s hope the industry remains competitive.

However, there are still flies in the ointment. For instance, the need to speed up training is one area of concern. Without skilled people to work in the sector, these growth opportunities may be lost. A strategy must be put in place to capitalise on the opportunities that tourist growth offers. Equally, the industry has to look at pay scales and offer realistic salaries.

The government must also see how it can reduce the tax take and make it more attractive for people to work. The recent pay commission recommendations would see more people enter higher tax bands - and theoretically pay more in taxes - but get less pay.

The need for more hotel rooms is also something that needs attention. It is now almost impossible to get rooms in Dublin, and other major cities and towns, due to increased tourism numbers. This could well lead to the bad old days of the Tiger era and result in the industry pricing itself out of the market. Planning for this must be addressed sooner rather than later.

Let’s hope Minister Noonan will listen and review the numerous budget submissions.

It’s in everyone’s interest, for continued growth and job creation, that long term support is given to the tourism sector.

It's not just about election votes, Minister.

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Cyril McAree Editor

NEWS

NEWS Dubs Stars

Summer serving

Pictured (l-r): Fiona Boyd-Armstrong, Shortcross Gin; Micheal Brown, The Merchant Hotel, Belfast & David Boyd-Armstrong, Shortcross Gin. The Merchant Hotel’s Micheal Brown was named the winner of the Summer Serve category at the Shortcross Signature Serve competition. For more information: www.shortcrossgin.com Ciaran Kilkenny, Kevin O’Brien, Brian Fenton and Philly Ryan from the Dublin Senior GAA Football panel, sharing football tips with local Docklands GAA fans at the Gibson Hotel following their Leinster title win.

20 years assisting

Alina keeps her WITS about her Trainee Alina Sile will represent Ireland in Restaurant Service at the 43rd Worldskills Competition in São Paulo, Brazil from 11 - 15 August 2015. Alina is being trained at WIT but is a full time student of Shannon College of Hotel Management. She won the national competition representing Shannon in March this year and went on the be selected for team Ireland after a team selection stage in WIT. Her training is taking place at WIT with Ray Cullen who is the Chief expert for restaurant service.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Mr. Paschal Donohoe was the keynote speaker at an event hosted by the Guinness Storehouse to mark the 20 year anniversary of the Irish Tourist Assistance Service (ITAS). ITAS was established in 1994 to offer immediate support and assistance to tourists who experience crime while visiting Ireland.

Speaking at the event Minister Donohoe said: “For the small percentage of tourists who become victims of crime while visiting Ireland, ITAS provides professional assistance and support. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved with this unique service - staff, volunteers and members of the tourism and hospitality industry for their continued support and goodwill towards ITAS.”

Restaurateurs slam sunshine tax Dublin City Council (DCC) has made €451,619 from outdoor seating charges last year. These are fees paid by restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and pubs, to put customer seating outside their premises. DCC officials confirmed at a recent meeting with the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI), that the scheme costs €150,000 to administer, thus making a profit of €301,619. Adrian Cummins of the RAI said: “These fees are applied based on the number of tables on a public footpath outside a premises plus an annual licence fee. This is a double taxation measure.”

Ray Cullen with Alina Sile.

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NEWS

Wild Geese chase

Around the world for Dublin hotel staff Waiters, general managers, chefs and porters, from Hilton Worldwide hotels in Dublin, joined forces to run and walk a combined 850km in a fund-raising initiative for young people’s charity Solas Project.

Following a 12km route, over 70 hotel staff took off from the DoubleTree by Hilton on Burlington Road, finishing up on the north side of the city at the Hilton Dublin Airport. The charity fund-raiser is part of Hilton’s Around the World Pictured at the starting line prior to the Around the World initiative, which sees thousands of challenge are hotel staff from four Hilton Worldwide hotels staff from Hilton Worldwide hotels all in Dublin; Conrad Dublin; Hilton Dublin City; Hilton Dublin over the world attempt to rack up Airport and DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin. enough kilometres, over the course of one day, to complete the circumference of the globe - over 40,075km. The Dublin hotels made a 2% contribution to the global tally.

Duck hunt The Wild Geese Exiles Premium Irish Gin has won a Gold medal at The Spirits Masters Series in London. The Exiles is part of a trio of new spirits in the Wild Geese portfolio, and this gold medal follows hot on the heels of various accolades achieved earlier this year for the UNTAMED Irish Vodka and the Wild Geese Irish Honey Liqueur.

The Wild Geese Collection is available for purchase from the Celtic Whiskey Shop, 27-28 Dawson Street, Dublin 2; Dublin, Shannon and Belfast Airport Duty Free, as well as key Duty Free outlets internationally; online via Amazon.co.uk; and in other select locations.

RAI calls for chef shortage solution The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) says there is a crisis in the shortage of chefs in the country, and investment in training is urgently needed. The organisation is calling on the Minister for Education to re-establish CERT, the former State Tourism Training Agency. The RAI recommends investment in management and the establishment of 10 new chef training centres nationally. CERT, the State Tourism Training Agency established in 1963, was responsible for providing a trained workforce for the hotel, catering and tourism industry. It offered training courses for those wishing to pursue a career in this field and for employees in the industry who wanted to develop new skills.

It was abolished in May 2003.

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Marlfield House, Co. Wexford has opened the new and exclusive Duck Terrace Restaurant, Café & Bar. Situated on the beautiful grounds of Marlfield House, just outside Gorey, The Duck is a quirky assortment of restored courtyard buildings including a coach house, potting shed and gardener’s tool shed. Chef Margaret Roche utilises ingredients from Marlfield’s garden and the locality. Her food is modern fusion of light Italian dishes including antipasti, flatbreads and dips, exciting salads, sandwiches, steaks, fish, spatchcock chicken and more.

Balancing act This summer it’s all about balance at The Marker Hotel, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin. The award-winning design hotel has introduced a new health and wellbeing concept called “The Marker Equilibrium, it’s all about ME” which will feature across all areas of the hotel including the restaurant, bar, spa and bedrooms.

This includes yoga boxes in the bedrooms, where yoga enthusiasts can enjoy their practice or use the hotel’s rooftop. The Marker also devised a running map with different scenic running routes throughout the city.

PREM and proper International Hotel Management Company PREM Group, specialists in managing hotels and serviced apartments, with 37 properties spanning Ireland, England and Northern Europe, have partnered with Dobiquity (www.dobiquity.com). a new digital platform that helps hotels and other hospitality enterprises improve business performance by replacing inefficient manual processes with user-friendly web and mobile apps. Dobiquity launched May 2015 with an initial offering of three apps that help to manage the quality of the customer experience, including: Mystery Shopper App; Customer Survey App; and Employee Survey App.

NEWS

Golfers hungry for new event

Cup runneth over

The Gourmet Golf Classic is being hosted in Wexford from the September 6-9 2015. This new event was launched with an ambitious target for its first year of 80 participants. At a recent Press Event at Wexford Golf Club, Club Choice Ireland announced that the event was a sell out with 130 people now confirmed and a waiting list in operation.

Seafood journey

Irish hand-roasters, Java Republic, have been awarded the highest accolade in the Great Taste Awards 2015 with three stars for its Rwandan coffee as well as star awards for six other products in its tea and coffee range.

Pictured launching the Seafood Trail, on the Wild Atlantic Way, were: Kate Kennedy, Killary Fjord Shellfish; Graham Roberts, Connemara Smokehouse; Sinead Hennessy, Fáilte Ireland; Mike Kelly, Kelly’s Oysters; Ian Mannix, BIM; Catherine Nee, Marty’s Fresh Shellfish and Padraic Gannon, Croagh Patrick Seafoods.

East meets West Chinese tour operators at King John’s Castle, Limerick, who were guests of Tourism Ireland.

€27m worth of business events secured for Dublin Over 50 international events, totalling more than 20,000 international delegates and worth in excess of €27m to the Irish economy, have been won for Ireland with the assistance of Fáilte Ireland’s Business Tourism Team. These events are scheduled to take place during 2016 - 2019 and are made up of international conferences, corporate meeting and incentive travel.

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NEWS

OX marks the spot The award for Best Menu at the 32nd Catey Awards went to OX Belfast. Co-owner Alain Kerloc’h collected the trophy on 7th July at a spectacular awards ceremony at Grosvenor House in London. “Winning Best Menu at the Cateys is fantastic,” says chef and co-owner Stephen Toman. “Everything at OX begins with the menu.”

Daniel Boulud & Alain Kerloc’h of OX at the Cateys

€100m investment for Transport, Tourism & Sport Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD, and Minister of State, Michael Ring TD, have announced an additional €100m investment in Transport, Tourism and Sport for 2015. Funds will be allocated in the following way: €60m for public transport; €34m for “critical remedial works, maintenance and strengthening of the road network at national, regional and local level”; €1m for road safety; €4.2m for tourism related projects, including further development of Ireland’s Ancient East corridor and the Wild Atlantic Way; €800k for the National Indoor Arena.

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Imperial grandeur Almost €1m has been spent upgrading and renovating the Flynn family-owned and run, four-star, Imperial Hotel in Cork. The hotel, which will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2016 has undergone an extensive renovation programme in advance of its bicentenary year, with the first phase of the renovation programme now at completion. So far, almost half of the 125 bedrooms have been renewed and refreshed with the remaining rooms to be revamped in winter 2015 and spring 2016.

There is also a new gym, the Escape Gym, which has been built for resident’s use only. The hotel bar, ‘76 On The Mall’ is a brand new bar and food outlet and is located just off the lobby, where the old South’s Bar use to be.

Tory Island’s royal welcome King of Tory, Patsy Dan Mac Ruairí (centre), welcomes German travel bloggers Martin Merten (left) and Carolin Steig to Tory Island.

Java Republic brings coffee to new heights Pictured is Mike Rutter, Chief Commercial Officer Aer Lingus, with Grace O’Shaughnessy, MD Java Republic, and Aer Lingus Stewardess Aoife Gath.

Java Republic, has been announced as the new on board coffee supplier to Aer Lingus for short haul routes, including European destinations. From June 2015, all Aer Lingus guests can avail of freshly brewed Java Republic filter coffee.

NEWS

Available Table Booking App for Restaurants

Mark his words

Click, Book, Eat… It's that simple

As the discerning, time constrained consumer becomes increasingly dependent on digital outlets to shop and book online, the Irish market has never been so ready for a sophisticated, efficient yet easy-to-use restaurant booking app.

Enter Available Table, an exciting new app developed by two Irish entrepreneurs Susan Brown and Paul Haw that is set to change the face of the booking system in Ireland.

Available Table is set to become the “Hailo” of booking restaurant tables. It is an innovative, free to download app developed by two Irish entrepreneurs that offers the consumer the convenience of searching and booking any available table, in any restaurant in real time with the touch of a button, 24 hours a day. They will never have to wait on a table again. The app allows a search of any partner restaurant to check availability, view menus, view opening hours, track their “eat out” budget or even select their favourite table - sea view, chef’s view etc. and book their table instantly. Booking confirmation is received back straight away via text and email.

Available Table enables restaurants to better manage and optimise table usage 24 hours a day; build a robust digital customer database; increase revenue; offer a convenient and simple to use booking system; get ahead of competitors and monitor and reward customer bookings and trends.

The Available Table system is easy to install and easy to use. It requires minimal training for staff and frees up their time. All bookings are simply managed on an iPad and updated 24 hours a day. The system allows you to take your booking system into the digital age and ensures bookings are never missed again - a common complaint among restaurant customers.

The system will also offer a platform to reach a wide range of consumers and the Available Table team will assist in promoting partner restaurants through the app.

Over the coming months future plans for the app involve the inclusion of a cleanliness rating for all restaurants to include on their profile among other features.

For further details on how to partner with Available Table logon to www.availabletable.eu Email: partnerwithus@availabletable.eu or call on 00353 1 4854979 Check out Available Table on all the usual social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter https://twitter.com/Available_Table https://www.facebook.com/AvailableTable

Hoteliers welcome tourism leadership group The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has welcomed the establishment of a Tourism Leadership Group by Minister Paschal Donohoe, TD. Stephen McNally, President of the IHF, has been appointed a member of the group, which has been tasked with producing a Tourism Action Plan for the next three years. The tourism strategy includes plans to grow overseas visitors to 10 million per annum by 2025. This would increase annual revenues from overseas visitors to €5 billion and result in an additional 50,000 jobs, bringing total employment in the sector to over 250,000.

Irish chef Mark Moriarty, representing the Ireland-UK region, has been awarded as the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2015. He reached the top with Celeriac Baked in Barley and Fermented Hay, Cured and Smoked Celeriac and toasted hay tea, thanks to the support of mentor Clare Smyth MBE, who has been at his side as guide and advisor. Mark emerged among twenty finalists coming from different areas of the globe.

Square dancing

A new addition to Kerry’s food and drink scene has opened its doors on The Square in Tralee: No.4 on the Square. “We wanted to bring together some of the things that make going out in Kerry so special; a welcoming atmosphere in beautiful surroundings, great quality food and a touch of sophistication. No.4 on the Square will guarantee this special mix of ingredients, and we know that the people of Tralee as well as visitors to the town will really enjoy this great new bar and restaurant,” said Aoife O’Connor, Guest Relations Manager at No. 4 on the Square. For more information: www.no4onthesquare.com H&RT AUGUST/SEPTEMBER ‘15

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NEWS Clarion Cork appoints new GM

APPOINTMENTS Gibson dines out Nicholas Woollard has been appointed to the position of Executive Head Chef at the gibson hotel. Nicholas has over ten years’ experience as Head Chef in a number of Michelin star restaurants and five star hotels in both Ireland and the UK including Peacock Alley restaurant, Maison Novelli restaurant, Les Saveurs De Jean Christophe Novelli, London and the Box Tree, Dublin.

New dawn for Aramis Hospitality

The Clarion Hotel Cork has welcomed Garret Marrinan as General Manager. Garret has been with the Choice Hotel Group for the past 10 years. He was General Manager at Clarion Hotel Dublin Liffey Valley for the past 5 years and the Clarion Collection Hotel in London for 3 years previous. Garret spend 7 years in the US in various management roles for Marriott Hotels and is a graduate of DIT Cathal Brugha St with a Diploma in Hotel Management and Business. Garret will oversee a number of key upcoming projects, including a new restaurant concept for the hotel and a full bedroom refurbishment from January 2016 onward.

Feeding time at the Zou

Amaris Hospitality has announced the creation of a hotel investment and hospitality group, which will bring together a unique portfolio of hotel assets owned by the global private equity firm Lone Star. Amaris Hospitality comprises 89 individual hotel properties from four separate portfolios acquired by Lone Star over the last two years, trading under leading brands such as Jurys Inn, Mercure, MGallery, DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn. Amaris Hospitality will be managed by a team led by John Brennan, current CEO of Jurys Inn Hotel Group. Grant Hearn, former CEO of Travelodge has been appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Group.

Joanna joins PREM Joanna Doyle has been appointed Group Business Development & Marketing Manager, PREM Group, Ireland’s hotel and hospitality management company. A graduate in hotel management from DIT, Joanna held various positions since joining the company in 1996, most recently as e-commerce and marketing manager. In her new role, Joanna will continue to lead the company’s marketing strategy as well as leading business development for Trinity Hospitality Services, which provides bespoke hotel support services.

