Hotel and Restaurant Times April / May 2014

APRIL/MAY ‘14

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INDUSTRY

CASTLE LIFE

THE CORSCADDEN FAMILY AND THE MAJOR REFURBISHMENT OF BELLINGHAM CASTLE

STEPHEN MCNALLY IHF PRESIDENT SETS OUT HIS STALL

DUNNE & CRESCENZI THE ITALIAN JOB

NAMA UNDER THE THUMB www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie

‌the perfect end to the night The perfect start to the day Suppliers to the Bellingham Castle Hotel and other leading hotels in Ireland and Europe

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COVER: Bellingham Castle (photo Lou Metzger

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CONTENTS NEWS APPOINTMENTS BELLINGHAM CASTLE STEPHEN MCNALLY FÁILTE MEITHEAL DUNNE & CRESCENZI RAI NEWS MARCO & JET TOURISM IRELAND NEWS FÁILTE IRELAND NEWS BOOKASSIST IFSA NEWS GMIT NEWS NAMA TOURISM’S NEXT HORIZON REACHING OUT TO THE DIASPORA GREAT CARVERY COMPETITION ROOMS FOR IMPROVEMENT BIM SEAFOOD SHARON JORDAN

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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) Business Development: Alan Doherty (01-2842909, alan@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie) Contributors: Pavel Barter, Cynthia Bifolchi, Des O’Mahony, Lorraine Griffin, IFSA, BIM, GMIT, Restaurants Association of Ireland, Tourism Ireland & Fáilte Ireland 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 APRIL/MAY ‘14

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What are the FSAI playing at?

Hoteliers and restaurateurs are probably one of the most policed sectors of industry in the country, compared to their counterparts in the UK and Europe. The amount of time spent filing and completing forms has become a real burden and disincentive for some operators.

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EDITORIAL

The concern and fear is that the FSAI’s calorie count initiative may become mandatory.

While it may be easy for some establishments, such as fast food outlets with only a basic menu offering, it would be chaotic within a stand-alone restaurant to adhere to such draconian measures. Commenting on the concerns of hoteliers, Stephen Mc Nally IHF President expressed concerns about the potential adoption of an indiscriminate ‘one size fits all’ approach to mandatory calorie labelling, which he said would be inappropriate for hotels and guesthouses, many of whose menus change on a daily basis reflecting the use of locally sourced produce and the seasonally available ingredients. The RAI also expressed concern and asked that common sense prevail.

Adrian Cummins, CEO of the RAI, says that his members would have to allocate almost 5 hours a week just to fulfil this requirement as mooted by the FSAI. Some operators like Aramark, for instance, use a colour-coded scheme that is simple and effective. But then we are talking about the FSAI, where simple doesn’t do.

It was encouraging to note that tourism is now attracting the support and recognition it has long deserved. Latest CSO figures confirmed this fact with substantive revenue data. According to the CSO, spending in Ireland by overseas visitors - excluding fares - for 2013 rose by 11.9% compared with 2012. The data also shows that the number of trips in the key target market of holidaymakers rose by 8%, while spending by holidaymakers was up 11.5% for 2013 when compared with 2012. Total spending by overseas visitors in 2013, excluding fares, came to €3.3 billion. This comes on foot of figures released earlier during the first quarter showing visitor numbers continue to grow with an 11% increase in overseas visits for the December 2013 to February 2014 quarter.

Underpinning this recovery are the increasing refurbishments and investments taking place within the sector. Every day we see evidence of this nationwide, from 5 star iconic properties to new restaurants. The confidence is evident. One family, who have not rested on their laurels, are the Corscadden family. They operate three castle properties: Cabra Castle, Ballyseede Castle, and Bellingham Castle. The latter, has undergone extensive refurbishment. Dunne and Crescenzi have also invested in their property portfolio. They recently completed a major expansion within Kildare Village, along with a food hall outlet in their Frederick Street outlet.

Further evidence of market confidence is the announcement of increased funding for festivals and events. Just over €1.3 million in extra funding was allocated to Fáilte Ireland for 29 festivals and events being held across Ireland this year. They include the Cork International Choral Festival, the Great Limerick Run, Listowel Writer’s Week, the Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival, Galway Arts Festival and many more events ranging across the arts, sport and culture. Commenting on the funding Minister of State for Tourism & Sport, Minister Ring said: “I’m pleased to build on the legacy of 2013 with this new funding under Fáilte Ireland’s national festivals and events programme. The Gathering has left a valuable legacy in harnessing Ireland’s enormous social capital, which shone through in the thousands of events which were organised.

This year we can offer an even broader range of events and visitors to Ireland will experience everything from culture to sport, to festivals and fun.”

So let the sun shine for the summer of 2014.

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Cyril McAree Editor

NEWS

NEWS Kerry hotel shoots and scores

The privately owned and managed Tralee Hotel Ballygarry House Hotel and Spa has been announced as the 2014 Radio Kerry Tourism and Hospitality winner.

The inaugural gala awards, which was attended by 350 people, was the culmination of a 12 month initiative by Radio Kerry to recognise excellence in Kerry Business. There were 72 monthly winners across six categories representing a diverse range of business interests from across Kerry. An independent judging panel had the task of choosing the final six winners.

Guest speaker, Republic of Ireland soccer manager Martin O’Neill praised the business people of Kerry for surviving and thriving in the tough world of business.

Estate of grace

Green Isle Hotel joins Great National Hotels & Resorts Great National Hotels and Resorts have announced that the iconic Green Isle Hotel has joined the Irish owned hotel and resorts group.

The iconic 270-bedroom hotel, conference and leisure centre at Newlands cross was recently acquired by an Irish investor and is newly managed by General Manager John Gavin.

Commenting on the announcement, John Gavin said “I look forward in working with Great National in rebuilding the Green Isle’s prominence in the market place as one of Irelands leading hotels.”

Great National now comprises 32 3- and 4star hotels, including 10 in the UK and 22 in Ireland with nearly 2,500 bedrooms making it one of Ireland’s largest hotel groups and one of the UK’s fastest growing hotel groups: it has added 5 new hotels to its UK division since January 2014 including the 46-bedroom Wild Pheasant Hotel and Spa, North Wales, and the 53-bedroom North Euston Hotel, Blackpool. The Great National Group have plans to grow to 100 hotels throughout to Ireland and the UK by end-2015.

David Byrne, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Great National Hotels and Resorts, said: “we’re delighted to be working with John Gavin and his team at the Green Isle Hotel particularly given the hotel’s superior location and prominence at one Ireland’s busiest junctions in addition to the hotel’s breathtaking array of business and leisure facilities.”

“The Great National brand is founded on excellence in marketing, reservations, yield management and on-line distribution.”

Anyone for tee?

Lyrath Estate Hotel was awarded a 5 Star Gold Award, and was announced a Supreme Award Winner, by Irish Accommodation Services Institute. The IASI was founded in 1985 and its remit is to promote best practice standards across the accommodation field.

Under the watchful eye of Murali Dharan, the Executive Housekeeper, Lyrath Estate has been consistently lauded by the IASI, winning 5 Star Gold Awards every year since 2007, and Supreme Awards in 2009, 2011 and 2013.

Nothing else Maters Ireland’s food and support services company, Compass Group Ireland, has been awarded a nine year contract at The Mater Hospital to provide public café services following a competitive tender process. The Group will employ 22 staff onsite.

Leading British golf writers, with Rachel Meehan (5th left) and David Boyce (8th left), both Tourism Ireland, at Tourism Ireland’s golf media day in Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire. Also pictured centre, Tony Lenehan, Fáilte Ireland.

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NEWS

Leaders of the pack

Ewan Plenderleith, General Manager of Herbert Park Hotel, with An Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Zero air travel tax announced Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar has marked the reduction of the air travel tax to zero and welcomed the response of the airlines to the Government’s move in the last Budget. “Following the general election, this government said it would cut the air travel tax to zero if the airlines were willing to increase capacity on our key access routes.

The airlines have responded with more than 20 new flights into Ireland and increased capacity on existing routes. That is why we are fulfilling that commitment.”

All mixed up

Book celebrates Harvey’s Point jubilee Harvey’s Point Hotel, Donegal celebrating its 25th Anniversary recently launched its ‘25 Years of Welcomes’ publication.

Launched at a Silver Jubilee Gala in the hotel the lavishly-illustrated casebound book tells the story of how Swissborn Jody Gysling discovered Harvey’s Point on the shores of Lough Eske in 1983 and built a holiday home there on land he personally reclaimed from a bog.

The idyllic holiday cottage grew into a guest house and later into Harvey’s Point Hotel. Jody was joined in the enterprise by his brother Marc who met and married local girl Deirdre McGlone who had come to work at Harvey’s Point as a receptionist.

The hotel grew in scale and stature over the years and is to-day rated ‘No 1 Hotel in Ireland’ by TripAdvisor. It has also won many awards including ‘AA Hotel of the Year’, ‘Ireland’s Best Carvery’ and ‘Ireland’s Best Wedding Venue’.

The book traces the development of Harvey’s Point from its opening in 1989, through the addition of a ballroom in 1991, Marc’s creation of a unique cuisine based on local produce and the birth of the renowned Harvey’s Point Sunday Carvery Lunch which continues to attract hundreds of diners every week.

Pan of hope and glory The Ronald McDonald House recently welcomed Chapter One chef Ross Lewis and rugby star Alan Quinlan to launch an appeal for volunteer cooks and corporate food donors.

Dawn Meats, a long term supporter of The Ronald McDonald House committed to providing fresh red meat for the House. Pictured at the launch are rugby star Alan Quinlan and chef Ross Lewis, with Ronald McDonald House residents Amy Knowles and Mahek Ahmed.

Leaders among men

Ewelina Cygarowska of Lemongrass Restaurant, Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Co. Dublin was crowned cocktail champion at the recent Mixer Open Cocktail Competition which took place recently at the Parnell Heritage Pub & Grill, Parnell Street, Dublin 1. Pictured are: James Murphy (DIT Lecturer & Competition Co-ordinator), Ewelina Cygarowska (Overall Winner, Lemongrass Restaurant, Citywest Hotel, Co. Dublin), Conor McCrohan (Marketing Executive, Dalcassian Wines & Spirits Ltd).

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GroupLeader.com, a new Irish travel technology company based in the Digital Docklands area of Dublin, is now live and ready to start sending group bookings to hotels in Ireland. The company has developed a new website, which delivers a ‘one-stop-shop’ for group travel organisers to book the best hotels, ground transport providers, tour guides, visitor attractions and much more. Groups of ten or more are currently underserved online most online travel brands focus on servicing the independent traveller market.

Pictured: H.E. Michael Collins, The Ambassador of Ireland to Germany; Richard Sears, Business Development Executive, GroupLeader.com; Leo Varadkar, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport; Fergal O’Brien, Managing Director, GroupLeader.com; Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive, Tourism Ireland

NEWS

Cliff House stands tall

The Cliff House Hotel, the intimate, five star holiday hideaway overlooking the historic village of Ardmore in West Waterford, has just won a Deloitte Best Managed Companies Award 201 - the only Irish hotel new entrant on the award winner’s list this year.

The award was accepted on behalf of The Cliff House Hotel by General Manager Adriaan Bartels. “This win is a marvellous achievement by all the staff at The Cliff House Hotel,” he said, “whose commitment to the philosophy and core vision of our 5 star hotel is at the heart of our success.”

Full of beans Word is spreading about inaugural Dublin Coffee & Tea Festival 2014. This event, celebrating coffee and tea in Ireland, is due to take place at the RDS, Dublin 12-14 September 2014. The Dublin Coffee & Tea Festival will include The Roasters’ Village, The Cupping Room, The People’s Stage, The Festival Roastery, The Food Village, Fringe Events and not to mention the National Competitions. For further information on features, competitions and exhibitors check out: www.dublincoffeefestival.com

Pitch perfect

Ireland’s food and support service company, Compass Group Ireland, has announced a new partnership with award winning chef, Neven Maguire - owner of MacNean House and Restaurant. The chef and TV personality will work with Compass Group, across the island of Ireland, promoting the importance of locally sourced produce and Irish suppliers as well as developing the Group’s hospitality offering at the Aviva Stadium.

Fiacra Nagle, managing director, Compass Group Ireland said: “We are delighted to partner with Neven Maguire in what is set to be an exciting year for both Neven and Compass Group Ireland. At Compass Group, we place a huge emphasis on using Irish suppliers and locally sourced produce, something which Neven is equally passionate about.”

Shanghai surprise

Iris Wang, Tourism Ireland, with the award for “best potential destination” at the fifth annual Ctrip ‘best tourism destination’ awards ceremony in Shanghai.

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NEWS

Green Party

Silver Hill Foods, one of Ireland’s most successful producers of duck products, has signed a renewable electricity deal with Irish energy supplier Vayu. Valued at €1m over two years, the agreement will see Vayu supply Silver Hill Foods with 100% green electricity to meet its year-round energy requirements.

Pictured are Stuart Steele, Managing Director of Silver Hill Foods and Barry Murphy, energy specialist at Vayu.

Counting the cost of calories

O’Callaghan Hotels baking success for Temple Street The O’Callaghan Hotel group recently raised €2,000 in just three hours, at the Mont Clare Hotel in Merrion Square - in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital. For the Great Irish Bake for Temple Street event, the hospital encouraged people to bake and raise funds.

Pictured (l-r) are: Noel Healy, Davenport Hotel; David Malanapy, Group General Manager, O’Callaghan Hotels; Robert Clarke, Alexander Hotel and Anne Cooney, Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

Fáilte for festival season Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring has announced just over €1.3 million in Fáilte Ireland funding for 29 festivals and events being held across Ireland this year.