Lavelle gets down to business Rebekah Lavelle has joined PREM Group as Business Relationship Manager. Her role will involve working with the 15 Irish hotels operated and managed by PREM Group on revenue growth strategies. Prior to joining PREM Group, Rebekah was Digital Marketing Manager at The Camden Court Hotel, Dublin.

Rebekah began her career with Sunway Holidays. She has held various positions with companies in Ireland, Spain and Australia including a Spanish digital marketing agency, where she was an online marketing executive, and as European Account Manager with meetingsbooker.com. Rebekah is also the co-founder of the IHF Marketing Network.

Teeling groovy La mère Zou has welcomed Killian Durkin to the position of Head Chef. Killian graduated with a degree in Culinary Arts from Cathal Brugha Street College in 2008. His career has included positions in Dublin restaurants including Chapter One and Thornton’s. Killian also spent time working a field in France at the 3 Michelin Star Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris and 2 Michelin starred La Villa Madie in Cassis.

Mangan to deliver IHI vision Martin Mangan, General Manger of the Conrad Hotel in Dublin, has been appointed President of the Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI) for 2015 to 2017. During his time in office, Martin will oversee the celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the IHI. A key focus of his term in office will be to ensure membership growth, enhanced partnership and alliances, and development of its membership base with a greater regional spread with a clear emphasis on attracting younger members and reinvigorating the Young IHI.

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The Teeling Whiskey Company (TWC) has announced the appointment of Sheila Baird as general manager of the visitor centre at the newly opened Teeling Whiskey Distillery. Sheila has over 20 years experience working in the hospitality industry, including the Quinn Hotel Group, the Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links and the Marine Hotel in Sutton. Most recently, Sheila worked with the Cara Hotel Group as general manager across a number of properties.

New chief for the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) has announced the appointment of Eoghan O’Mara Walsh as Chief Executive. Eoghan was previously Managing Director of O’Mara Travel Ltd and of Heritage Island Ltd. He is currently Managing Director of O’Mara Consultancy Ltd. Eoghan takes up his new position in September on the retirement of the present Chief Executive, Eamonn McKeon.

Sale of the century Alexander Hörner, Vice President of Sales at Steigenberger Hotel Group, has been appointed Chairman of the Europe Sales Advisory Board of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI).

REFURBISHMENT

A sparkle

of Blu

New owners of the Radisson Blu hotel in Limerick, the iNua Group have shown their committment to Shannonside by investing in the property, transforming the hotel under new, improved management, with customer satisfaction levels up and a significant growth in the hotel’s profitability.

In the last year the Radisson Blu hotel in Limerick has undergone a complete refurbishment. Brian Harrington, General Manager of the hotel says “We were conscious of the need to undertake the work in critical areas, while still trading. In November of last year we decided to focus on the main public areas of the hotel, the lobby and the ballroom. We wanted to get these areas finished before Christmas.” The refurbishment of these areas included new carpets and curtains, furniture, lighting and sound systems. Brian says, “local people saw the change immediately and their response has been very positive.”

The history of the hotel goes back to the 1070’s. It was built in 1968 by a man called McDonagh, who also built the Great Southern Hotel and the Inn at Dromoland,

however the hotel wasn’t opened at that time. In the early 1970’s a family called the Ryans (no connection to the Ryan Hotel group) bought the hotel and traded there until 2002 as The Limerick Inn Hotel. In 2002 the Ryans sold it to the group of investors who appointed the Rezidor Hotel Group to manage the hotel on their behalf. There was a change in management of the hotel in 2013 when the hotel was operated under a Franchise agreement for a period.

However, in June 2014 the Inua Group purchased the hotel and appointed the Rezidor Hotel Group to manage it on their behalf. The iNua Group immediately set about investing in the property, consistent with iNua’s stated investment methodology, the property was in a key location, had a strong trading history, provided the necessary scale in terms of bedroom capacity and, with some changes, could offer a full range of hotel services once again. A transformation of the hotel under new, improved management would pay dividends with customer satisfaction levels & would significantly help in growing the hotel’s profitability. Therefore, iNua Hospitality immediately set about investing in the property. They were able to add experience and oversight to the process as a result of managing the Radisson BLU Hotel in Cork , their very first acquisition. Since then, the hotel group have acquired Muckross Park Hotel, Killarney and are currently at the latter stages of completing their fourth hotel purchase.

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REFURBISHMENT

Brian Harrington explains, “our plan was always to completely refurbish, and following extensive work in the main public areas we started with the bedrooms.

Previously all of the bedrooms were of a very similar style and we set about creating new room types within our bedroom stock, including a variety of suites.” The refurbishment of the 154 bedrooms was completed in three phases which meant the hotel always had rooms in operation while working on the other rooms, all with as little disruption to guests as possible.

The creation of the new categories of room has been a dramatic change for the hotel. There are now two suites, the Moyhill and the Brickhill, which are 75sq meters and cater mainly for the wedding market. The suites consist of a distinct living area, bedroom and a magnificent bathroom.

There are also four junior suites, each 37sq feet which cater for the business market; however Brian says these suites are very popular with the hotel’s leisure market also.

These suites have been refurbished in a completely different style to the suites and the other rooms in the hotel. As part of the refurbishment, Radisson Blu Business Class rooms, a superior room type, were added.

These very spacious rooms enjoy garden views and include the Radisson Blu super buffet breakfast, a flat screen TV, Nespresso machine, mini bar and a nightly turn down service.

The hotel has also created a family wing which consists of 16 large rooms with a double bed and two single beds. Some of the rooms even have a double and three single beds. Brian says, “This was very

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important to me. We really wanted family rooms that featured full size beds and not the ubiquitous camp beds! Families appreciate these large rooms and relax and feel that they have their own space.”

“The beauty of this hotel is that we have the capacity to cater for corporate business as well as the family and leisure market.” The corporate and conference business sustains the hotel throughout the year, with the growth in traffic through Shannon airport significant in bringing more corporate business to the hotel.

Meanwhile Brian explains, “We are now looking to expand our presence in the family market. We have introduced a children’s activity programme called the ‘Blu Crew’. In the evenings children can have their dinner at around 5pm and take part in a variety of activities until 9.30pm. This has been hugely popular so far and we are always looking to expand the range of activities we provide for our younger guests. Owing to its popularity, this summer we have decided to offer these programmes every weekend and in Mid Term Breaks -periods that correspond to the school holidays”.

So, with such a huge refurbishment in the hotel, what companies were involved?

Brian says “well the resource of the Rezidor Hotel group was fantastic in clearly defining the needs of areas such as mechanical & electrical. In turn we used John Griffins & Co, a Galway based company for all the mechanical work, Dermot Patton, of Patton Interiors completed the design and fit out of the bedrooms and Ciara Ni Laoi of CLR Design completed all of the public areas, the ballroom, lobby, Porters Restaurant and our bedroom suites. Again in these areas we also had access to the Rezidor Hotel Group’s interior design resource; for example, we considered a number of different colour schemes for the lobby area but the one we finally settled on is very new and different but still compatible with the Radisson Blu design and colour palate.” I and more importantly our guests think the impact that the redesign and refurbishment has made has been fantastic for the hotel and has completely transformed the space.”

As with all the bedrooms, the hotel’s restaurant, Porters, underwent the same rigorous transformation, including all new flooring, seating, and upholstery, lighting and sound system. The Radisson Blu Super Buffet breakfast, which is a standard in all Radisson Blu hotels, is offered in Porters restaurant along with lunch, dinner and A la Carte menus. Brian says “we put a lot of work into developing our lunch offering.

As well as catering for corporate lunches, we now offer a ‘Lighter Bites’ lunch menu in the lounge area. We also offer a Morning and an All Day lounge menu along with an Afternoon Tea menu, which is proving very popular. Where possible, we use local suppliers and produce and this is also a policy of Radisson Blu hotels”. Some of these suppliers include; Tournafulla black pudding, Tournafulla Cahills Cheese, Newcastle West, Finbars Ham, Bruree County Limerick and Cratloe hills (sheep’s cheese) Cratloe, Co. Clare.

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REFURBISHMENT

The hotel’s attention to detail in this refurbishment also extends to the grounds.

The hotel sits on 20 acres and developing the outside area following storm damage last year has meant the hotel has further expanded what it can offer its guests. Brian explains, “we put a lot of investment into the grounds and this restoration has been hugely beneficial. We have tennis courts and basketball courts as well as some beautiful spaces around the grounds for wedding photos. We also developed a courtyard which has been beautifully landscaped and is adjacent to our Porters Restaurant. This particular area has become a very popular area with our guests and offers many options, whether it’s to just take in the nice weather over a glass of wine, or a social space for larger events. In fact, we are hosting a company BBQ for a local business soon, catering for 120 people in this area”.

“Given Limerick’s ongoing appeal as a sporting destination, we do attract a number of sporting teams whether they are playing

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at Thomond Park or the Gaelic Grounds. The hotel also attracts a lot of sports teams staying in the hotel, coming to see a match in Thomond Park or coming for a training weekend, so having the grounds is an added bonus being located so close to the city.”

Another unique aspect of Limerick’s Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa is that there have been no staff redundancies through all the changes in ownership the hotel has gone through. Brian says, “we are very lucky to have the same core group of personnel that have been with the hotel since 2002. It’s amazing really, in fact we are having our staff summer party soon and we will be sending off our first retiree since 2002! It’s very unusual in this business and we are extremely proud of our staff. In our feedback from guests, our team are consistently attributed with delivering an exceptional level of service. We are very proud of that. The other lovely thing about this hotel is that our guests have been loyal to us since 2002 also. It is really nice to see the relationship that has developed between our returning guests and our staff; it’s very positive and almost unique in this business, especially in a hotel that has gone through this amount of change.”

This local feel experienced in the hotel extends to Brian Harrington himself. “I’m originally from Adare but I live in Limerick now. I have worked mostly in the Limerick area throughout my career.” Having worked for the Ryan Hotel Group, Lynch Hotel Group, as well as the Castletroy Park Hotel and Limerick Marriott Hotel (now Savoy Hotel), Brian’s knowledge of the market in the area is second to none. But how does he see the industry in Limerick at the moment? “The Limerick area is good at the moment, although you’re always a bit cautious to say that! The strong summer season has been a welcome boost and my colleagues in the area are also reporting a strong summer season.”

“There is a continuous drive at the moment to increase the passenger numbers through nearby Shannon airport to 1.8 million so this would obviously be great for us and for Limerick - a vibrant Shannon airport is essential to a vibrant hotel trade. We are hosting all of the visiting International teams who are coming to Limerick in August to compete in the Limerick Rugby World Club Sevens Tournament. Events like that give a huge boost to us and to Limerick. Limerick’s bid for the 2020 City of Culture would also be great, but there are annual events now in Limerick which are obviously very welcome to local businesses and which are also enhancing the ongoing appeal of Limerick This hotel has gone through many changes over the years but it has always managed to retain the core principles of hospitality provided by a dedicated staff and management. This refurbishment has given the hotel the look that demonstrates those principles and it is now sparkling as a true gem in the Limerick industry.

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FÁILTE IRELAND NEWS

Guinness Storehouse and National Gallery of Ireland most popular attractions

Fáilte Ireland have published their annual list of Ireland’s top visitor attractions with the Guinness Storehouse once again a top choice for visitors coming to Ireland on holiday.

Last year, the Guinness Storehouse welcomed over 1.2 million visitors - an increase of over 100,000 over the previous year’s performance.

Amongst the nation’s fee-paying attractions, the Storehouse was followed closely by the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience and Dublin Zoo which both registered just over a million paying visitors in 2014.

Amongst Irelands ‘free to enter’ attractions, the National Gallery of Ireland continued to lead the way but there was also a significant new entry to the top ten free attractions last year with Doneraile Wildlife Park entering the listing at number three thanks to the interest of 460,000 visitors during 2014. Also recording significant growth in numbers, the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology (up by almost 10%) and the Science Gallery at Trinity College (growth of 5%) performed strongly as well.

Commenting on the figures, Shaun Quinn CEO Fáilte Ireland said - “Tourism is on track to enjoy what could be a record year in terms of activity and visitors in 2015. With that in mind, we would expect the attendance numbers for most attractions to rise even further. We, in Fáilte Ireland, have invested quite heavily in our tourism infrastructure in recent years to ensure that Ireland remains an appealing destination despite the downturn. Now that tourism is on the rise again, Ireland and its strong collection of attractions are perfectly poised to welcome and cater for ever greater numbers.”

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Top 10 Fee-Charging Attractions 2014 Name of Attraction

County

2014

Guinness Storehouse

Dublin

1,269,371

Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience

Clare

1,080,501

Dublin Zoo

Dublin

1,076,876

National Aquatic Centre

Dublin

931,074

Book of Kells

Dublin

650,476

St Patrick’s Cathedral

Dublin

457,277

Tayto Park

Meath

450,000

Fota Wildlife Park

Cork

438,000

Blarney Castle

Cork

390,000

Rock of Cashel

Tipperary

372,503

Top 10 Free Attractions 2014 Name of Attraction

County

The National Gallery of Ireland

Dublin

2014 593,183

National Botanic Gardens

Dublin

541,946

Doneraile Wildlife Park

Cork

460,000

National Museum of Ireland Archaeology, Kildare St

Dublin

447,137

Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin

Dublin

406,982

Farmleigh

Dublin

402,773

Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons

Kildare

350,000

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Dublin

306,662

Chester Beatty Library

Dublin

304,000

National Museum of Ireland Natural History, Merrion St

Dublin

300,272

To view the full list of attractions visit www.failteireland.ie

FÁILTE IRELAND NEWS

The Burren Food Trail honoured as 2015 EDEN Champs The Burren Food Trail was recently honoured as the Irish winner of the 2015 EDEN (European Destination of Excellence) Award for developing a tourism offering based on their local gastronomy that balances sustaining the local environment with the promotion of viable tourism. This prestigious EU-wide EDEN competition, which is themed differently every two years, is designed to encourage and promote a more sustainable form of tourism development and The Burren Food Trail was one of four destinations shortlisted under this year’s Tourism and Local Gastronomy theme.

The three runner-up destinations were Cong Food Village, Mayo; the ‘Wild Atlantic Way So Sligo Food Trail’; and the West Waterford region.

The Burren Food Trail now holds the European accolade of “Destination of Excellence 2015 - Tourism and Local Gastronomy” and will receive free marketing supports from Fáilte Ireland including a professional photo shoot for the destination to be used for promotional purposes and a grant of €5,000 for business

Tina O’Dwyer, Burren Food Trail, winner of the European Destination of Excellence Award for Ireland is pictured with John Mulcahy and Shane Raftery, Fáilte Ireland

development support initiatives. As victors, The Burren Food Trail will also represent Ireland at a showcase exhibition of the EDEN winners from all participating European countries in Brussels later this year. Each year Fáilte Ireland manages the EDEN competition.

John Mulcahy, Head of Food and Hospitality for Fáilte Ireland emphasised “This year’s theme focused on small, emerging, non-traditional destinations located off the beaten track that offered an authentic food experience. This is something Ireland has in abundance, which made for a close and fiercely competitive competition.

“Just over one third of overseas visitor expenditure in Ireland is spent on food and drink equating to €1.2 billion in 2014.

Ireland has some of the best raw ingredients in the world and is now excelling as a food destination because growers, producers, retailers and chefs all work together to promote their destination and produce wonderful locally sourced cuisine for visitors. The importance of the place, as well as what is on the plate, is what distinguishes Ireland from other culinary destinations because it gives visitors, from both home and abroad, a chance to get a truly authentic experience that they will always remember.”

More than €27m worth of future business events secured for Dublin this year More than 50 international events, totalling more than 20,000 international delegates and worth in excess of €27m to the Irish economy, has been won for Ireland with the assistance of Fáilte Ireland’s Business Tourism Team so far this year. These events are scheduled to take place during 2016 - 2019 and are made up of international conferences, corporate meeting and incentive travel.

Amongst the business recently won for Dublin are: • Social Media and Critical Care (SMACC) Conference - which will attract 2,000 delegates and take place in the CCD in June 2016; • The Network for the Advancement of Transfusion Alternatives (NATA) Annual Symposium — which will take place in the RDS next year bringing with it 700 delegates; • International Air Transport Association (IATA) AGM which is also scheduled for June 2016 in the RDS attracting 1,200 delegates; • 10th Congress of European Violence in Clinical Psychiatry, which will take place on 26 - 28 October 2017 at the Crowne Plaza, Santry catering for 550 delegates.

All of these events were won with the assistance of Fáilte Ireland’s Business Tourism Supports whereby assistance is given to Irish members of international groupings and local suppliers to bring their association’s conferences, corporate meetings and incentive travel to this country.

Addressing the importance of such conference wins, Miriam Kennedy, Head of Business Tourism for Fáilte Irelend explained: “The average business traveller tends to spend two or three times as much as a holidaymaker, thereby making this sector a lucrative market to target. As well as providing an important revenue source for many hotels and venues in Dublin, and across Ireland who cater for such large events, this activity sustains and grows tourism businesses throughout the year and, particularly outside the summer season.”

As well as that Fáilte Ireland also announced they have recently revamped the Dublin Convention Bureau website which was designed to support people to drive business tourism to Ireland. While the new Dublin Convention Bureau site still provides a comprehensive suite of supports and information on bringing business tourism to Dublin, its new responsive design means that all its content can be accessed easily on multiple devices - perfect for busy people on the go.

The newly updated site also hosts a number of new features including: • a new live chat function which means you can access advice and support directly from the site; • a range of planning toolkits; • and a new blog which will focus on key business tourism themes - Dublin as a world class product, supports available, the appeal of Dublin, Dublin’s business reputation, unique experiences and some success stories.

Visit www.dublinconventionbureau.com

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17

REFURBISHMENT

King of the castles

Standing grandly on the shores of Lough Corrib, the iconic Ashford Castle was officially reopened recently following a two year complete restoration, enhancement and refurbishment programme that firmly reestablishes it as one of the most luxurious destination hotels in Europe.

The stately architecture of Ashford Castle, located deep in the heartland of County Mayo and set against a spectacular backdrop of forests, lakes and mountains, has witnessed enormous change since its foundation almost eight centuries ago. But Ashford Castle is more than a luxury hotel - it is a rare and precious fragment of Irish history.

Once home to the Guinness family for over 100 years, the castle has welcomed royalty, celebrities and heads of state throughout its illustrious history, including George V (then Prince of Wales), Ronald Reagan, Brad Pitt, John Wayne, Fred Astaire, Barbra Streisand and John Travolta.

Red Carnation Hotels Having acquired the castle in June 2013, Red Carnation Hotels, a family owned collection of 17luxury award winning hotels, has meticulously worked to preserve Ashford Castle’s history and charm while enhancing its facilities and levels of luxury and comfort.

Every inch of the glorious castle estate, parts of which date back to 1228,has been

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carefully examined, restored and enhanced in the latest re-development. The design team was led by Mrs Beatrice Tollman, Founder and President of Red Carnation Hotels, with the support of her daughter Toni Tollman, the Red Carnation project team and architect Philippe Bonino.

“We are so proud of this fabulous property, our first in Ireland, and we applaud the work of the many Irish craftsmen and artists who have worked fastidiously with our team to restore Ashford Castle to this glorious state,” said Mrs Beatrice Tollman.

New Chapter in History All 71 guest rooms, along with 10 suites, plus a presidential suite, have been completely and lovingly refurbished and furnished with carefully sourced antique pieces, exquisite fabrics, bespoke carpets, original artwork and marble bathrooms, sensitively complimenting the ambience and tradition of this iconic building, while incorporating more modern technologies such as electronic blinds and air conditioning, mood light dimming, USB chargers on the wall and complimentary WiFi throughout the hotel.

The restoration will ensure family members are well catered for under one historic roof with the addition of a 32-seat cinema, children’s games room and a Lego Room service menu to keep younger family members entertained. Bespoke welcoming touches add to the Ashford Castle experience, including personalised homemade cookies for little guests.

Adults will appreciate the creation of a splendid billiard room, two outdoor roof terraces (one of which serves fine Cuban cigars) and an array of enhanced public areas, all of which provide the perfect environment to kick back and relax in comfort and style.

Couples in search of a romantic hideaway will find exactly that at Ashford Castle where the ancient underground wine stores have been transformed into private dining cellars, and the old boat house on the shores of Lake Corrib has become a private and secluded suite.

New additions include two stunning stone Irish wolfhounds at the entrance to the castle, a magnificent suit of armour in the entrance hall, an antique lectern in the George V dining room and Murano glass chandaliers from Venice throughout the building.

REFURBISHMENT

Wherever possible, materials and pieces have been sourced from local artisans and suppliers to reflect the hotel’s unique environment. Examples include the Prince of Wales bar which has been made from local Connemara marble and in-room amenities by organic skincare range VOYA from County Sligo.

Due to the age and scale of the castle, the restoration required a complete overhaul of the building’s infrastructure, including stonework, windows and roofs, to ensure its long-term future for generations to come. Behind the scenes, the castle’s kitchens have been moved and completely rebuilt on a different level closer to the dining room, facilitating a more efficient and timely service.

Outdoor pursuits The picturesque grounds of Ashford Castle have also been treated to some tender loving care during the restoration project. The falconry school and equestrian centre have been fortified, and the two tennis courts are now all weather surfaces with an onsite tennis coach who can assist guests looking to perfect their technique. The walled and herb gardens have also been spruced up.

The castle’s 9-hole golf course has been treated to ensure it offers the best playing conditions all year round. Six gillies are now on hand at Ireland’s only Orvis-endorsed property for fishing to share their expertise with fishing enthusiasts.

Additional outdoor activites at the estate include clay pigeon shooting, hiking, cycling, and water sports on Lough Corrib. All of these activities can also be enjoyed by guests at The Lodge at Ashford Castle, a charming boutique four star sister hotel in the castle grounds.

Serene sanctuary Ashford Castle, with its fairytale setting, is therapy in iteself - an idyllic sanctuary of calm and contentment where the cares of the world are easily forgotten.

The final piece of the intricate renovation is the addition of a beautiful spa and indoor ozone-filtrated swimming pool which opens this summer.Guests can work out in the brand new gym where a range of cardio and resistance equipment is on offer. The five spa treatment rooms offer a range of pampering therapies to soothe, refresh and rejuvenate including aroma stone massages, an invigorating body polish, detoxifying wraps and deep regenerating facials.

Moving forward In recent years, like many properties in Ireland, Ashford Castle has been challenged by the economic uncertainty. However, with $75 million invested in the initial acquisition and restoration, the renaissance of this historical estate is now complete and the future looks bright.

To support the improved facilities at the hotel, the staffing levels have been significantly increased to 300, boosting employment in the local area. All staff members have undertaken Red Carnation’s award-winning training and development programmes to ensure that the service delivery across the hotel is second to none.

“Our team is warm, compassionate, caring, genuine and enthusiastic about delivering and living the Red Carnation ethos of our company. No request is too large, and no detail is too small”, said Paula Carroll, Director of Sales and Marketing at Ashford Castle.

Speaking about the massive overhaul, Niall Rochford, General Manager at Ashford Castle, said “it’s a longterm investment and a labour of love for the Tollman family and Red Carnation Hotels. They’ve stripped it to the core and rebuilt it again”.

Mr Rochford described the end product as “phenomenal” - and nobody could disagree.

Caroline Leddy

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TOURISM

Tourism Ireland reaches 3 million Facebook fans Tourism Ireland has reached three million fans on Facebook around the world, making it the fourth most popular tourism board on the popular social networking site - after Australia, the United States and Britain.

Social media marketing is a hugely important element of Tourism Ireland’s global promotional programme to highlight the island of Ireland. And the organisation’s ‘social footprint’ is considerable, with more than 50 social media presences in total including Facebook pages in 15 markets, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube, as well as Sina Weibo and WeChat in China. Tourism Ireland has more than 300,000 followers on Twitter at the last count, making it the number two tourism agency in the world, after Britain; it is also second among tourist boards (after Australia) on YouTube, with more than 21 million views.

Reaching three million fans on Facebook is significant for a number of reasons. Each fan has an average of 200 friends - so Tourism Ireland is just one click away from having its messages and photos shared each week with a potential 600 million friend connections worldwide. Tourism Ireland estimates that the value of the conversations about holidays in Ireland generated by its three million Facebook fans will be worth about €15 million this year (i.e. what those conversations, if paid for as advertising, would cost).

Taoiseach lends a hand to promote Ireland and the Wild Atlantic Way at Milan EXPO

At the announcement of Tourism Ireland’s 3 million milestone on Facebook were (l-r) Brian Harte, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Niall Gibbons and Mark Henry, all Tourism Ireland.

Tourism Ireland board meets in Kilkenny

Taoiseach Enda Kenny (centre) with Simon Gregory and Niamh Kinsella, both Tourism Ireland, at the Ireland pavilion at EXPO 2015.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was in Milan to view the Ireland pavilion at EXPO 2015, where he met with Tourism Ireland staff, as well as leading Italian tour operators who programme and sell holidays to Ireland. Italy is an important market for tourism to the island of Ireland and the most recent CSO figures show growth of +32% in visitor numbers from Italy for the January to June period, an extra 34,400 Italian visitors compared with the first half of 2014.

Tourism Ireland is determined to ensure that tourism growth continues and has a busy programme of promotions under way right throughout 2015.

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Colin Ahern, chairman of Kilkenny Tourism and general manager of the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel; Brian Ambrose, chairman of Tourism Ireland; and Eugene Downes, director of Kilkenny Arts Festival.

The Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel was the venue for the July board meeting of Tourism Ireland. The board members took the opportunity to meet with local tourism operators prior to the meeting, to discuss the tourism season and the extensive promotional programme which Tourism Ireland is undertaking to highlight Kilkenny, the South East and the island of Ireland around the world this year.

TOURISM

3+ million Chinese to read about holidays in Ireland

Tour guide Min Lin Siew; Wu Qi, Sanlian Life Weekly; Wang Xin, Tourism Ireland; Wang Yin, Nanfang Weekly; Wang Yuan, Traveler Weekly; and Li Xiaoheng, photographer, in Galway.

Four top Chinese journalists - whose publications have a combined circulation of more than 3 million readers - visited Ireland recently. A key element of Tourism Ireland’s promotional activity in China, to grow our share of this rapidly-growing tourism market, involves working with the media to generate positive publicity for Ireland.

Following an action-packed itinerary devised by Fáilte Ireland and Tourism NI, the group visited the ID2015 Design Hub at Dublin Castle, Trinity College and the Book of Kells, King John’s Castle and the Milk Market in Limerick, the Cliffs of Moher, Galway city, Ashford Castle, Parkes Castle in Leitrim, Yeats’ grave and Lissadell House in Sligo, the Causeway Coastal Route, Titanic Belfast and the SS Nomadic.

Irish tourism enterprises ‘meet’ in London Thirteen Irish tourism companies attended The Meetings Show, which took place recently at Olympia in London. Now in its third year, The Meetings Show attracts several thousand conference and meeting professionals and event planners, from Britain and Mainland Europe. David Boyce, Tourism Ireland’s deputy head of Great Britain, said: “The Meetings Show is another valuable platform to showcase and sell the island of Ireland and to build awareness of our world-class business and conference facilities.

The superb meetings, incentive and transport infrastructure on offer, coupled with our distinctive cultural experience, means Ireland is a very attractive destination for the business tourism market in Britain and Mainland Europe.”

Catherine Bunn, Aviva Stadium, Dublin; Sarah Dallas, Tifco Hotel Group; Joyce McElroy, Tourism Ireland; Mairéad Cullen, InterContinental Dublin; Karina Martin, Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast; and Cathy Joyce, Citywest Hotel, Dublin, at The Meetings Show in London.

Spotlight on Ireland at Toronto’s Festival of Beer The Irish pavilion at Toronto’s Festival of Beer was sponsored by Tourism Ireland for the first time this year and featured some of our top brewers, finest chefs and emerging musicians. The annual festival, which showcases experts of the brewing craft from around the world, was attended by more than 35,000 people. At the Irish pavilion, there was Irish music and entertainment, as well as culinary treats from the chefs and brewers - giving Canadian attendees a real taste of Ireland. There was also a fun photobooth, where festival-goers could place themselves in iconic spots around Ireland and ‘jump into Ireland’ - to be in with a chance to win a holiday here.

Dana Welch, Tourism Ireland’s manager Canada, said: “We were delighted to join forces with Toronto’s Festival of Beer to present this showcase of Ireland’s craft beer, food and music. The island of Ireland’s food and craft beer scene is blossoming right now, with lots of new microbreweries, gastro-pubs, craft distilleries and local eateries serving the freshest ingredients - all sure to appeal to prospective Canadian visitors.”

Pádraig Staunton, The White Hag; Elizabeth Coppola, Aer Lingus; Paul Mullin, The White Hag; Harry Colley, Dublin Pop Up; chef Gavan Murphy; Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland; David O’Hare, Brú Brewery; Mary Heron, Aer Lingus; Julian Holland, Brú Brewery; Jonathan Sargeant and Dana Welch, both Tourism Ireland.

Oui love Ireland’s Ancient East... French travel writers pay a visit!

A group of French travel writers have been exploring some of Ireland’s Ancient East, taking in counties Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny. Pictured are Patrick Belfast, Dunbrody Abbey Visitor Centre, Co Wexford (left), welcoming the French journalists and Anne Zemmour, Tourism Ireland (fourth left); also pictured are Caitríona Butler, Irish Ferries (third right), and tour guide Mick Langan (third left).

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21

ITIC

Irish Tourist Industry Cconfederation - a beacon of hope for Tourism in Ireland The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) was an association I wasn’t too familiar with until sitting down with Chairman, Paul Gallagher in Buswells Hotel. As a general outline of ITIC’s work, Paul explained it as, “A single voice for the tourism industry, a confederation of associations, whose principal objective is advocacy on behalf of the tourism sector.”

It is a membership only group consisting of 30 members, includinga numberof founding members. Since its foundation in 1984, ITIC has been an influential campaigner in promoting the interests of tourism businesses to policy makers and State agencies ITIC’s membership consists of many dominant players in the tourism industry such as, IHF, RAI, I T O A, Irish Ferries, Aer Lingus, DAA, Dublin Port, Fáilte Ireland, Guinness Storehouse, Tourism Ireland, Shannon Group, B&B Ireland, Car Rental Council, Coach Tourism and Transport Council, C I E Group, V F I, House of Waterford Crystal, the O P W, Stena Line, etc.