They include the Cork International Choral Festival, the Great Limerick Run, Listowel Writer’s Week, the Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival, Galway Arts Festival and many more events ranging across the arts, sport and culture.

Knorr blimey The Irish Hotels Federation has warned against any attempt to introduce mandatory labelling of calories on menus in hotels and guesthouses. Following the launch of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s online calorie calculator tool, Stephen McNally, President of the IHF said that, while the tool would benefit certain food service establishments, the calories-on-menus scheme must remain voluntary for hotels and guesthouses.

McNally expressed concerns about the potential adoption of an indiscriminate “one size fits all” approach to mandatory calorie labelling, which he said would be entirely inappropriate for hotels and guesthouses, many of whose menus change on a daily basis reflecting the use of locally sourced produce and the seasonally available ingredients.

Talbot announce purchase of Midleton Park Hotel The four-star Talbot Hotel Group has announced the purchase of the Midleton Park Hotel in Cork and has announced details of plans to invest €1m in the property. The Wexford-based hotel group, which comprises of the Talbot Hotel Wexford, The Talbot Hotel Carlow, and the Stillorgan Park Hotel in Dublin, is owned by the Pettitt family, who also own the Pettitt’s Supervalu supermarket group.

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The new range of Flavour Pots features Mixed Herbs, 3 Peppercorn, Curry, Garlic and Mixed Chillies. Knorr Flavour Pots have been created by Knorr Chef, Cameron Healy and a team of dedicated professional chefs.

Fishing for compliments A new restaurant has opened in Bantry promoting fresh seafood.

West Cork fishing family, the Murphys, who own Murphy’s Irish Seafood, have opened Trawl and Trend on High Street in Bantry. Trawl and Trend aims to offer the freshest of produce and to present seafood straight from the trawler to table, with the minimum of delay as the owners have their own fish processing business. The restaurant serves fresh local produce with a special emphasis on seafood from the Murphy’s Gearhies based fish processing facility.

The family desired to have somewhere local people could taste their high end fish products which are exported across the world. The restaurant is run by Gareth Murphy and his team.

NEWS

Marketable opportunity

Over 120 food producers, stall holders and food market managers gathered at Belvedere House and Gardens, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, for the launch of Bord Bia’s new Guide to Food Markets in Ireland. The guide has been developed to provide useful insights, guidance and inspiration to assist stall holders and market managers build and progress this route to market. According to a Bord Bia research study, carried out in 2010, the annual sales of food and drink at Farmers’ Markets are valued at approximately €27 million.

To access a copy of the guide, visit www.bordbiavantage.ie and for a full list of Farmers’ Markets in Ireland, visit www.bordbia.ie/farmersmarkets

Lord of the rings

Minister Michael Ring has been awarded the Irish Tourism Industry Restaurants Association of Ireland Annual Mike Butt Award 2014, in honour of his contribution to the tourism industry. Pádraic Óg Gallagher presented Michael Ring with the award for his contribution to tourism at the Restaurant Association of Ireland Presidential dinner.

Towering inferno

Looking up to Ireland American travel organisers before a gala dinner in the Guinness Storehouse, in Dublin, with Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s head of North America (front, left), and Dan Sullivan, president of Collette Vacations (front, second left).

Bon voyage

Tourism Ireland arranged for the Tower of London to go green to mark the historic State Visit to Great Britain by the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “We’re delighted that Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative, which normally celebrates St Patrick’s Day around the world, has been extended specially to mark this historic State Visit by the President of Ireland.”

Tourism role in economic recovery

Caitriona Butler, Irish Ferries; Vanessa Drew, Ballyroney Cottage B&B, near Banbridge, Co Down; and Roisín Liston, Tourism Ireland, on the Tourism Ireland stand at MAP (le Monde à Paris) holiday fair in Paris.

New CSO figures show strong growth in revenue from overseas visitors last year and confirm tourism is playing a significant role in Ireland’s economic recovery, according to Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar. Spending in Ireland by overseas visitors - excluding fares - for 2013 rose by 11.9% compared with 2012. The data also shows that the number of trips in the key target market of holidaymakers rose by 8%, while spending by holidaymakers was up 11.5% for 2013 when compared with 2012.

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NEWS

Getting down to business

Melissa O’Grady has been appointed the new Business Development Manager at Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel where she will be responsible for developing business contacts and relationships for the hotel. Melissa joins Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel from the D Hotel, part of the Edwards Hotel Group, where she was the Events, Meetings & Weddings Coordinator for nearly two years. Previous to this, Melissa worked at the Grand Hotel on Lake Michigan in the US while completing an honours degree in Event & Hospitality Management with Business at Dundalk Institute of Technology.

Annette result

APPOINTMENTS

Nestle’s sweet surprise Nestlé Ireland has appointed Tamara Whitney as its new Head of Sales. Whitney assumes responsibility for Nestlé Ireland’s sales operations which includes its wide portfolio of products across the confectionery, beverage, food and pet care categories. She will lead Nestlé’s commercial strategy in Ireland as it continues to expand its presence and deliver category growth. Whitney joins Nestlé Ireland from Pernod Ricard where she was Business Unit Controller for the Grocery Multiple Channel across the UK and previously held a number of other commercial management roles including Field Sales Controller. Prior to this, Ms Whitney’s industry experience spans a number of commercial roles in food and beverage sector including Premier Foods, GlaxoSmithKline and Coco Cola.

Celtic connection The Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery has announced the appointment of its new General Manager, Neil Grant. Neil takes control of this 66 bedroom hotel, located overlooking Rosscarbery Bay, which specialises in family occasions and weddings.

Neil has previously worked as General Manager in the West Cork Hotel, Skibbereen and has a strong hospitality background in all markets from 3 Star to 5 Star. He takes over the reins from Christopher Byrnes who was with the Celtic Ross Hotel since 2008.

Hats off to Hilton Hilton Dublin’s new executive chef, Jason Banyon, is taking the hotel’s food and service to a whole new level for guests. According to Paul Flavin, Hilton Dublin’s General Manager, Banyon’s fresh approach and focus on guest participation in the overall food experience will have guests talking, tasting and even cooking.

Banyon, from Wimbledon in South London, brings 23 years of experience to the position, having spent 15 years working for leading hotels in London and New Zealand, including the Carlton Tower and the Royal Garden Hotel.

Banyon also spent eight years at sea working for one of the leading global cruise ship companies, Celebrity Cruises.

Harte of gold Annette O’Neill has been appointed the new Director of Sales & Marketing at Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel where she will be responsible for overseeing all marketing and sales activity for the hotel. Annette joins Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel from the Trinity Capital Hotel where she held the role of Sales & Marketing Manager for 2 years. Previous to this, Annette was South East Sales & Marketing Manager for the Carlton Hotel Group. Prior to joining the Carlton Group, Annette had her own Marketing Consultancy Company for four years and also lectured on a part-time basis at the Waterford Institute of Technology. She studied business at Dublin Institute of Technology and UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.