Any organisation consisting of scores of members can in itself be a difficult task to cater for each individual’s wants and needs. However, Paul Gallagher believes the current model is a success stating, “We’re not about lookingafter specificissues of our individual members, but rather our job is to concentrate on the macro stuff, strategic things that will make a difference to the longer term sustainability of the overall tourism industry.” Although the question remains just how well does this all work for members? In some regard, Paul Gallagher’s response appears to echo a utilitarian perception, whereby the end justifies the means, “Occasionally it’s not realistic to achieve consensus on all of our policy decisions or what we’re trying to influence,but we always seek to pursue the broader picture and advocate for what’s best for tourism as a whole.”

“I think we are the spokespeople for the industry but that’s not to say the associations within our membership don’t have a huge role to play by looking after the specific interests of their members within their own organisations.”

“Most of ITIC’s output is generated internally, Paul explains, but we also use external consultants on some reports, if we

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“I think we are the spokespeople for the industry but that’s not to say the associations within our membership don’t have a huge role to play by looking after the specific interests of their members within their own organisations.”

Paul Gallagher are doing a specific piece of work on behalf of a member, which we have done for example with the Irish Pub report and the B&B sector last year “.Reports and researchare the key areas that membership fees are allocated to.” He goes on to demonstrate that, “Where our members specifically want to get a piece of work that is important for them in terms of what their needs are for their own sector, but also has a general tourism significance, then we will consider commissioning a report with them, and they will co-fund it.” However that is not to say that ITIC take full responsibility for every issue within every sector of the tourism industry. “We are the overall voice for the industry, but that’s not to say the associations within our membership don’t have a huge role to play by looking after the members within their own organisations,” Paul honestly clarifies. “I know from being past president at the IHF, we would have had issues that would have nothing to do with the RAI, B&B Ireland, etc., and we would have had to advocate for that as an association on our own.”

It seems to be that ITIC is a leading example to other tourism industries, even internationally as a recent visit to the Scottish Tourism Alliance showed. “They see the value of what we do and they thought the quality of our outputs and research

ITIC

“The members pay a membership fee that is right sized for them. Membership is our sole source of income and our budget is about €300,000 per year.” was of a very high standard.We’re the go-to when agencies and government want to talk about tourism.” Paul confidently acknowledges.

“The members pay a membership fee that is right sized for them. Membership is our sole source of income and our budget is about €300,000 per year.”

As with most Membership organisations, fees are treated sensitively, and ITIC essentially has a hierarchy of prices that are specific to each individual member.

“The members pay a membership fee that is right sized for them, our budget is about €300,000 per year.” This of course raises the question, how can each member demand equal amounts of attention if the price is unbalanced? “However it does work,” Paul believes,” because all acknowledge that our work is always in the best overall interests of the Industry- and everyone gains from that ultimately.

We advocate for the collective good of tourism and it’s never anything more than just that.” As an aside he points out that Membership fees have not been increased in 10 years,and were in fact reduced in 2011 to recognize the difficult circumstances prevailing at that time for all their members, and throughout that time output from ITIC was significantly increased.

Adequate and competitive air access is critical to the future of Irish tourism and securing the Aer Lingus’ position as a key carrier in that future is fundamental to ITIC’s strategy for growth and expansion. “It was clear to us from the very start that Aer Lingus, although working well in its current format as a stand-alone company, would be seriously challenged to prosper and growin the medium to longer term.

We felt that as part of IAG, and given certain protections and assurances, both they and Irish tourism had a far more secure and expansionary future. “A great deal of the negative arguments put forward by self-styled experts were disingenuous, illinformed, self-serving, or politically driven “according to Gallagher. “Aer Lingus was sold 9 years ago, and the reality is that as a minority shareholder the Government had no influence in the daily business activity, as evidenced by the carrier’s decision to transfer Heathrow flights from Shannon to Belfast some years ago. Now they have the opportunitytoreally expand as part of a truly global carrier. Ireland will become a huge benefactor of the sort of connectivity that IAG bring, Paul positivelyaffirms. Ireland will soon see further expansion of North American routes, be

connected to Asia Pacific and South America through existing I A G networks, and in time through some new direct routes, Paul believes, “This can be huge for Ireland.”

Tourism in Ireland appears to be in a good place right now according to Paul, in particular hotels, restaurants and bars.

Having suffered greatly since the 2008 crash, all sectors are reporting a strong return to growth. The rate of growth can vary from sector to sector, but overall things on the demand side are quite positive.

“Dublin needs up to 5,000 rooms over the next five years, that’s 1,000 rooms per year. If we don’t manage that, then we’re not going to reach its true potential.”

But as always, looking to the future, ITIC is not without some concerns Adequate accommodation capacity in the Capital is one key area. According to an ITIC report”Capitalising on Dublin” they identified that if Dublin was marketed correctly under a single brand, visitor numbers could be dramatically increased by up to two million annually by 2020. A group working under the title of Destination Dublin under the auspices of Fáilte Ireland is currently devisingan implementation plan. However if and when it is

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23

ITIC implemented, the increased volume of traffic into Dublin will create some problems terms of accommodation along with other infrastructural constraints. There are currently 45,000 transatlantic seats arriving weekly into Dublin and along with those and further expansion plans by Aer Lingus and other carriers Paul Gallagher voices his inevitable concerns stating, “It is phenomenal potential growth but without additional accommodation capacity we’re going to struggle to handle that comfortably. This could naturally cause perception problems that people can’t get into Dublin or only at a certain price.”

“Dublin needs up to 5,000 rooms over the next five years, that’s 1,000 rooms per year. If we don’t manage that, then we’re not going to reach its true potential.”

As reported by Paul Gallagher who is also General Manager of Buswells Hotel in Dublin, hoteliers have accepted there isn’t enough accommodation. “Within the canals, Dublin hotels have been at 95% occupancy since the end of April. Only two weeks ago people looking for accommodation in Dublin had to stay in Port Laoise. That’s very good for hotels, and room rates have grown sharply in the last four months in Dublin. What itis not good is theprice perception of Dublin hotels and you’re starting to hear that within the trade, particularly from tour and group operators. .

To achieve the targets being pursued by Destination Dublin, the Capital probablyneeds upto 5,000 additional rooms over the next five years, that’s 1,000 rooms a year, and that’s a challenge. If we don’t get this however, Dublin won’t reach its true potential in that timescale, according to Paul. “ However, there is some action under way, with some existing hotels expanding such as the Fitzwilliam, The Merrion, Cassidy’s and others, either reconfiguring existing space or adding on more new build rooms . Other new properties are being planned and Paul is hoping that the industry will rise to the challenge.

These days the level of selection and shopping around by consumers is inevitable due to the abundance of online websites available at one click, and Paul agrees with this. “I think consumers are awfully clever and accommodation and other tourism products generallyare bought and sold in a completely different way than it was even 2 or 3 years ago. You can now buy a cancelled bedroom from someone because they can’t show up, in other words, I could third party my bedroom in a hotel to you and you can turn up as me because I can’t get a refund. .” Price is apparently only one element of how people evaluate value for money and this is something Paul is mindful to discuss with industry. “A very sudden and sharp rise in

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price can have a detrimental impact on people’s perception of value for money.

Value is also based on experience, not just price”, he says.

“The OPW have capital expenditure resources this year of less than €500,000 when it used to be €17 million five years ago. With that they’re supposed to sticky plaster all of the national heritage sites that they run on our behalf.”

Historical sites such as the Hill of Tara, Kilkenny Castle and the Rock of Cashel are an important part of Ireland’s tourism industry. The recent decrease in government funding could be detrimental to the future reputation of a sustainable tourism economy. “The OPW have capital expenditure resources thisyear,of less than €500,000 which used to be €17million four years ago. With that they’re supposed to sticky plaster all of our national heritage sites that they run on our behalf”, Paul disclosed. “Consumers when they get there will be disappointed by the level of interpretation that is available to them at these sites unless adequate capital resources are restored to the O P W.”

“The OPW have capital expenditure resources this year of less than €500,000 when it used to be €17 million five years ago. With that they’re supposed to sticky plaster all of the national heritage sites that they run on our behalf” Creating and sustaining employment is another example of how tourism delivers, according to Paul.”Tourism has created 33,000 jobs, one in four of the all new jobs created in the Irish economy in the last four years, and this is just the start of it. We believe there are another 30,000 jobs over the coming 5 or 6 years that can be achieved, and not just in Dublin, butright around the country”, Gallagher positively affirms. The permanent retention of the lowered VAT rate and the suspended airport departure taxes should be adopted, as these Government initiatives have clearly been aresounding success, it’s the old adage’ if it aint broke, don’t fix it ‘ he says.

The excellent marketing campaign of the Wild Atlantic Way isanother positive attribute that ITIC are encouraging to maintain a healthy industry growing in the West as well as in Dublin.

Recently ITIC have teamed up with IBEC to produce a report titled ‘Tourism Opportunity -a manifesto for growing tourism and jobs, which is effectively a preelection manifesto document, “A roadmap of what’s needed from the next occupants of Government in terms of tourism”, Paul expresses.

Paul Gallagher seems to have two things on his mind for his twoyear reign as ITIC’s Chairman; restoration of adequate budgets for overseas marketing, and a capital allocation of €50 million for investment in tourism infrastructure and visitor attractions. He also wants to see Ireland’s excellent food offering dialed up to become a more central theme in marketing Ireland overseas. “Ireland has not yet developed a deserved reputation abroad for the excellence of the food offering which now is available throughout the country.”

Recently Paul was fortunate to join the Chinese Prime Minister’s Delegation at Ashford Castle and having talked with two of their ministers, there only seemed to be one thing on their mind, food and in particular Irish food and agriculture. “They want to buy our product, they came to us, and they need it. We have the best grass fed beef and lamb in the world, we should be making more of that in our tourism marketing, not to mention our superb sea-food offering.

“We became better marketers because of the recession, friendlier people and a better tourist destination because of it.”

Paul estimates that there will be 7.8 million overseastourists this year, eight million maximum. However,he wants Irish tourism to push past that 8 million mark and believes that if we do certain things right we can handily exceed the Government’s 10 million target by 2025. “But his question is, are we going to say

“We became better marketers because of the recession, friendlier people and a better tourist destination because of it.” we don’t need additional capacity and limit our prospects for growth or are we going to seize the opportunity that is right in front of us?” It would foolish to forget the series of unfortunate events that unraveled in2008 says Paul but he feels,”thefat that was in the system is gone and none of us are going to let that build up again.

We became more competitive and better marketers because of the recession, we became friendlier too, and a better tourist destination because of it.”

Holly Lenny

FOOD

forTHOUGHT RESTAURANTS ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND SLAMS DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL FOR “SUNSHINE TAX” ON OUTDOOR SEATING Half a Million Euro per Year generated from “Sunshine Tax” for Outdoor Tables & Chairs in Dublin City

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uses local produce and is vital for local business.” He continued, “From a survey carried out among RAI members across the entire country, it was found that

RAI conducting full review of all Local Authority charges on restaurants in Ireland

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Dublin City Council (DCC) has made nearly half a million Euro - €451,619 from outdoor seating charges last year. These are fees paid by restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and pubs to put customer seating outside their premises. DCC officials confirmed at a recent meeting with the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI), that the scheme costs €150,000 to administer, thus making a profit of €301,619.

In order to qualify for this scheme you must serve food that can be served to the public that can be eaten on-site.

Planning permission is needed for street furniture, and council officials carry out on-site consultations at every establishment seeking a license for outdoor furniture.

Adrian Cummins of the RAI commented on the charges, “These fees are applied based on the number of tables on a public footpath outside a premises PLUS an annual licence fee. This is a double taxation measure. The local authority rates are already so high that these charges threaten to cripple a business that employs local people,

a restaurant’s Annual Rates Bill ranges from €980-€150,000, averaging at €15,813. That kind of figure is ludicrous.”

HAVE YOUR SAY – The cost of doing business for restaurants The RAI is conducting a survey on the cost of doing business for restaurants. The data collected will assist the RAI in lobbying in the run up to the budget. Take the survey here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/restcosts

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Restaurateurs Angered by proposal of 50 cent increase to Minimum Wage in Ireland Low Pay Commission Proposal of €9.15 National Minimum wage will cost Jobs in the Restaurant Sector

PRSI change needed

The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) has expressed alarm and anger regarding proposals by the Low Pay Commission to increase the National Minimum Wage by 50 cent to €9.15.

The Low Pay Commission report highlights anomalies in PRSI arrangements which if left unchanged could see workers take home less money following a rise in the national minimum wage.

The National Minimum Wage in Ireland was introduced under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000. It currently stands at €8.65 per hour.

At the same time, under current arrangements, employers would see their PRSI costs increase significantly on foot of even small increases in the minimum wage above certain thresholds. The RAI is proposing that a decrease in the USC or income tax would be of more benefit to employees than a minimum wage increase. If minimum wage is to be increased, the government has to make the appropriate changes to our PRSI system.

An increase of 50 cent in the minimum wage will have a disproportionate negative impact on restaurants outside of the Greater Dublin Area.

Excluding car sales, economic activity in Ireland is still very fragile. Adrian Cummins Chief Executive of the RAI commented, “An increase in the National Minimum Wage will have a devastating effect on the Restaurant Sector and will lead to cut in hours and job losses. Ireland will have the second highest minimum wage in Europe after Luxembourg and our competitiveness will be destroyed.”

Affordable and Sustainable Food Waste Disposal Food waste is a major issue for commercial kitchens.

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Apprenticeship Scheme Launched l Restaurants

Association of Ireland Welcome New Apprenticeship Proposals as a Stepping Stone in Tackling the Crisis Chef Shortage

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apprenticeships goes some distance in helping the crisis chef shortage.

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Association call for the re-establishment of CERT, the former State Tourism Training Agency.

Shortage of Chefs has now reached crisis levels, and threatens the Hospitality Industry.

The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) gives an overall welcome to the Governments announcement of new apprenticeship proposals today but reinforce the need for the re-establishment of CERT, the former State Tourism Training Agency. The RAI says that there is now a crisis in the shortage of chefs in the country, and an investment in training is needed urgently. The organisation is calling on the Minister for Education to re-establish CERT, with immediate effect.

Included in the 25 proposed apprenticeship programmes is a Commis Chef course which the RAI and The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) will run. The course will offer a total of 70 spaces. The RAI will also be working alongside

IT Tralee, who will be running four chef apprenticeship programmes with 16 spaces available on each course.

Acknowledging the crisis chef shortage at the announcement, Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation Damien English TD commented, “We know that there is a shortage of chefs throughout Ireland and that there is a serious demand and pressure on businesses and restaurants.”

Chief Executive of The RAI, Adrian Cummins commented on the new proposals, “The chef shortage in this country is an ongoing problem. The new apprenticeship proposals are a stepping stone in tackling the crisis but the reestablishment of CERT is the only solution.” The RAI state that the main skills shortages are among suitably qualified chefs. Shortages of commis chefs feed into shortages at higher and specialist levels. Currently 1800 chefs qualify each year from certified culinary training programmes.

There is an immediate deficit of 5000 chef trainees annually.

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Restaurants Association of Ireland the following four areas:

Official Sponsor of

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Patrons:

NEW MEMBERS Restaurant Name Restaurant

County

Restaurant Name Restaurant Name

County

Restaurant Name Restaurant Name

County

La Dolce Vita

Co Cork

Via Veneto

Co Wexford

Dublin 8

The Sweet Beat Café

Co Sligo

The Corkscrew Brasserie

Co Louth

Lady K' Restaurant @ Tivoli Backstage

Shamrock Restaurant

Co Waterford

McNutts Coffee House

Co Donegal

Aroma Coffee Shop

Dublin 6

The Stonehouse Restaurant

Co Kerry

Crust Café

Co Limerick

The Old Market Bar

Co Cork

Crokers @ Treacys Hotel, Spa & Leisure Centre

Co Waterford

The Old Creamery

Co Cork

Willoughby's

Co Kilkenny

Chiang Mai Cuisine @ Treacys Hotel, Spa & Leisure Centre

Co Waterford

The Champagne Bar Restaurant @ Curragh Racecourse

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Feed Your Senses

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Pizza Dog Swords

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Nesbitt Arms Hotel

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Kitchen 62

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Forno

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Chalet Restaurant

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Cucina Italiana Ristorante

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Verona Coffee Shop

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The Pigeon House (Clontarf)

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Gearoidin's

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The Watermill Café @ Skerries Mills

Co Dublin

Esquires Coffee Shop (Navan)

Co Meath

The Village Inn

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The Ivory Restaurant & Bar

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Dublin 9

East Side Tavern

Dublin 2

Dan's Stonewall Café

Co Louth

Diep Ranelagh

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Reddys of Carlow

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Reeds on the River

Co Dublin

Ballintaggart House

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Poppy Fields

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The Copper Pot @ The Clonakilty Hotel

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Copper & Spice - Navan

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08/06/2015 17:52

ONLINE MARKETING

Capitalising on changes in contractual rate parity Des O’Mahony The Macron Law France’s landmark Macron Law1, passed in July, prohibits online travel agents (OTAs) from writing rate parity clauses into contracts with their hotels, giving hoteliers full freedom to offer lower rates on their own websites or to other OTAs. Crucially, the bill also prohibits OTAs from offering prices lower than those supplied by the hotel, so OTAs cannot sacrifice part of their own margin to secure a lower cost sale in competition with the hotel’s website.

The highly specific law comes on foot of the legal dismantling of aspects of rate parity in other countries such as Sweden, German and Italy and recent anticompetition investigations in various EU countries. France’s move is the most straightforward and clear. The hundreds of hotels that Bookassist works with in France are overwhelming in favour of the move, but capitalising on it is not as simple as it may sound. The law has re-opened the debate on rate parity and how hotels balance business with OTAs. Predictably, dire warnings on the fall of rate parity have come from the OTAs themselves, who predict a price war between small independent hotels, who will now be unprotected and unrepresented online, and the large branded chains - as if the OTAs were the guardians of the small hotel in the pricing landscape!

As it stands, France is the only country to specifically give hotels full freedom to alter rate in whichever way they wish, But Europe-wide, Booking.com and Expedia are now no longer able to write contractual clauses prohibiting hotels from giving lowering room rates to other online travel agencies. The new contracts cannot prohibit hotels from offering lower rates to their corporate or loyalty club members (non-public rates), and to the general public through offline channels.

Rate parity impact It was, ironically, the hotel industry itself that pushed for rate parity in the early days as hotels sought to ensure contractually that OTAs would not undercut their own website prices. In turn, OTAs accepted this, provided hotels agreed not to allow other OTAs to undercut their pricing and retained parity across all OTAs. The concept became engrained in the industry but OTAs were quick to capitalise on their best price position through

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massive advertising, brand development, and more recently private clubs for their customers. They built their brands on promising best price, giving little reason to consumers to bother going to hotel websites. The margins realised by OTAs grew at multiples of the hotel industry margin growth as a whole, and a shifting of the power balance resulted.

How rate parity affects a hotel today depends on their strategy - whether they are distributing widely and want to keep uniform rates (or indeed vary rates) across multiple OTAs, or whether their strategy is to limit distribution to a manageable few and target direct business to their website. Those strategies also depend in turn on the size and location of the hotel, since larger hotels need more specific distribution and rate management policies. But, for the smaller independent hotel, in particular those seeking to drive more direct bookings to their own website, the fall of rate parity can be a very good thing indeed, provided the hotel truly knows how to manage their rate distribution.

The meta search mirror The focus on OTAs has side-stepped some of the larger problems that are arising on rate issues today. Control of selling-rates is more and more difficult. Meta search holds up a mirror to your distribution strategy online, and when you examine a hotel on meta search to see how their rate and availability breaks down, it’s often not very flattering. Many hotels seem to have lost control of rate online, whether they know it or not.

FIT rates that are supposed to remain wholesale or offline are regularly appearing on meta search sites at below the intended public rate, where wholesalers privately sacrifice part of their commission to get the sale. Often hotels have no idea how to track or control this. Other than making a booking themselves to determine where exactly the rate has originated from. Discussions we have had with our client hotels in Italy, France and the Czech Republic recently indicate that this problem far outstrips the OTA management issue for many hotels.

Hotels must revisit their FIT contracts and determine exactly which of those are playing by the contractual rules - delivering real value and not just undercutting the hotel on obscure websites. There are certainly some players who are bending the rules to the detriment of hotels’ direct business. Hotels need to be forceful in stopping that practice.

Meta search is only going to grow. The massive investment by TripAdvisor2 shows that there is appetite for a third way between hotels and OTAs, with 235,000 of hotels on TripAdvisor now bookable on that site as of July. Google Hotel Finder3 has also announced a revamp as it pushes towards making all hotels bookable from search.

The opportunity for hotels in meta search will become stronger as time goes on.

It has not yet delivered massively for direct-to-hotel business, but it is showing clear progress. It is critical that hotels get their direct business on to meta search and begin to understand how each platform works. Meta is often the simplest way to see how hotels’ distribution strategies are working (or not), since so many hotels still (inexplicably!) appear with better availability and lower rates on other channels compared to their own website.

With hundreds of Bookassist hotel clients availing of our direct meta search connectivity to Google, Trivago, and TripAdvisor, our strategic knowledge continues to rapidly grow and can be shared among our clients bringing to them the benefit of scale.

How do hotels capitalise and drive more direct bookings?

Stay Competitive - Controling rate is difficult and the consequences of getting it wrong can be large. Using OTAs appropriately is crucial for their reach, but simply altering your OTA price upward so that your hotel website is cheaper will not work.

OTA listings ordered by price will obviously disadvantage hotels who up their OTA price with respect to their previous offering, regardless of contractual terms. Hotels

ONLINE MARKETING

needs to be careful to remain competitive here if they are to continue to use the OTA advantage of widespread exposure.

Value - The key is to deliver better package value on your own website for the same price. There are many ways hotels have successfully done this, from offering preferential room upgrades, to free in-house services for direct guests versus third party guests, to promotional codes off future bookings.

Data - Projecting value is the key element to allow the prospective online purchaser to make an informed decision, while proper use of guest data in the form of prearrival upselling and highly targeted post-stay offers will derive best future value from the acquisition cost of that first booking. Remember, OTAs are now generating more and more business from their private clubs because they know how to use personal data. Hotels can and should be doing this too with a clear strategy to collect customer data, proper segmentation of their customer data and targeted email and social media exclusive offers to segments that are highly relevant and compelling.

Loyalty - As with my comments on data above, develop a loyalty programme to maximise the return on your efforts. Customers love the exclusivity of being a member (of anything!) provided you show how well they are treated in return.

Website quality - Even with price parity or better value, you are competing for the mindset of the online customer when you pitch your own hotel website against the OTA website. OTA websites are conversion machines. Top quality hotel websites, designed for conversion, are critical if hotels are to compete. But hotels too often take the same approach to web design as they take to decorating their hotel and compromise website design for the sake of their own aesthetic view. Hotel management must get away from reacting personally or emotionally to website design and realise that the objective scientific approach to conversion optimisation is what counts. Take the advice of expert companies in this area, resist interference and let them do their job to build your online business.

Mobile - The growth in mobile continues and so much browsing now comes from

cross platform access, where people jump between devices as they do their research.

Not being on top of mobile is a big mistake.

Even if you are not getting significant mobile bookings, the availability of your information on mobile is a critical part of the decision process leading to conversion on other platforms.

Even with all of the above, it’s critical to remember that a driving force of online sales on any platform is the reputation of the hotel and staff. Thankfully, there is nothing new for hotels to learn in order to get this one right and boost their reputation online - good old fashioned quality of service, personal interaction, and engaging with guests online and offline in as helpful a way as possible. The best way to win the online reputation status you want is to deserve it.

Dr Des O’Mahony is CEO & Founder at Bookassist (http://www.bookassist.com), the multi-award-winning technology and digital strategy partner for hotels worldwide.

1 http://bit.ly/1VWrG5H 2 http://bit.ly/1JrupiC 3 http://bit.ly/1IqkFV7

H&RT AUGUST/SEPTEMBER ‘15

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COST-EFFECTIVENESS

How hotels can boost their business While the outlook is positive, many hotels are still struggling from the aftermath of the property crash and recession. However, undertaking a strategic review can help businesses become more cost-effective and efficient, writes Aine Reidy.

Even though the majority of hotels experienced an upturn during the first six months of 2015, continued insolvency actions and closures in the hospitality and leisure industry underline the difficulties still being faced by the sector in Ireland.

The latest quarterly report from the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) reveals nine out of ten hoteliers reported an increase in business levels compared to the same period last year. However, the diversified profile of hotel ownership in Ireland, along with the strong links between hotel and property sector, are still having an impact on profitability. Hence, despite the improved growth within the sector, many hotel owners are struggling to reap the benefits of increased tourism rates and the return of consumer confidence.

Nevertheless, while there are undeniable threats, there are certainly opportunities to improve the financial health of operations within the sector for those prepared to take advantage.

Some of the key indicators are suggesting renewed confidence in the industry with an increase in occupancy rates and the average rate-per-room in 2015 compared to 2014.

This has had a tangible impact with total revenue generated across all tourism-related businesses in 2014 up 9.4% at â‚Ź6.45 billion, accounting for 4% of GNP, according to figures released by the IHF. This impressive recovery within the sector has been supported by initiatives such as the 9% tourism VAT rate and the zero rating of

Aine Reidy

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H&RT AUGUST/SEPTEMBER ‘15

the Air Travel Tax. Both initiatives have brought Ireland more in line with tourism VAT rates across the rest of Europe and have been key in making Ireland a more competitive destination. The need to maintain the current lower rate of VAT at 9%, which has been instrumental in keeping so many jobs within the industry, is essential.

Hotels and guesthouses are expecting a third consecutive year of strong growth in 2015, but these positive growth figures continue to mask huge regional differences.

Indeed, while most of the country is beginning to benefit from the uplift in tourism, the improved fortunes for the sector have not been spread evenly throughout the country.

This is highlighted by the occupancy rates in Dublin, which according to data released by the IHF, rose by 3% in 2014 to 73%, compared to occupancy rates in the northwest, which have remained static at just 54%.

Hence, even though there is renewed buoyancy in the sector, one third of hoteliers will not make a profit in 2015, according to a survey of members of the Irish Hotels Federation.

This is because many rural hotels continue to experience subdued domestic demand and difficulties encouraging overseas visitors to venture outside the traditional tourism locations. This is before the fallout from the downturn and property crash, which continues to have ramifications for many within the industry, is taken into account.

It is therefore more critical than ever for companies operating within the sector to assess and re-engineer their specific business strategy. While each will face its own set of opportunities and threats, there are obvious starting points when it comes to strategically analysing any business operating within the industry. Here are the key elements to begin with: Legacy debt issues Many hotels are operating from a low revenue base following the downturn. The resulting high cost of servicing overhanging debt is therefore a serious challenge. The fact is that many companies are continuing to carry legacy debt issues on their balance sheets that require restructuring and negotiation with their banks. In a lot of cases legacy debt problems arose from the buyback of sale and leaseback arrangements entered into during the boom years. Refinancing has become a very topical issue for many hoteliers in the sector. Operators who are actively planning and anticipating future industry trends are more likely to be successful and capitalise on opportunities for consolidation within the sector. So being able to better manage legacy debt issues should be a strategic imperative.

Technology To be successful, companies operating within the sector must invest in technology.

The battle to drive bookings through proprietary websites will continue, but all major

COST-EFFECTIVENESS

operators will also develop applications and websites for mobile devices to meet consumer demands. Many hotel software companies are offering one-stop shop solutions for hotels to fully integrate: 1. Front office reservations systems 2. Website reservation processing systems 3. Stock systems 4. Accounts packages.

While this requires investment, a well managed, fully integrated IT system will reduce costs in the medium to long term and allow for better control and management of any hotel.

Brand The growth of social media in the last five years has been staggering and will continue to grow. However, utilisation of social media is still relatively limited in the Irish hospitality sector. The most successful brands will be those that embrace and learn to harness social media rather than underestimate or fight against its influence. Using social media is one of the most cost-effective ways to market, promote and position your brand and requires little in terms of capital outlay.

Employee turnover An average hotelier spends 33% of revenue on labour costs, but employee turnover in the industry is as high as 31%, according to a new report by Deloitte entitled Hospitality 2015.

Indeed, high employee turnover continues to plague the industry and operators need robust strategic plans to retain their critical employees and manage staff turnover and costs. The industry as a whole reports difficulties in hiring trained workers to fill entry-level positions within their businesses and the skills shortage is getting progressively worse as the sector returns to growth. Retaining talent in regional hotels across the country can also be problematic as the trading circumstances can be very difficult. Companies who embrace training and education for staff will see the benefit.

Many see it as a cost but it brings with it a lower staff turnover rate, which in the long term will only increase bottom line profits and increase customer satisfaction.

Cost management It is vitally important that all costs are reviewed on a continual basis. For example, insurance has increased on average by over 50% during the past five years and has become a bigger burden on those companies who do not review their costs in order to assess more competitive alternatives. With the impact of the internet on the sector, it is vital that hotels renegotiate all Online Travel Agent (OTA) commission rates annually. At present Expedia, for example, is seeking a rate of up to 23% and booking.com of up to 18%; these rates should be negotiated. Companies investing in their own website are moving bookers from the OTAs to their own, which automatically improves profitability.

While it takes a sharp focus, effort and time, reviewing your business strategy will pay dividends. Smith & Williamson’s leisure and hotel sector group have supported and helped many businesses in the industry to navigate the ever-changing challenges through a comprehensive range of services and extensive experience. Our approach is to work in partnership with our clients to help them address and benefit from the continuous challenges. The forecast for the sector is very positive, and every business working in the sector should be priming themselves to take advantage of the uplift.

Aine Reidy, Partner, Assurance and Business Services, Smith & Williamson Disclaimer By necessity, this briefing can only provide a short overview and it is essential to seek professional advice before applying the contents of this article. No responsibility can be taken for any loss arising from action taken or refrained from on the basis of this publication.