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The Kingsley Hotel has announced the appointment of Fergal Harte as General Manager. Fergal worked in the Sligo Park Hotel and the Kenmare Bay Hotel before moving to London in 1995, to work for the 900-bedroom Cumberland Hotel. From February 1997 to April 1998, Fergal was Event Manager at the Cumberland, winning Cumberland Hotel Food & Beverage Employee of the Year in 1997. In 2002 Fergal returned to Ireland, taking up the role of Sales & Marketing Manager at Knockranny House Hotel in Westport. Involved in all areas of the hotel’s sales, marketing and events operations, the hotel almost doubled in size during the six years Fergal worked there with the addition of a luxury spa and 43 new rooms.

Fergal moved to Cork in 2008, to the Sheraton Fota Island Hotel & Spa, initially employed at the resort as the Director of Sales for the hotel with Sheraton/Starwood, then promoted to the position of Resort Director of Sales when the Sheraton contract ended in August 2009. Fergal has been Director of Sales at Fota Island Resort until now.

REFURBISHMENT

Castle Life

The Corscadden family is immersed in the history of the Irish hotel business, impressively spanning four generations, numerous counties and properties therein and three beautiful castles - Cabra Castle in County Cavan, Ballyseede Castle in County Kerry and Bellingham Castle in County Louth.

We were delighted to meet with hotelier Howard Corscadden recently, to discuss the family history, the properties in their ownership and the acquisition, and major refurbishment, of Bellingham Castle in the last eighteen months.

So, when did this great family tradition of hoteliers begin? In Co. Wicklow in the 1940’s and 1950’s, Howard’s grandfather, Pops Corscadden and his wife Mamie, ran the International Hotel in Bray. Renowned for the adjoining Arcadia Ballroom, this hotel and dancehall are fondly-remembered from the heyday of the bygone Showband Era. Pops’ three sons continued in the hotel tradition, and each bought their own hotels; Sean set up Corscadden’s Hotel in Kilcock, Co. Meath and his brother Alex acquired three properties - two in Wicklow and one in England.

Howard’s father Pappy, with his wife Mitzie acquired and ran The Derby House in Kildare, where Howard and his siblings were raised.

The tradition continued as Howard and his sister Marnie both trained at Shannon College of Hotel Management, following in the steps of their mother Mitzie, who still serves as counsellor to the three properties.

In 1991, having sold Derby House, they acquired Cabra Castle which is run by Howard and his team. “When the economy took off, Cabra took off,” he tells us, “we were unique in that we were the only four star castle in the country, apart from the five star Dromoland and Ashford. We filled a niche in providing an opportunity for tourists who wished to enjoy the experience of a Castle stay, allowing them to do so at a more affordable price.”

Cabra Castle is now a 110 bed-roomed Castle Hotel, featuring a converted courtyard, as well as charming woodland cottages and is marketed by Manor House Hotels of Ireland. “It’s a well-established hotel, and I would say, one of the leaders in the region.”

The family’s acquisition of their next Castle Hotel, Ballyseede Castle in Tralee, makes for a suitably eccentric and funny story; Howard visited the castle with his sister Marnie and their mother, and when he returned from checking the roof, the two women had struck a deal and bought it.

“I was sent upstairs - they were like ‘get rid of him,’” laughs Howard. “On my return, they asked me how the roof was, and when I replied that it was fine, they said ‘good, because we’ve bought the castle!’”

There are certainly no regrets or admonishments of haste. “That was around eight years ago. Ballyseede is the only Castle Hotel in Kerry, so it’s unique. It’s one of the leading wedding hotels in the southwest; it’s always full, with 100% occupancy in the Summer months and we only close for 4 weeks each year.” Marnie now runs Ballyseede with her husband Rory.

A year ago, Bellingham Castle completed the trinity. The family were on the lookout for another castle and the advent of the recession nudged Bellingham into their budget. With this property however, the family have chosen a different operational model from that of Cabra and Ballyseede.

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Elegance & Style From the beautifully elegant Voltaire floor (top) to the elegant Phoenician floor in the bar (below) both from Original Style combined with the a trendy bevelled wall tile, we have a wide variety of tiles from the elegant Époque & Opulence panels in the bathrooms from Leonardo to the crisp black and white from Mosa in the ensuites to suit all requirements.

We are delighted to be involved with the Corscadden Group and BE Design with this prestigious project.

Recent projects completed include: RyanAir – new offices in Airside, Smurfit Kappa, Apple, An Brog Bar – Cork, Google HQ – Grand Canal Quay, Midland Hospital, Amgen.

Dublin Unit 9, Rosemount Business Park, Ballycoolin Rd, Dublin 11 Ph: +353 (0)1 8608561/2 Email: info@richardsonsceramics.ie Cork Unit B 3, Fota Retail Park, Carrigtwohill, Cork Ph: +353 (0)21 4853444 +353 (0)87 7623519 Email: richardsonsceramicscork@gmail.com www.richardsonsceramics.ie

J R F

Best Wishes to the management and staff of Bellingham Castle from all at OCKT Limited

James R. Frazer Ltd. Builders Providers and Hardware Merchants Kingscourt, Co. Cavan 042 9667397, 9667765, 9668218 Fax 042 9667765

Plumbing - Paints Farm Supplies Home Improvements Bathroom Suites Cookers & Boilers - Solid Fuels Pleased to be associated with Bellingham Castle project and the Corscadden Group.

❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏

Audit Accountancy Hospitality Consultancy Taxation Book-Keeping Company Secretarial Corporate Finance Insolvency Restructuring Forensic Accounting

Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors Glebe House, Glebe Place, Killarney, Co Kerry T: 064 6633444 F: 064 6634166 E: info@ockt.ie W: www.ockt.ie

REFURBISHMENT

‘be design’ Audrey Gaffney and the ‘be design’ team have pulled out all the stops in recreating the grandeur that was once Bellingham Castle. From speaking with Audrey she relayed her team’s involvement in the overall project which included a huge amount of pre-planning from the concept and architectural requirements. “A lot of our involvement was architectural and planning as well as the recognisable design, concepts & finishes. We managed the entire project, co-ordinating consultants and trades such as the structural engineers, conservation architect, fire consultant and landscape architect to ensure that the final design would not be compromised,” explains Audrey Gaffney, Interior Architect and owner of ‘be design’.

As timelines were tight ‘be design’s’ vast experience and expertise in the hospitality industry came into play, ensuring that this project maintained the 5 star luxury finish the client required. As design procedures can vary with each project, it was important to ensure that consideration was given to the program and that a tight rein was kept on progress. All this was possible given the level of proficiency in the hospitality sector within the ‘be design’ team. They also undertook to preserve and repair any of the original features and details within the castle, and full consideration was given to ensure that any additional works was in keeping with the Castle’s expectation which shows in exquisite final furnishings and finishes.