Details correct at time of writing.

Smith & Williamson is an independently owned professional and financial services group with around 1,500 people. The group is a leading provider of investment management, financial advisory and accountancy services to private clients, professional practices and mid-to-large corporates. There are eleven principal offices across the group; these are in London, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Glasgow, Guildford, Jersey, Manchester, Salisbury, and Southampton.

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GMIT NEWS

Do you remember your first work placement?

An insight by Cáit Noone Many readers of this magazine can surely reminisce about their first work placement in the tourism industry in Ireland? As a former CERT student I was lucky enough to be sent to a wonderful family run property on the outskirts of Dundalk. I learnt so much more about customer service while interacting with the hotels guests than I could have learnt in class. The owners, who were also the General Managers, were never slow in teaching and sharing knowledge and this helped me grow as an industry professional.

As final year exams finished in late May we in the College of Tourism and Arts once again prepared to say goodbye to first and second year students who were embarking on work placement and internship. Many first year students undertake a twelve week work placement, traditionally in an Irish hotel or restaurant or a place appropriate to their course. This experience is critical as it reinforces what students have learnt in first year and helps prepare them for an international thirty week placement which takes place in second year. This year we have many third year students, who have successfully completed all internships at this stage in their course, continue to gain new industry experiences. When I spoke to them about this, many confirmed their desire to keep learning new facts and skills in order to enhance employment opportunities upon graduation. I was terribly impressed when I heard this, sometimes I think we don’t give our young people enough credit for their valiant efforts.

I have recently returned from a visit to the US where I visited our 30 students who are currently placed in Cape Cod, Maine, New York, Long Island, Florida, DeMoines and Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Many are working in properties run by GMIT graduates, others are working for private beach clubs with colleagues who have been visiting and recruiting our students for over thirty years. In addition I had some wonderful opportunities to meet GMIT alumni in the US who are leading some of the finest hotels in North America and wearing their alma mater badge with a pride and honour. Some people often ask ‘why allow students to work overseas’ but I should add this comment rarely comes from industry colleagues we all know only too well what an invaluable experience can be gained through working and living in another country. I truly believe these experiences make our students better industry professionals and that in the long term can only assist our industry grow and expand. We need graduating students to see our industry as a long term career opportunity and not just a job, with the help of colleagues across the tourism industry in Ireland we in GMIT will continue to engage and work with you to ensure our curriculum is current and industry relevant and our students understand the many demands and challenges tourism industry professionals are facing on a daily basis.

As a team we need to make this industry the number one choice for future generations and work placement opportunities, homes and abroad certainly will assist us in the work ahead.

College of Tourism & Arts GMIT Dublin Road, Galway Tel: +353 (0)91 742343 Web: www.gmit.ie/cta

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Cait Noone Head of College T: +353 (0)91 742236 E: Cait.Noone@gmit.ie

College of Tourism and Arts staff present at the annual Tourism and Hospitality Research in Ireland Conference - THRIC 2015 The School of Tourism, LYIT hosted the 11th Annual Tourism and Hospitality Research in Ireland Conference (THRIC) from 11 - 12 June 2015. The conference was held on the Letterkenny Campus and in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Letterkenny.

On the eve of the conference, the School of Tourism in conjunction with Donegal Local Enterprise Office (LEO), Donegal Food Coast and Fáilte Ireland organised a Food Tourism Workshop focusing on ‘Developing the Food Tourism Experience along the Wild Atlantic Way’.

GMIT Lecturers John Carty, Jacinta Dalton, Dr Diane Dodd - Director of the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism, Cáit Noone - Head of College Tourism and Arts and GMIT Lecturer Diarmuid O’Conghaile.

Over sixty participants heard from four speakers: Artie Clifford (Head of Judging Panel) Blas na hEireann Awards discussed the judging process behind award winning artisan food; Dr Diane Dodd, Director of the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism, Barcelona outlined the European Region of Gastronomy Project and how this could be of relevance to food tourism enterprises located along the Wild Atlantic Way; John Mulcahy, Head of Food Tourism, Hospitality Education & Standards, Fáilte Ireland talked about Fáilte Ireland supports for Food Tourism in Ireland and Eve Anne McCarron from the Donegal Local Enterprise Office (LEO) detailed regional supports for artisan food producers, specifically focusing on the Donegal Good Food Initiative.

On the morning of 11th June, the THRI Conference was opened by Minster Joe McHugh TD, Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs.

Nearly 100 delegates heard from four key note speakers from Ireland, England, Scotland and Spain. Pat McCann was the first keynote speaker and discussed ‘The Dalata Story: Developing an effective adaptable strategy - How a company can survive adversity and position itself for growth as the opportunity arises’.

He was followed later on Thursday by Professor Kevin Hannam, Leeds Beckett University on ‘Developments in tourism motilities’.

Dr Diane Dodd addressed the conference on Friday morning focusing on ‘The importance of culture and food diversity for gastrodiplomacy and tourism’. The final keynote speaker was Helen Campbell, Head of Global Branding and Marketing Communications with VisitScotland who talked about ‘A year in the life’.

A look at how VisitScotland amplify the marketing opportunities delivered through the use of ‘themed years’.

In total 33 research papers and extended abstracts were presented over 11 parallel sessions. Next year’s conference will be hosted by Limerick Institute of Technology in June 2016.

Gerry Talbot Head of Department: Culinary Arts Service Industries T: +353 (0)91 742320 E: Gerry.Talbot@gmit.ie

Gerry O’Neill Head of Department: Heritage & Tourism Humanities & Languages T: +353 (0)91 742294 E: Gerry.ONeill@gmit.ie

CATERING DESIGN SOLUTIONS

Catering Design Solutions get things blooming at Arboretum Garden Centre Arboretum Garden Centre Ltd is a family business, run by Rachel Doyle and her two sons, Barry and Fergal. With a store already open in Carlow, equipped with a garden café, a pet store and a team of highly qualified plant experts, they have become one of Ireland’s leading garden centres.

The Arboretum Garden Centre Ltd, opened their second store in Kilquade, Co. Wicklow at the National Garden Exhibition Centre in June 2015. However, they wanted to ensure the design of their new property and particularly their new restaurant kitchen, was created for energy efficiency.

Ken Lynch, of Catering Design Solutions (CDS) was the project manager for the renovation at the new Arboretum Garden Centre in Wicklow. He explains, “more and more clients are becoming aware of the long term cost saving advantages of energy efficient equipment and they have an appreciation that the upfront cost of a machine

is only a small proportion of its lifetime cost” - this is where CDS’ expertise lie, and so they became the obvious choice.

As Rachel, Barry and Fergal were conscious of energy efficiency throughout the project, CDS created a kitchen that embodied this with their design and choice of equipment. Ken says “we focused on making the three key pieces of equipment in the kitchen as energy efficient as possible; the dishwasher, the combi oven and the salamander grill”. With expert knowledge in this area Ken used the Winterhalter PT-M Energy+ Dishwasher. This comes with a base waste water heat exchanger as standard, coupled with the Energy+ hood this unit will offer energy usage savings of thousands of Euros over the course of its life time. As one of the most efficient combi ovens on the market, the Rational SCCWhite Efficiency 5 Senses Combi Oven was the obvious choice for the second piece of equipment. Lastly, the Energy Efficient Hatco Therm-max Contact Salamander Grill was used. This grill only operates when food is placed on the contact plate. Vastly more energy efficient than a standard gas salamander, the Hatco Therm-max Salamanader grill does not require to be kept running from morning to night, creating significant cost savings.

In this way CDS chose three key pieces of equipment that would ensure the kitchen operated efficiently and with long term cost savings.

Ken explains, “we also focused redesigning the existing space to make the layout as energy efficient for the chef as possible. We worked with the clients and their needs taking into consideration the space available, their requirement to make their kitchen as energy efficient as possible and also looking for the optimal layout for the chef in terms best use of the space in a working kitchen”.

CDS are renowned for their work with clients from the initial meeting right the way through to completion of a project and their work on the Arboretum Garden Centre kitchen was no different. Ken says, “these clients are very conscious of the environment given the nature of their business. Our brief was to be as energy efficient as possible in the brief and we worked with the clients on this right the way through to completion of the three month project”.

The Arboretum Home and Garden Heaven in Carlow was awarded the Best Customer Service store in 2015 and with the help of CDS, their new Wicklow store looks set for the same level of success.

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BEVERAGES

Delight your customers with a cup of indulgence

As the nation’s leading coffee brand, Bewley’s are continuing to invest in new product development to ensure that their customers have the best quality products to persistently delight consumers.

Although we are all hoping for a few more sunny days this summer, Bewley’s are already preparing for the autumn and winter months and know what hot beverage products will entice customers through your door. Hot chocolate has always been an indulgent treat for consumers however more recently it has become more prominent and prevalent on menus in high street cafes. The growing popularity of hot chocolate can perhaps be attributed to the way hot chocolate makes us feel. Research has shown that endorphins are released when hot chocolate is consumed creating a feeling of calm and happiness. With consumers becoming more discerning about the quality of food and beverages, Bewley’s have announced that they plan to reformulate their hot chocolate powder in the coming months. Speaking about the reasons for doing this, Carol Geary, Bewley’s Marketing Manager commented “quality has always been at the heart of Bewley’s product development. From our coffee beans to our tea right through to our ancillary products, we only want consumers to experience the best of what we have to offer. In the case of our

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Foodservice solutions, we have to be mindful of the need to deliver cost effective, easy to prepare product formats for operators. It is mainly for these reasons that we have decided to reformulate our proprietary Hot Chocolate powder; Chocolait which we plan to make available to the trade at the later end of this year.

Hot Chocolate is now being used to tap into the sweet and savoury trend and for consumers who can’t really choose between sweet and salty, more products are appearing in the marketplace that can satisfy both moods. For example we have all seen how salted caramel and chocolate hit the headlines this year as chefs across the world raved about the deliciousness of the unusual combination. Research also reveals that consumers are looking for unique and memorable taste experiences when it comes to food and beverage purchases and below Bewley’s share their recipe for their own Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. Try serving it in your operation today and capitalise on the trend.

SALTED CARAMEL HOT CHOCOLATE Required: Bewley’s Chocolait powder Salted Caramel Syrup Milk Method: 1. Pre-heat the glass with boiling water 2. Add 1 pump of Monin Salted Caramel Syrup to the glass 3. Add 1 scoop of Bewley’s Chocolait powder to the glass 4. Steam the milk to a silky consistency 5. High pour the milk into the glass until it reaches 2/3 of the glass 6. Mix well to ensure all the chocolate is blended 7. Continue to fill the glass and then finish by low pouring Bewley’s have everything you need to promote these types of delicious recipes throughout the year and can also provide dedicated training programmes to give your staff the added confidence in promoting your chosen beverages.

Contact Bewley’s today on 1850 248 484 to get your menu on trend.

BEVERAGES

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IFSA NEWS

Welcome to our new Board Members and farewell to two of our long standing colleagues

The IFSA Golf Classic 2015 in association with the Hospitality Trust

The IFSA Board is delighted to welcome the following new members to the team: Trevor Annon - Chairman, Mount Charles Group and Norman Linehan, General Manager, General Wholesale Division, The Barry Group.

At a recent Board meeting Drewry Pearson was also elected as Treasurer to IFSA. In a sea change for the organisation, long standing members Liam Mongey (Secretary) and John Walsh (Treasurer) recently resigned from the Board of the association.

Said Larry Smith, IFSA Chairman, “The pivotal role played throughout the years by these two long serving and dedicated Board members in steering the CEA and IFSA to the success it has become cannot be underestimated. Adding that they will be missed by all who are involved with the association and the wider industry.”

Another competitive and friendly day with plenty of networking potential is planned for the IFSA Golf Classic on Friday, 4th September at The Hermitage Golf Club. This year IFSA has teamed up with the Hospitality Trust, which was founded in 2000 for the purpose of supporting people from the hospitality industry who had fallen on hard times. All proceeds from the day will go toward this great cause. The day’s golfing will be followed by a dinner and prize giving at 8pm.

Places can be booked for Golf and Dinner or for dinner only before 28th August. Booking information is available by contacting garret.buckley@ifsa.eu.com.

Barry Group Pictured L-R are: John Walsh, Drewry Pearson & Liam Mongey

The Mount Charles Group Multi-service business support

Norman Linehan, manager of the General Wholesale Division of Barry Group has been appointed to the board of the IFSA. Norman has extensive experience in the wholesale trade due to his role with Barry Group and has been a long time member of the IFSA. Celebrating 60 years in business this year, Barry Group is one of the leading wholesale groups in Ireland. The company was founded in 1955. Since that point, it has grown and developed at a rapid pace. Today it operates from a state of the art headquarters in Mallow where over 230 people are employed.

Under Managing Director’s Jim Barry’s leadership and vision, Barry Group has grown from a once local business to a leading wholesale distribution company. Trading both nationally and internationally and supplying over 1,000 customers; Barry Group supplies 265 franchises under the Costcutter, Carry Out Off Licence and Quik Pick symbols, as well as a large number of independent retailers and wholesalers based in Ireland.

Barry Group is committed to providing the very best for your business. It offers a wide range of Ambient Grocery, Catering, Tobacco & Alcohol product at competitive pricing directly from its 150,000 square foot warehousing facility.

From their Call & Collect facility through to their delivery service, every need of an Independent business, whether it is in the pub trade, catering or an Independent Retailer is catered for.

Barry Group are major suppliers of the catering and off licence trade across Ireland. They can offer all these selling channels the benefit of their competitive pricing and the experience of their sales force who relate to the modern marketplace.

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The Mount Charles Group is one of Ireland’s largest locally owned c o m p a n i e s , delivering a full range of cost effective business support solutions including catering, cleaning, security services, vending and retail.

We also offer integrated business support services such as reception staff, maintenance, helpdesk, portering, security, waste management and a remote switchboard service.

Our view is that we will adapt our offering to meet their business support requirements, whatever these may be and irrespective of the size of the individual contract, our approach is always to provide a service that combines cost effectiveness and quality.

Over the past 18 months we have responded to rapidly growing demand for outsourced business solutions in Ireland by undergoing an expansion strategy that has seen us focus heavily on growing our business in the Republic of Ireland.

It’s a marketplace that is dominated by multinational service providers, and we believe we’re offering Irish businesses something that is unique: a local service, using local products, with a dedication to excellence that is world class.

It’s this together with our ability to offer cost effective, bundled business support solutions that has seen us grow to the point where we now employ around 1,800 people, who service more than 250 companies across the island of Ireland.

Our passion for delivering highly bespoke business support is palpable and we constantly strive to improve our knowledge and seek ways to enhance efficiency and productivity in all that we do, leaving our clients free to focus on their core business.

To find out more about the Mount Charles Group, visit www.mountcharles.com

IFSA NEWS

Winterhalter

Nutritics

Have it all: new warewasher cuts energy consumption, creates comfortable working conditions - and cleans dishes Winterhalter’s PT ClimatePlus slashes energy costs by 53%

Nutritics, the nutrition and costings analysis software platform, is delighted to announce it has joined IFSA to continue to support Foodservice excellence across the country. The Nutritics software enables Foodservice organisations to quickly and accurately calculate and publish recipe allergens, calories, nutrition, costings and cooking instructions in one intuitive platform.

The move strengthens their presence in the Irish Foodservice sector, where they are already in partnership with the Irish Hotels Federation, Restaurants Association of Ireland and the Vintners Federation of Ireland and working with market leading clients including Fitzers Catering.

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Tifco Hotels, Trinity Purchasing and many independent hotels and restaurants.

Speaking at the announcement, Group COO and their Head of Irish Foodservice, Stephen Nolan, commented “We are delighted to join forces with IFSA to promote excellence in our sector and offer buyers an innovative solution to assist with their nutrition and costings analysis requirements. We look forward to broadening our partnership further, particularly at a time when the market is demanding more and more transparency around the nutritional content of recipes.”

Winterhalter has launched a new rack passthrough warewasher, the PT ClimatePlus, that cuts energy consumption by over 50%, at the same time as actually improving the working conditions in the kitchen and delivering outstanding wash results.

Inside the new machine is a highly efficient heat pump, called the ClimatePlus, designed to use both the energy from the steam in the machine’s interior and the energy from warm air in the kitchen to heat the incoming wash and rinse water.

When washing with the PT ClimatePlus, the temperature and water content of the exhaust air from the machine are considerably reduced, resulting in much improved working conditions in the wash area.

Independent trials carried out by equipment testing specialist TÜV SÜD in Germany showed that, when washing with the PT ClimatePlus, the heat given off into the room was reduced by 75% compared to a standard PT model. Also, in many cases there is no need to fit an exhaust air hood for the machine, giving additional cost savings.

The new ClimatePlus heat pump is part of Winterhalter’s ongoing commitment to develop resource-saving warewashing. Every PT Series model is equipped with a waste water heat exchanger as standard, which reduces energy consumption by 10%. PT EnergyPlus models also have an exhaust air heat exchanger and reduce energy consumption by 20%. The PT ClimatePlus sets a new benchmark: it uses 53% less energy than a standard model without a heat recovery system.

“The ClimatePlus heat pump is a very significant new development in the foodservice industry’s struggle to reduce energy consumption,” says Stephen Kinkead, managing director of Winterhalter UK. Winterhalter provides a total solution for warewashing, from presales advice to after-sales service, training and maintenance.

Alongside its market-leading dish and glasswashers, the company’s range includes utensil washers, advanced water treatment machines, cleaning chemicals and detergents. For further details, call Winterhalter on 01908 359000, see www.winterhalter.co.uk, or www.winterhalter-scout.biz or email info@winterhalter.co.uk.

Total Produce In Total Produce, we’re a little bit different Proud to be Irish, our nationwide network of depots makes us unique. No matter where you are in Ireland, there’s a Total Produce “Depot On Your Doorstep”, thirteen in all-with local people selling local produce to local customers.

TotalProduceFoodService.ie is our website dedicated to lifting the veil on Irish fresh produce’s journey from farm to fork. Introducing visitors to the “people behind our produce”, it profiles local growers from across the country, features video tours of their farms and glasshouses and offers an insight into the passion, dedication and hard work that goes into growing the freshest, tastiest Irish produce.

Built into TotalProduceFoodService.ie is our Online Ordering Portal, a new, extra option for removing the hassle from orderingthough we’ll always be at the other end of the phone!

So. TotalProduceFoodService.ie. It should be your first port of call if you’re looking for quality local fresh fruits and vegetables.

To keep your finger on the pulse of all things fresh produce follow us @tpfoodservice.

Valentine Equipment Little Plates need Great Induction at Polpo Chelsea With a high profile opening in Chelsea, that operates 24 hours a day, typically serving 500 covers each eating three small plate dishes from the Venetian inspired menu Polpo needed highly reliable preparation, cooking and holding equipment. The bespoke solution came from the Polpo Group’s experience, the vision of Executive Chef Jason Wass and CCE Group choosing equipment from Valentine and sister company Cuisinequip.

“We needed a cooking range that took the best points from existing Polpo restaurants, that could fit into the limited space of our new Chelsea site and of course to cope with a diverse menu, 24 hour operation and still produce the high quality dishes we are known for,” says Jason Wass.

The range at Polpo Chelsea has a built-in twin-pan Valentine Evo 2200 fryer, two twin induction hobs with four x 8kw multifunction coils to allow for cooking with smaller pans at service time, or larger pans for mise en place. Hold function is standard on this type of induction from HWM keeping the base of the pan at the set temperatures of 70, 95 or 110°C; thereafter the control becomes a graduated power until full power is delivered at position 9. There is also a small deep-pan griddle which can be used for grilling food, or as a bratt pan for making sauces, soups etc. Lastly a 4 x 1/3 G/N wet well bain-marie was fitted into the range for use during service times. The space under the hob was utilised by fitting a single drawer Adande unit to offer chilled storage at the point of cooking for the chefs. All HWM built cooking ranges have a strong 4.5mm stainless steel top and are fully welded for longevity, backed up by a five year warranty on the induction system from Cuisinequip.

Talking about the performance of the range, plus the menu and service it handles Jason adds, “The menu is broken down into different stations and the equipment has been specified to turn it out quickly without any compromise on quality. For example the meat balls are held in the ban-marie, the Valentine fryer handles dishes like the Arancini and Salt Cod Crocchette and the induction suite gives controllability for vigorous and gentle cooking that many of the other dishes require.”

For more information on Valentine Equipment and Cuisinequip call: 0118 957 1344 or visit: www.valentinefryers.com www.cuisinequip.com

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ENTERTAINMENT

Star treatment at the Red Cow Moran June Rogers still adding the sparkle to the 4 stars at the Red Cow Moran Hotel Some hotels boast spas, leisure facilities and golf courses - but the Red Cow Moran Hotel, a landmark on the outskirts of Dublin City, boasts year-round entertainment as its four star extra.

A renowned host venue to some of the finest live acts in Ireland, the Red Cow Moran Hotel is proud to include top Irish comedienne June Rodgers as one of its success stories for the last 15 years.

Celebrating 25 years in show business this year and just finished a nationwide tour, it’s all systems go in preparation for this year’s Christmas show, and June’s enthusiasm and excitement is palpable.

This year’s all singing, all dancing, fully choreographed show promises to be a cracker, with Ireland’s own “Fred Astaire” looking after the choreography. Tristan McManus, best known for his professional appearances on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, is thrilled to be back on home soil preparing June and the troupe for this year’s Strictly Christmas Show at the Red Cow Moran Hotel.

Keeping with the Strictly Come Dancing theme, we are promised plenty of Latin moves, glitz and glamour to complement the side splitting comedy that has made June Rodgers the legend that she is.

June and her cast of fantastic new characters will have you laughing all night long and you’ll also spot some familiar faces on the night including Oliver Bond.

And of course no June Rodgers Christmas Show would be complete without an appearance from favoured cast member Jacinta O’Brien who will be popping in to say hello.

With a long-standing fan base from every corner of the country, and building on the phenomenal success of last year’s antics, Ireland’s favourite comedienne promises to be funnier, more irreverent and more unpredictable than ever before!

In addition to the mayhem and madness that comes courtesy of June and her stellar crew, this year’s slick all new production brings the laughter to another level, with a stock of brand new and hilarious characters from the ultimate funny lady.

High-stepping, sophisticated song and dance routines from her dynamic cast include the kids from Xquisite Dance School in Tallaght.

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25th Anniversary in Show Business June’s early career is a world away from what she is loved for now; working in quality control for Fujitsu in Tallaght, analysing the cells of computer microchips under microscopes, June dreamed of a career in entertainment where she could unleash her talent.

This year marks 25 years since June first came to prominence in John Player Tops, becoming a household name and a great favourite of young and old alike.

June says she was inspired by a mixture of Irish talent including favourites like Brendan Grace when his shows featured many parodies. Also, as June explains, “variety was huge on the television in the 1970s. There were some great comedies and I loved watching Sunday Night at the Palladium, The Two Ronnies, Big Henry and Les Dawson”.

Variety has been the spice of June’s career too, as she tells of her delight in playing the part of Fat Annie in two Brendan O’Carroll films. Describing the much loved Agnes Browne film (1999) as one of “laughter and tears”, June has fond memories of singing Zoological Gardens in the crowded pub alongside best friends, Agnes and Marion. June reprised her role in Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie in 2014, where Agnes puts up a battle to keep her family stall on the famous Moore Street.

The stage, though, is June’s first love having taken the leading role for six successive seasons in Ireland’s favourite pantomime at the Gaiety Theatre before moving to the Olympia for the productions of Cinders, Jack and the Beanstalk and a hilarious performance in the stage musical of The Full Monty.

Also in 2014, June saw her first nationwide tour sell out at every single venue including the Cork Opera House and the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin. The tour was so successful that June decided to go ahead for a second year and has just completed another nationwide summer tour. Her schedule is unrelenting from one year into the next and laughing infectiously as always, June says “I still look 18.”

ENTERTAINMENT enough. When asked whether she has any particularly memorable highlights from her career so far, June immediately answers that the absolute privilege of meeting so many great people continues to be the highlight.

She is so delighted in explaining how people come up to her after the shows to share lovely stories of their childhood memories of seeing her star in the pantomimes. The shows attract people of all ages and from all walks of life, with audience members ranging from couples, teenagers and girls out for the night, to a lady aged 92 who is a regular at the shows.

June also mentions fans who continue to keep memories of going to the shows alive after their loved ones, who would have been there too, have passed away.

There is no doubt that June loves to make people happy and she says it is amazing the number of people she meets after the shows who say, “you did my heart good tonight”. June also receives cards and letters from places as far away as Canada who were at shows in Ireland.

The funny lady says she gets a kick out of people complimenting her portrayal of male characters, saying “you play a good man”.

Despite her astounding success as Ireland’s funny lady, June is quick to acknowledge the support she has been given over the years by her legions of fans and broadcasters including Joe Duffy, Pat Kenny, Gay Byrne and Derek Mooney.

Time Out Away from the limelight, June says she is really a home bird who lives quite a simple life. She unwinds by keeping on top of the gardening at her 120 year old cottage close to her much loved Tallaght. Her quick wit is displayed once again when she jokes “I live in the heart of the Dublin Mountains. Eh no you don’t - you live in Tallaght!”

June is not impressed by the lights and dazzle, and she does not get starstruck.

Behind the scenes, she enjoys good food and meals with her husband, Peter, and friends at home. “Peter is the normal one”, June laughs.

Highlight Reaching the big 25 year milestone, June has worked hard to get to where she is now, and she humbly says she cannot praise the people behind her success

Partnership with the Red Cow Moran Hotel June highly commends the tireless efforts of the team at the Red Cow Moran Hotel every year. She says she has the best of both worlds in being her own boss and having the support of Tom Moran and his fantastic team. The star of the show explains how the audiences’ experience at the hotel is integral to the success over the last 15 years.

June is as enthusiastic as ever about this year’s Christmas show and promises to make it even better than last year, with a team of almost 20 working hard to deliver another dazzling spectacle including lots of singing and dancing, 20 different characters, and what the audience loves best - big wigs and costumes.

To keep up with the current affairs, June and the show’s script writer, Martin Higgins, will continue to make changes to the format between now and when the first of 19 shows begins. As June says, the show is an all Irish production, and the audience love the unpredictability of it.

So this year, let June and the gang give you their own kind of Christmas cheer with an overdose of laughter - it is the best medicine after all! June’s Strictly Christmas Show dinner is a perfectly packaged Christmas party night out for friends, family and work colleagues.

The show runs from 27th November until 29th December and bookings can be made through the hotel’s booking office telephone (01) 459 3650.

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FÁILTE FOCUS

Positive business sentiment in tourism at highest since downturn

Fáilte Ireland recently hosted a group of top international media, in Ireland to participate in a food press trip to Dingle, on the Wild Atlantic Way.

Tourism business sentiment is at an all-time high according to overall figures contained in Fáilte Ireland’s Barometer with more than three quarters of businesses (77%) expecting growth for the coming year hotels were particularly bullish with eight in ten expecting increased business in 2015.

Business sentiment in the tourism sector for 2015 is now a mirror image of the negative outlook felt back in 2008 as the recession began to take effect.

The Barometer is a survey of tourism businesses which seeks to gauge tourism performance for the year to date and prospects for the year ahead. The survey was carried out during April 2015 with 680 accommodation providers, restaurants and tourism attractions.

The majority of paid serviced accommodation providers (60%) are reporting business is up this year to date compared to the same period in 2014, rising to two thirds (66%) amongst hoteliers. This was one of the key findings in the latest Fáilte Ireland Tourism Barometer of the tourism sector published recently.

Both domestic and overseas markets are expected to generate growth in the coming season according to 67% and 69% of paid

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serviced accommodation providers. For the majority of such businesses, Britain (68%) and North America (67%) in particular, are expected to deliver growth. The optimism for the latter two markets seems to be driven by the anticipation that exchange rates will remain favourable (mentioned by 75% of businesses).

Other factors influencing an optimistic outlook for the year ahead include the impact of repeat visitors (indicated by 72% of respondents), businesses’ own marketing efforts (54%) and a strengthening domestic economy (53%) which are also expected to help bolster performance for the majority of businesses.

Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn emphasised: “The tourism sector is going from strength to strength and currently has a fair wind at its back. Thanks to its own hard sacrifices and Government initiatives, such as a lower rate of VAT for the sector, tourism operators are providing top quality at great value. With global travel trends on the rise, some favourable currency exchange rates and significant new Fáilte Ireland initiatives, such as the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East, tourism has a spring in its step again. That’s good for the economy and for jobs - particularly in those many rural regions where tourism is one of the main economic drivers.”

Meanwhile, the release of the latest CSO overseas travel figures reflects the positive sentiment of the Barometer with the total overseas trips to Ireland for the first six months of 2015 up by 12% on the corresponding period in 2014.

Welcoming these strong figures, Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn emphasised: “As we reach the half-way mark and head into the high season for visitors, these figures today signal that tourism is very much on track for a record performance this year.

“We’re offering good value along with great quality and we have attractive propositions such as the Wild Atlantic Way which are strengthening our appeal. With favourable currency exchange rates also helping matters, tourism is ideally positioned this year to generate visitors, revenue and jobs like never before.”

See the report in full visit www.failteireland.ie/Research-Insights

FÁILTE FOCUS

New ‘Welcome Standard’ provides seal of approval for quirky accommodation

Pictured at the launch of Fáilte Ireland’s new Welcome Standards were Noel Kavanagh, Fáilte Ireland Authority Member; Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring and Michael Cawley, Chairman, Fáilte Ireland.

Fáilte Ireland have launched a new ‘Welcome Standard’ that is targeted at innovative, quirky or unusual tourist accommodation businesses (such as glamping, pods and log cabins) which do not fit into its existing approval frameworks. This new standard has been introduced to recognise the significant changes in both consumer tastes and the range of accommodation types that are now available. The new Welcome Standard will bring many more tourism operators into tourism’s ‘approved’ family as complementary additions to existing traditional tourism accommodation stock such as hotels and B&Bs. Businesses that are judged to have attained the ‘Welcome Standard ‘will be allowed to display the Welcome Standard’s logo on their property and on their marketing material. These businesses will also be featured prominently in Fáilte Ireland marketing activities, including the Discover Ireland website.