The castle is home to 19 bedroom suites, each one having its own distinctive layout and timeless classic scheme. The ground floor is impressive with the large marble fireplace located within the entrance hall and the checkerboard black and white marble flooring. “This floor is seen as what would have once been the grand house. It all needs to lean itself to what is now a hotel but we need to ensure that the guests feel at home and that the feeling of belonging is theirs during their stay,” explains Amy O’Sullivan, leading Interior Architect on this project. “A lot of thought has gone into how the end user will use the space, and it needs to function for our client also behind the scenes,” adds Audrey Gaffney.

The lower ground floor houses the ballroom with its specular crystal chandleries and elegant panelling, and leads to a magical classic walled garden beyond.

Further on is a serious of informal, stylish and elegant reception rooms and bar. There is a rustic kitchen where you can help yourself to some tea or coffee, a snug little coal bunker, and then the wine cellar which leads you into a grand but cosy sitting room. The smart refined bar and lounge gives that feel of country life and running onto a paved patio area where the outdoors can be brought inside during the warm Irish summer that we all hope are coming.

This project was design led requiring any M&E and building works to be co-ordinated around the design requirements. From the bespoke carpets to the carefully selected wall coverings and the antique furniture to the crystal chandeliers, each room was uniquely designed lending to the obvious exclusive destination that is now Bellingham Castle.

You can find Audrey Gaffney and the ‘be design’ team at Unit 1 Scurlockstown Business Park, Dublin Road, Trim, Co. Meath. Contact them directly on info@bedesign.ie or 046 9064190

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REFURBISHMENT Howard explains: “We decided that there is no point in competing directly with Cabra. Given that the wedding market has evolved, a trend has emerged in recent times, whereby some wedding couples are looking for exclusively private use of their wedding venue for this special day.

They may not necessarily wish to follow the traditional format and where they are looking for an alternative approach, Bellingham Castle can be retained on a private rental basis, inclusive of all its 19 bedrooms and a ‘free run’ of the property. Guests can relax in a home-style atmosphere, with self service tea and coffee and a slice of cake - it’s a true home from home approach, offering a comfortable , inviting atmosphere, mellow colours, couches, open fires and even its own guest parlour and kitchen. With its myriad of interconnecting rooms, all of your guests are catered for and it appeals to all generations, as might typically be attending a family wedding.”

The building is steeped in history, Howard tells us and aptly - almost serendipitously - the first-ever wedding video took place there in 1905, when

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REFURBISHMENT

one of the wealthiest men in Britain, the Fourth Marquess of Bute, married the then Lady Bellingham.

The Corscaddens completely gutted Bellingham to bring it back to its original state. It was sandblasted, re-plumbed, re-wired and re-roofed. The ground floor is now made up of gracious public rooms, and long corridors featuring decorative, hanging chandeliers; downstairs in the original servants’ quarter, the kitchen, boiler house and pantry have all been restored to snugs and living rooms. The grounds and the coach house have also been restored to their original splendour. One bridal suite overlooks the River Glyde, whilst a second suite overlooks the newly-sculpted formal gardens and fountains.

“They didn’t get it wrong. When they built castles in the olden days, the best of architects and designers were retained, so that when it came to a makeover, we just

brought it back to what it was. The Drawing Room has been reinstated as a drawing room, the library as the library (it had been the ladies’ and gents’ toilets in its last incarnation); we discovered the old fireplace behind the urinals, so revelations like that pointed us in the right direction…”

Of course, from a start up point of view, Bellingham certainly has an immediate advantage, with the standards already established at Cabra and Ballyseede.

“Clients who have been willing to pay a deposit to book Bellingham before the Ballroom was even completed, are testament to a trust generated by the established brands of Cabra and Ballyseede Castles. We have actually been overwhelmed by the level of interest in Bellingham Castle and the amount of couples that want to come and see it; at a recent wedding open day, we had almost 800 people attend for showarounds for potential wedding bookings.”

So, why this love of Castles? Owning three surely indicates something of a passion? Howard tells us: “With the three properties, there is a large amount of local goodwill as these buildings are part of the community - they ‘belong’ to the local people and are an integral part of their home town. At Christmas, we had over 1,000 of the local neighbours who called in to view the newly-refurbished Bellingham Castle. Everyone has a connection with it their grandparents worked here in the old days, they attended family events and special occasions here down the years , they grew up around it and it is part of their history. Castles are different from custom built hotels - they are unique and special , they offer something mystical and almost magical. They can never be considered ‘ordinary’ as they are sanctuaries where lifelong memories are made - and of course, they keep history alive.”

All photography by Niall Cummins Photography.

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INTERVIEW

Competitiveness – it’s a no-brainer President of the Irish Hotel Federation, Stephen McNally interviewed

As the national organisation of the hotel and guesthouse industry in Ireland, it stands to reason the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) is headed by a President who knows the industry inside and out. Of course the only way to achieve this level of knowledge is through experience, and with over 30 years in the business and a current role as Deputy CEO of Dalata Hotel Group - Ireland’s largest hotel group - experience is certainly something the IHF’s newly elected President, Stephen McNally, has in droves. Stephen is the 35th President of the IHF, succeeding Michael Vaughan, and will hold the office for a two-year term, representing in this capacity over 900 hotels and guesthouses with a combined workforce of over 54,000 people in Ireland.

We were delighted to meet with Meath native Stephen to talk about his hospitality career, as well as what he hopes to achieve with this important new role.

Stephen got his start in the industry early on, when as a youth he worked in a local B&B. From there he secured a place in

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Rockwell Hotel and Catering School, and upon graduating moved to the UK to work in Reading at the Ramada Hotel. He worked his way up and after two years moved to Germany to continue working with the company in Hamburg, Dusseldorf and then Stuttgart. He still speaks German when required! He then returned to Reading when a new opportunity presented itself.

“I got a great opportunity to return to Reading when I was selected for a Ramada management programme,” he says. It was fantastic experience. I gained further knowledge in all departments including areas such as housekeeping, purchasing, maintenance and cost-control. This was invaluable training and provided real insight into the workings of hotels, especially the conversion of revenues into profitability.”

After seven years with Ramada, Stephen joined Jurys Doyle Hotel Group for what would become a 17 year stint. It was with that company that he landed his first General Manager role in Glasgow at the tender age of 27, and from there roles followed GM of the company’s Bristol hotel, UK regional manager, UK operations manager culminating as Group General Manager for the company’s 33 hotels.

When Jurys and Doyle went their own ways he became involved with Dalata Hotel Group in 2007 when the Company acquired 11 Quality Hotels and Comfort Inns in Ireland, subsequently rebranding them as Maldron Hotels in 2008.

He says: “The business has just grown and grown and today we have 39 hotels, so it’s worked very well. Although, we went through difficult times like everyone else during the economic downturn so I can empathise with those who continue to experience economic hardship. We did the opposite to many others companies and grew our way out of the crisis. We knew we had the drive and capability and a strong professional experienced team so we could manage hotels for other parties;

INTERVIEW

in addition to our Maldron Hotels, we also manage hotels for owners and banks. All hotels are managed with the same drive and purpose mainly to extract maximum value and delivery of profits for all the stakeholders. We are pure hoteliers, there to drive the business and make sure we are delivering exceptional customer care.”

No doubt this empathy and awareness of the bigger picture is a crucial facet to the role of President. Stephen says he recognises the difficulties many in the industry are going through. According to him there is a three-tier economy: Dublin Hotels are powering along in the fast lane, Cork and Galway doing well in the middle lane and those hotels and guesthouses that are recovering very slowly, especially in rural and seasonal locations, are in the slow lane.

“We manage hotels spread throughout 16 counties so we are acutely aware that Dublin is doing well but there are still plenty of hotels in distress and members need a lot of assistance,” he tells us. “We receive many calls to the Federation’s office in Northbrook Road from hoteliers seeking support and advice. Tim Fenn, CEO of the IHF, his very capable support team and I try to guide, give support and assist members with whatever issues arise. We receive calls regarding employment, insurance, Local Authority Rates, hotel grading information, licensing, finance and marketing solutions to name just a few topics.”

From a Federation point of view, one of the main issues Stephen is aiming to highlight through 2014/15 is COMPETITIVENESS. He firmly believes if we stay competitive visitor numbers will continue to grow, while a rise in VAT or airport landing charges could have a devastating effect, prompting tourists to look for better value destinations.

“It’s a no-brainer; we must maintain the current VAT rates for the next five years.

This is very important for hotels and guesthouses all over Ireland. If the Government was to change policy tourism numbers would reduce very quickly. At the moment we’re focusing on visitor numbers growing to 10 million by 2020. I was in Berlin last week with German tour operators and the most important and interesting message they emphasised is that if we continue to be COMPETITIVE the number of visitors to Ireland will keep on increasing every year. Our country has a great deal to offer, we really have something special here which we have to protect, and we must ensure our country grows in strength for many years to come. To be fair to Government it’s realised hospitality can grow us out of this recession and it has proven so - we’ve created 23,000 jobs since 2011.”

Training is another priority area for Stephen and the Federation. They recognise a crucial need in the industry for better training options and suggest a form of the now defunct CERT be re-introduced with specific focus on apprenticeships.

He says: “CERT used to train waiters, chefs, bartenders. Students were expertly trained for a specific catering job.

Presently, we don’t have sufficient college/apprenticeship opportunities for people at 15 or 16 year of age who do not want to go down the academic route but could be very proficient in our industry. The Institutes of Technology are fantastic but they’re taking in people in at a higher academic level. Government must provide a facility an opportunity for our young people. This isn’t about cheap labour, it’s about sustainability; if we bring in 10 million visitors by 2020, which we will, we’ll have a serious crisis in the industry. If we remain as we are, we simply won’t have sufficient skilled chefs. Fáilte Ireland is very aware of this potential and we’ve been in talks with that organisation to find the right solution.

Local Authority Rates continue to be a crucial and important issue. According to Stephen it’s a major problem right across the country. He says the reality of it is that hotels are paying in excess of 30% more than they should be, and this has been proven following the recent Dublin Rates revaluation process.

“We need to accelerate the revaluation process,” he tells us. “It’s completely unfair that people around the country are still paying the old excessive rates. I think Local Authority rates must be linked to your turnover and ability to pay. We have got some traction on it; things are moving, but it’s slower than I want it to be.”

Of course employment is an ongoing concern for Stephen and the Federation.

“We’ve created jobs and I think the Government should make sure it doesn’t introduce new legislation now that would halt this progress. We’ve a good minimum wage and I think conditions have improved dramatically right across the industry.

There’s talk of JLCs being reintroduced it’s completely unnecessary. We’ve proved since 2011that the industry is growing.

Instead of focusing on JLCs and out dated bureaucracy, hoteliers should be focusing on getting visitors through the door and on strategic marketing of their hotels and guesthouses.

He finishes: “There are many other issues to be addressed; it’s not just about the headline items. In our business it is about minding the little things and the big picture will resolve itself.”

Hoteliers in this country have struggled for the past 5/6 years and Stephen feels a new wave of cautious but welcome optimism across the country. God knows we need it.

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TRADE FAIR

Overseas VIPs presented with the Full Irish at Meitheal Global Travel Trade Fair Ireland 2014

Overseas Operators explore the Wild Atlantic Way

Meitheal Global Travel Trade Fair Ireland 2014 took place on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th April in the RDS, Dublin.

Organised by Fáilte Ireland in association with Tourism Ireland, Meitheal is the largest travel trade workshop that takes place for the Irish tourism industry, providing Irish tourism product providers with the opportunity to meet with overseas tour operators and group organisers and negotiate business for the future.

Meitheal, a central date in the tourism industry calendar, is now in its thirty-ninth year and has gone from strength to strength with countries from all around the world represented at this year’s event including Ireland’s top four markets the US, UK, Germany and France. Delegates also attended from as far afield as China, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway.

200 key international buyers attended the event, meeting with almost 500 Irish businesses through approximately 13,000 scheduled one- to-one pitching and business opportunities.

In addition to business meetings with

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Shaun Quinn, Minister Ring, John Concannon open Meitheal Workshop

Irish tourism providers, many of the international delegates attending Meitheal, experienced first-hand Ireland’s key tourism projects and product for 2014.

Fáilte Ireland organised a number of fact-finding tours around Ireland for overseas operators, providing them with a unique opportunity to sample the sights and sounds that Ireland has to offer their customers.

Wild Atlantic Way Ireland’s first long distance tourism route is already gathering significant interest overseas and over 20 visiting tour operators experienced Ireland’s newest tourism product. The wild Atlantic Way was showcased in two familiarisation visits taking in the West, North West and South West of the country.

TRADE FAIR

B&B Ireland reps meet Minister Ring at Meitheal

‘Wild Atlantic’ highlights included paddleboarding at the Strandhill Surf School; cycling along the Mayo Greenway with ‘Electric Escapes’; ferrying to Garnish Island; climbing the Geokaun Mountain & Fogher Cliffs. The groups also experienced the tastiest Atlantic cuisine and visited some of the finest hotels along the Wild Atlantic Way.

Overseas Operators wakeboarding in Dublin

South & East - Culture and Heritage 24 buyers from Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, GB, Italy, China, US, Spain and Sweden explored Irealbnd’s culture and heritage in the South and East. The group tried their hand at hurling, cider making and even geese herding in Kilkenny before heading to Waterford for a visit to Waterford Crystal and the city’s medieval treasures. The final leg of the trip allowed the group to enjoy the spectacular views from Hook Head Lighthouse before avoiding the ghosts at Loftus Hall and boarding the Dunbrody Famine Ship in New Ross.