“Many successful, high quality accommodation businesses in Ireland are providing a great experience for their guests but sadly do not fit within the traditional Fáilte Ireland quality framework and, as a result, have been unable to work with Fáilte Ireland in the past,” says Fáilte Ireland Chairman Michael Cawley. “This new standard will rectify this situation and is designed to embrace these businesses for their benefit as well as for the benefit of visitors and the Irish tourism industry. The new standard is targeted at atypical tourist accommodation businesses who do not fit into existing Fáilte Ireland approval frameworks and 80 operators have already signed up to the initiative.”

Carina Mount Charles of Rock Farm Slane, explains what the new standard means for her business: “The primary benefit of having Fáilte Ireland’s Welcome Standard for us, as a small business, is that it gives us that stamp of credibility.

When people see the sign in the car park, they know that they are not only welcomed by us but are also being welcomed by Fáilte Ireland. Having the sign outside the gate means that we have made it and we are now a fully-fledged tourism business.”

Dick Ridge, from ‘Pod-Umna’ Village.

Galway, says that the Fáilte Ireland recognition will indicate to potential guests that they will be properly taken care of during their stay and helped in every way possible.

“To sum up the new standard I would say it is about putting the real Fáilte first, second and third into the visitor experience and we are delighted to be a part of it.”

Information on the new Welcome Standard can be viewed on www.failteireland.ie/welcomestandard or email qualityframeworks@failteireland.ie

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43

ALLERGENS

Allergen labelling for hotels & restaurants “I’d like a decaf, organic, almond milk latté, with a lactose-free, gluten-free soya-free high-protein low-calorie Paleo cookie please!” Sound familiar? I genuinely empathise with chefs, managers and servers who are bombarded with unnecessary allergen requests from people who have do not have any medically diagnosed food allergies or intolerances, many of whom have self diagnosed their so-called food intolerances, and many others who follow quasi gluten-free diets on the basis of celebrity endorsement!

I am writing this piece from a few different perspectives; I am a customer who loves to eat out, I am a health professional (state registered dietitian) dealing with people with life-threatening medically-diagnosed food allergies, and I’m also as an executive nutritionist working with hotels, restaurants and caterers for many years on menu analysis and allergen labelling.

The new mandatory allergen labelling which was passed in December 2014 (EU Regulation No. 1169/2011 on Food Information to Consumers) has been extended to cover hotels and restaurants.

All such food businesses must have menu allergens accurately analysed by an expert, and have it available to customers upon request.

What are the allergens referred to in this legislation?

1. Cereals containing gluten and products thereof (wheat, oats, rye, barley, malt) 2. Crustaceans 3. Eggs 4. Fish 5. Peanuts (groundnuts) 6. Soybeans 7. Milk 8. Nuts (tree nuts) i.e. almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashew nuts, pecans, brazil nuts, pistachios, macademia, queensland nuts and products thereof 9. Celery 10. Mustard 11. Sesame seeds 12. Sulphur dioxide & sulphites 13. Lupin 14. Molluscs The First rule of food labelling is that the consumer cannot be misled, inadvertently or otherwise. Food information to consumers, including allergen labelling of menus, must be accurate, clear and easy to understand.

Ref: EU Reg No. 1169/2011, Chapter 1, Article 7)

Niamh O’Connor

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Errors can, unfortunately, be the difference between life and death. Verbally informing your customers is not enough. Neither is a one-size-fits-all disclaimer permitted, such as “our kitchen uses all 14 allergens, so all dishes may contain all such allergens due to cross-contamination”, which I have seen in a vast number of restaurants since the legislation was introduced! You must be able to provide written documentation of all allergens present in all dishes.

SafeFood recently carried out research on Food Allergy awareness among catering staff. Environmental Health Officers sampled over 300 food businesses on the island of Ireland, and whilst 90% of staff were aware of food allergies, only 33% were confident of making a recommendation of suitable menu items for the customer to purchase. The most worrying result was that the server gave incorrect information regarding the peanut status of the menu item in 20% of cases. (All food samples in question had been analysed for peanut content at the Dublin Public Analyst Laboratory). So, are food businesses doing enough to provide the allergic customer with the correct information or are they just providing the bare minimum?

Is this down to budget staff resources? Will training and policies be implemented accurately?

ALLERGENS Current problems with the legislation • It appears that no one is currently policing it. The consumer does have recourse though, as complaints made to the FSAI will be fully investigated.

• Prior to the implementation of legislation in Ireland, the FSAI should have provided all food businesses with a standardised set of 14 icons/symbols or abbreviations that could be used on all menus. This still hasn’t been done, so as a result, all food businesses are using a different system to display the information on their menus and it is very confusing.

• There are plenty examples of allergen labelling which has been done in-house. In most cases it would appear to be wholly inaccurate and the consumer is being misled.

Warning! May Contain Penalties!

Special consideration on the labelling of gluten-free meals Contrary to popular belief, Coeliac Disease is not a food allergy or intolerance; it is an Autoimmune Disease with potentially serious long term medical complications including cancer, osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) and female infertility. It is important for food businesses to understand that when a Coeliac ingests even tiny amounts of gluten, even if they do not appear to have symptoms, damage is still done to their gut, and their antibody levels will be abnormal for three months as a result. Great care must be taken when labelling meals for Coeliacs. In line with current EU legislation, the term gluten-free can only used where meals or menu items have been analysed in an accredited laboratory, and have been certified to contain less than 20ppm of gluten (<20mg/Kg). It is not permitted to use other terminology which can be misleading and confusing, such as ‘Coeliac-friendly’ or ‘Gluten Avoidance’ or any similar such wording, even if you believe the food is Gluten free.

When savouring a dining experience, the last thing we would personally want to do is to have to discuss our medical diagnoses in public, but Coeliacs often find themselves in this unenviable and embarrassing situation. Giving the dining party the option of perusing a dedicated allergen menu gives the customer back their privacy, and if it is labelled correctly and accurately the dining experience is enhanced for Coeliacs. This autoimmune disease currently affects 10% of the population, which is an appreciable market share worth taking care of.

Easy to implement/Practical Tips for restaurants • Use QR codes of all written material so customers can check allergen information in advance.

• Ask customers if any of the party requires an allergen menu at the time of confirming their reservation.

• Food and beverage managers who aim to keep the aesthetics of the menu will be glad to know that the allergens do not need to be plastered on every menu! Provided that special allergen menus are available to diners who require one, servers can give the option of this special menu when guests arrive.

Niamh O’Connor RD MINDI Independent Freelance Dietitian & Executive Nutritionist Cork Nutrition Consultancy Associate RAI Member since 2012.

Tweet Niamh @CorkNutrition

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NEW TOURISM GROUP

Under Cooked After the bottom-up success of The Gathering, Conor Power asks was this a false dawn for the Irish tourism industry, in light of the recent launch of the Tourism Leadership Group.

The success of The Gathering probably took a lot of people by surprise - particularly those within the industry who were reaching out for something different and found that they had touched on an energy source that they hadn’t activated properly up to that point.

That energy source was ground-level support; it was people who are working at the coal face of the tourism industry and who know the ins and outs of their market segments with minute detail; the kind of people who are au fait with the latest trends and who know all about looking after their clients competitively because their daily existence depends on it.

The bottom-up approach marked a revolution in Irish tourism - make no mistake.

The structures of our tourism bodies have always operated on a top-down basis up to now. While this has had success in the past, what the tourism industry has happened upon through almost desperation was something that tourism structures in other countries such as France have been doing since the very beginning.

The world’s largest tourist destination country didn’t get there by accident of circumstance. France is about as perfect an example as you’ll find of a bottom-up tourism industry structure, with initiatives flowing from the local (their “Offices de Tourisme” used to be called “Syndicatsd’Initiative”) up the chain and funding flowing downwards to where it’s needed in a superb model of political/economic efficiency.

Once the touchstone was touched with The Gathering project, it seemed as if this would herald the beginning of rebirth in Irish tourism and one that was structured in an entirely different way. Even the official report on the success of The Gathering made strong mention of the groundswell of activity that was activated by the initiative.

But is there now a danger that this

“Once the touchstone was touched with The Gathering project, it seemed as if this would herald the beginning of rebirth in Irish tourism and one that was structured in an entirely different way. Even the official report on the success of The Gathering made strong mention of the groundswell of activity that was activated by the initiative.”

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revolution is being quelled even before it can really get going? The news in early July of a new Tourism Leadership Group must have read like a circular from two decades ago to the majority of stakeholders in our tourism industry up and down the country.

Instead of letting youth have its run onto the field of play, the veterans have been wheeled out once more to preside over a series of action plans to spearhead Ireland’s tourism growth over the next decade.

The list is heaving with usual suspects and civil servants who have seen all this before and to top it all, it’s chaired by the Minister himself.

Given that there’s currently a strong chance that Minister Donohoe will be out of office early next year, that’s surely a poor start. Should such an important committee as this one be chaired by someone a little more independent? Someone who will still be sitting at the top of the table after next April?

The inclusion of the likes of the chairman of the Arnott’s Group seems quite bizarre, alongside seasoned committee people such as Shaun Quinn and Niall Gibbons. These latter two have and continue to do excellent service to the tourism industry in Ireland but if this Tourism Leadership Group is to be trusted “turning the long-term vision of the Irish Tourist industry into actions”, should valuable players such as these not be serving a more time-efficient consultancy role rather than being put onto another committee that should be all about some fresh blood? The inclusion of Harvey’s Point owner Deirdre McGlone, meanwhile, is a very appropriate one; someone who has shown by stunning example how it’s done from a position outside of the main tourist

NEW TOURISM GROUP

trail. It’s just a pity that her seat on the board wasn’t complimented by someone in a similar vein from a peripheral location.

There’s also a representative from the coach tour sector - James McGinley of McGinley Coaches in Donegal. This is undoubtedly a sector which still has a role to play but is it a sector of the future in an era where the strongest growth seems to be coming from individuals paddling their own canoes in an increasingly Internetoriented age?

There’s a nice touch in the inclusion of Cormac Ó Donnchú - owner of Experience Gaelic Games: an innovative business based around the great national resource of our national sports but once again, the opportunity has been completely overlooked to put what is arguably our greatest resource firmly on the tourism agenda: the sea. We’re an island nation with what many sailors regard as the best sailing grounds in Europe, but facilities are light years behind our competitors and that’s where they’re likely to remain for the duration of a steering committee that has omitted an area of such vast underdevelopment.

The most shameful and perplexing omission of all, however, is that of the food sector. This is an area that is positively bubbling with a truly exciting groundswell of

activity. We have local initiatives that receive recognition at European and international level (such as the Burren Food Trail’s award this year as European Destination of Excellence), we have Michelin-star chefs and a quality food revolution that is focused on our excellent natural produce yet not one representative from this rapidly-rising star performer of a sector is represented on the Tourism Leadership Group.

In truth, the line-up of the committee has its good points - some of which have been mentioned here - and we would all wish it success. But there is a serious flaw in the basic approach and one that is at odds with the honest energy and dynamism that have driven our tourism industry over the last 2 to 3 years.

The entire thing could be viewed as little more than window dressing on the part of Minister Paschal Donohoe: it feels like an exercise designed to reward those who have shown great tourism mettle in the past rather than putting his faith and the faith of the Irish tourism industry in the future. One wonders if the Minister wanted to surround himself on this committee with safe bets so that he could have some nice chats around the conference table over the next 7 months or so. An opportunity may have been missed to create a model dynamic Tourism Leadership Group rather than a comfortable old familiar one.

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WINE

The Irish wine list renaissance Mark Redmond, Wine Development Manager, Dalcassian Wines & Spirits points to a new era for the Irish Wine List, spearheaded by economic recovery and a highly sophisticated Irish consumer.

Restaurants and hotels are responding to consumer demands for variety, taste and points of difference with extensive wine lists, some offering as many as 80-100 different choices.

In the past year there has been a marked Renaissance in the Irish wine list. With greater travel to both the old and new worlds, consumers expect the Irish ontrade to offer all of their favourite wines from across the globe.

Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio?...

Neither - I’ll have a Picpoul!

When it comes to wine, a ‘one size fits all’ approach will not work. Wine preference is extremely personal and the Irish palate is complex and varied.

Restaurants and Hotels want extensive choice for their diners and that means fresh, new wines; a wide selection of grape varietals, from wineries across both the new and old worlds.

At Dalcassian Wines & Spirits, this means we have added a record seventy new wines to our portfolio this year alone.

Whilst our Cielo Pinot Grigio is the leading Pinot Grigio in the Irish on-trade, what if consumers want to trade up? Now many wine lists will have two or three Pinot Grigio varietals to choose from. We have just launched a spectacular new Italian Pinot Grigio - Astoria - here and the repeat orders are a clear indication of consumer willingness to trade up when the choice is there.

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Picpoul is also taking pride of place on many wine lists. Fondly remembered a couple of decades ago, this extremely fresh white is back in vogue and we have even brought in a sparkling variety from the Paul Mas vineyard. A sparkling Picpoul would have been unheard of back in the day, so the restaurants and hotels are really excited about adding such an unexpected option to their wine lists.

Catering for the Cult classics!

Riesling has always had a cult-following but woe betide the restaurant that doesn’t include a Riesling varietal on their wine list. While it’s an acquired taste, it’s still ‘acquired’ by a large sector of Irish wine lovers.

Our classic style Australian Wakefield Riesling is particularly popular with spicy foods and continues to grow in popularity in tandem with the excellent choice of oriental restaurants here.

The return of Chardonnay What about the individual who prefers Chardonnay?

The ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) Club is fast losing members. Yes, believe it or not - Chardonnay is back and taking the Irish on-trade by storm.

The secret to the Chardonnay revival lies in the levels of ‘oakiness’. For many years the chardonnay available here was too oaky and too heavy, but now as we explore new wineries and look for greater variety, we are discovering less oaky varietals such as our Sea Mountain Chardonnay from South Africa. It has a much a lighter and fresher style and is extremely popular here in Ireland.

Old or New World? The Universe please!

People want to experiment - they want to select the grape varietals from both their European and indeed intercontinental travels. The new generation of Mediterranean wine makers have a fresher approach and the look and feel reflects Old World quality with New World attitude as seen with our Paul Mas range.

In response to the Irish on-trade requests for new, different and far- reaching choices, we are now exploring the entire world bringing in Sileni from New Zealand, Lagunilla from Spain, Tenuta Ulisse from Italy, Louis Martina from California, Casa Bianchi from Argentina, Elvaro from Chile, Wakefield from Australia, and in each case a wide selection of options, from pouring wine right up to classic reserves.

It doesn’t stop here. The pressure is on to continue to lead the charge in terms of what is happening in the wine world internationally, to discover new trends before they happen and bring back exceptional choices from hidden wineries across the old and new worlds. Watch this space!

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We hand roast all of our coffee to ensure that we get the best flavour out of each and every individual coffee bean. We roast coffee every day & then air cool our beans which allows them to naturally cool and retain all of their flavour. Each of our coffee varieties is hand roasted separately and blended post roasting to ensure that our blends reach the premium standard required of all Java Republic coffee. Then, finally, we taste each and every coffee we produce to ensure that it achieves the Java Republic seal of approval before being shipped to our customers. We’d love to tell you more about our coffees & you can get in touch with us on:

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