Dublin Old & New While in Dublin, the travelling groups had the opportunity to discover both Dublin’s cool and traditional side, partaking in wakeboarding in Grand Canal Dock as well as enjoying visits to Windmill Lane and the Book of Kells.

Over 150 overseas operators and 150 Irish trade attended Fáilte Ireland’s ‘Dublin Farewell’ event as Meitheal concluded. The event which took place throughout

Powerscourt Townhouse in the heart of Dublin city showcased Dublin in a new, fresh and vibrant way.

Highlighting all that Dublin has to offer to ‘Social Energisers’ and ‘Culturally Curious’, Fáilte Ireland’s newly identified strategic market segments, the evening showcased a variety of entertainment with music from Laura Sheeran (cousin of Ed Sheeran), The Young Folk, DJ Mo Kelly, Paul Byrne and the Dublin Gospel Choir (grand finale), all washed down with the very best of Irish food and drink.

Local businesses and producers brought the building to life with displays of millinery, jewellery making and print throughout the Powerscourt Centre.

Commenting on the potential of Meitheal, Paul Keeley, Fáilte Ireland said: “Meitheal provides a valuable opportunity to forge even stronger commercial relations between local tourism providers and the international travel trade. With interest in visiting Ireland growing, our appeal remains strong and we now offer better value than for many years, hopefully, through events such as Meitheal, we can tap into this and win our fair share of overseas business for Ireland.

“This year Fáilte Ireland was delighted to invite this prestigious gathering of overseas buyers to experience our key tourism projects: the Wild Atlantic Way; Ireland’s Culture and Heritage and Dublin for social energisers and the culturally curious. Ireland already benefits hugely from International tour business and generating market awareness these exciting new projects is the first step in establishing new international business ties.”

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RESTAURANT

The Italian job The Dunne and Crescenzi L’Officina experience at Kildare Village shopping outlet Many aspects must be taken into account in order for a restaurant to provide the best possible experience for customers. These crucial aspects include functionality, aesthetic and location, and it is imperative they are carefully considered and designed to work in sync. One such restaurant highlighting this is Dunne and Crescenzi L’Officina, situated in shopping outlet Kildare Village. L’Officina, part of Dunne and Crescenzi group of three Italian

restaurants and two cafés, recently underwent a major refurbishment. We spoke about this project to the restaurant’s architect Ghinlon Wang, of Ghinlon Architecture, and to David Izzo, manager of L’Officina and partner in Dunne and Crescenzi.

Dunne and Crescenzi restaurants focus on bringing an Italian experience to the Irish market, David tells us.

“70-80% of our products are directly imported,” he says. “It has a big impact on customer experience. The quality is top as they’re artisan, not from big corporations.

We have gone a step further and source products from little villages where they are even more passionate about what they do. Irish products are still very important part of our restaurants - we buy meat from an Irish supplier and I think it’s the best lamb

H&RT APRIL/MAY ‘14

☞

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RESTAURANT

and beef I’ve ever tried. I’m impressed as he’s not a butcher, he buys the calves when they are young and raises them himself so he knows what he’s feeding them and when they’re ripe.”

Of course product quality is a hugely important aspect of any restaurant, but for the customer the layout and aesthetic can have equal importance. That’s where Ghinlon comes in. Ghinlon is passionate about design, and he fervently believes in the importance of the interplay between design and functionality, particularly in commercial settings such as restaurants.

“I became interested in architecture through an attraction to a sort of conceptual artistic expression, but in a very functional manner,” he says. “So it’s the meeting of these two worlds that interests me. I like commercial settings as they’re quite fastpaced and there’s a level of complexity there; it’s multi-tiered: you’re going to have a tenant a landlord, a concessioner, legal considerations, licence agreements, so there’s a complexity that attracts me, it keeps it interested and it’s never the same.

I like the challenge.”

Ghinlon honed his approach while working in his former college professor’s practice. It is here he says he got his grounding in a ‘bottom up approach’ thinking straight away about how the details will come together in the end while always having a strong focus on the design.

Prior to the redesign of L’Officina, Ghinlon had experience working on numerous other restaurant projects, including a Dunne and Crescenzi sister property on South Frederick Street. The design of the property was a huge success, and was recognised by renowned design publisher’s Phaidon’s The Wallpaper Guide to Dublin - a major achievement. No doubt this experience stood to him when he took on the L’Officina project.

He says of the project’s process: “Coming into this project I had a good grasp of what it meant to work on a restaurant. The first thing you need to work out is flow, circulation. There are two elements in terms of circulation and many times they don’t sit well together so you have to find a middle ground. One is how the staff use the restaurant, how the back of house works with front of house, and the second is the experiential quality for the customer - what do they see, how do they perceive the space, and managing that experience. I think also, and this is general to design but particularly in a commercial setting of retail, food and beverage, there

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RESTAURANT

needs to be a narrative. So you clarify the narrative from the customer’s point of view - the sequence of spaces they will go through and you have to tie that in with practicality.”

The project started in 2011 and was carried out in September 2013 in four phases over sixteen weeks, and was not without its challenges. Of course functionality was paramount - trying to work out what the best flows were and how the restaurant worked within the Village, but there was a pressure too, as the restaurant is the only table service eatery in Kildare Village.

Ghinlon says: “One of the things I found is that the experience of the customer within the village was heavily reliant on their experience in the restaurant. It’s where they go to sit down, take a break and relax, and

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if that experience isn’t good it has a knock-on effect, so it was real collaboration with me representing the client and Kildare village.”

An extension was built to replace a series of patio doors and a terrace enclosed by windbreakers. The new design, says Ghinlon, now offers a view of the Abbey and allows in lots of natural light. The central space was also broken up into two knaves to strike a balance between creating a different space and visually still feeling like part of the restaurant.

And it’s clear David is happy with the finished product, and what it means for the restaurant going forward. “Ghinlon has done a very good job, he says. “I’m impressed as it was very challenging. We are concentrating a lot of our efforts on bringing the experience for the customer to the next level. The experience has changed a lot in there from the point of view that customers feel more relaxed and at home. There’s a warmth there and the experience has been enhanced to another level. I must say we have had a few difficult years since 2007; it’s been quite tough, very tough and I’m very happy we’ve survived and kept everyone in employment.

Business has been down a bit but over the last year or so it’s going back up again.

There’s a lot of competition out there, there’s a lot of work to be done. The Irish people in general have got savvier with money, food, drinks. People are looking for value, but a lot more are looking for quality. We have very good quality, and good value.”

FOOD

forTHOUGHT Restaurants Association of Ireland AGM, Conference & President’s Dinner hailed a great success The Association’s Annual General Meeting, Restaurant Symposium and President’s Dinner took place on Wednesday 28th March in The Shelbourne Hotel. This was the first year for the association to hold the Restaurant Symposium. The new Council of the RAI was elected for the 2014/2015 year.

The event provided restaurateurs, gastro pub, coffee shop and hotel owners an excellent opportunity to hear the latest trends in menus, restaurants, marketing and customer service.

Delegates on the day were treated to excellent presentations from Director of the World’s No. 2 Restaurant NOMA’s Peter Kreiner, who took us through what it takes to get to the top and stay there!

Food tourism was on the agenda from both Helen McDaid of Failte Ireland and Ami Hovstadius of Visit Sweden. Joe Warwick International Food Critic and Author of Where Chefs Eat discussed the tools restaurants need to ensure a good review. Pól Ó’Conghaile, Irish Travel Journalist took us through ‘Restaurant 2.0 – 10 Rules of the Road for the Next Generation Irish Restaurant’ and Andrea Coffey of Google Ireland enlightened us with tales of The Zero Moment of Truth, the age of the digital consumer.

campaign should be the template for any organisations lobbying efforts.

The day was finished off with our President’s dinner. Current President Padraic Óg Gallagher said his two year term is flying by and how he is enjoying seeing the Association go from strength to strength with growing membership and a very active & engaged membership at that. John Teeling of Teeling Whiskey was the keynote speaker on the evening who delighted guests with his ups and downs in business over the years. Minister Michael Ring gave a rousing speech to guests acknowledging the vital role our industry plays in supporting tourism. Minister Ring was also presented with this year’s Mike Butt Award for his contribution to the Tourism Industry.

We look forward to growing the Symposium for 2015 and hope to see you all there.

We were delighted to have Minister Leo Varadkar in attendance on the day who was the recipient of this year’s Mike Butt Award for his contirbution to the tourism industry. Minister Varadkar spoke highly of the restaurant industry and how it has rallied over the last number of years and now provides such excellent produce and great value. His praise for the RAI and its members of the Keep VAT at 9% was most welcome and told delegates our

Restaurants Association of Ireland 11 Bridge Court – Citygate - St. Augustine Street - Dublin 8 - Registered Company No. 56224

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Menu calorie ODAIOS FOODS, calculator is not the STREET LIFE answer to ireland’s EXHIBITION 2014 obesity problem CALORIES ON MENUS WILL COST IRISH RESTAURANTS AN EXTRA €5000 PER YEAR Introducing new legislation forcing restaurants to display calorie counts on their menus will cost the industry €110 million, say the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

Any proposed legislation requiring restaurants to have calories on menus will cost each restaurant an estimated €5,000 per year. At a time when restaurants are trying to create new jobs as well as saving existing ones, extra costs don’t need to be placed on them.

“How does the Department of Health suggest that we pay for this without having to pass on that cost to employees, reduce their hours or cut staff? It’s not easy for a business to cough up €5,000 in the morning. The banks aren’t lending us any money.”

New MenuCAL Calculator will require chefs to manually input data for each dish. This will take each Chef on average 5 hours per week, 20 hours per month to complete a 40 item monthly menu.

For further information, please visit www.rai.ie

MONDAY 12th MAY 12-10PM TUESDAY 13th MAY 10AM-6PM FITZWILLIAM SQUARE, DUBLIN 2 2 Dates to Remember Odaios Foods’ 3rd Fitzwilliam Square Food Exhibition, exploring the influence of street food, from past to present, takes place on Monday 12th & Tuesday 13th May 2014. Odaios will dig into the past to shape the ideas of modern gastronomy.

An Airstream American Bakery, a cocktail bar and some very special guests! 11,000 square feet of tented food thoroughfare showcasing, meat, charcuterie, shellfish, fruit and vegetables, cheese, bread, pastry, coffee, cake, ice cream and all things gastronomic.

Trade Event by Invite Only, to register your interest in attending contact Odaios Foods on (0)1 4691455 or email events@odaios-foods.com

Calor Energy Surveys for RAI Members Calor is one of the leading suppliers and distributors of LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) in Ireland for the past 75 years. Calor delivers customised energy solutions to the hospitality sector that are both cost efficient and sustainable for businesses over the long term.

Calor LPG has been the fuel of choice for chefs all over Ireland for many years because of its versatility. Catering businesses are turning to LPG for additional energy requirements, such for water heating and space heating because it is the cleaner, high efficiency fuel for their business. We can also organise Energy Surveys for RAI members to help you assess your kitchens efficiency. For more information call 1850 812450 or see www.calorgas.ie/calor-for-business/ Official Sponsor of

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Bunzl McLaughlin sponsor Best Casual Dining Award 2014 Bunzl McLaughlin are delighted to be sponsoring the Best Casual Dining award at the prestigious Irish Restaurant Awards. We have already seen some well deserved winners and the regional awards!

Bunzl McLaughlin is Ireland’s most trusted supplier to the Restaurant Sector. With over 22 representatives strategically placed nationwide, Bunzl McLaughlin can provide a local professional service. At Bunzl, we source worldwide to provide you with the most exclusive and unique products together with your everyday essentials at the most competitive prices.

Irish Restaurant Awards 2014 #foodoscars The Irish Restaurant Awards 2014 in association with Life Magazine are well underway. This year we have seen the biggest number of nominations cast ever with over 19,000 nominations across 9 categories.

County winners have been chosen in Ulster, Connaught and Leinster with the Munster finals due to take place on April 29th in Limerick. Attendance has exceeded last year with up to 500 people attending each event.

The All-island awards will take place on Monday 9th June in the DT by Hilton, Ballasbridge, Dublin 4.

This year we have added an exciting new category to find Ireland’s Ultimate Foodie Town in association with An Post Admailer. The winner of the first every Foodie Town will be announced on June 9th. Best of luck to all the culinary towns that entered!

Keep up to date by visiting www.irishrestaurantawards.com Follow us on twitter @restawards or #foodoscars

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County

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Boyne Brasserie

Co. Meath

Octopussy's Seafood Tapas Bar

Co. Dublin

The Village Restaurant

Co. Westmeath

The Balcony Restaurant @ Tom Sheridan's Bar

Co. Galway

Restaurant

Co. Clare

Village At Lyons

Co. Kildare

Raviolo Verde

Co. Limerick

Cinnamon Garden

Co. Meath

A La Carte Catering / Foley's Bar & Restaurant

Co. Limerick

Mocha Beans Café

Dublin 2

Pizzicato

Dublin 18

The Lime Tree

Co. Kerry

L'Officina Kildare Village

Dublin 2

Oscar's Seafood Bistro

Co. Galway

Gaylord Spices

Co. Meath

Caffrey's Bar

Co. Meath

Jarrow Café

Co. Kilkenny

The Jungle Café

Co. Galway

Muddy Burns Bar & Restaurant

Co. Sligo

Ait Eile

Co. Sligo

The Restaurant

Co. Cork

The Bakehouse Bistro

Co. Limerick

Cava Bodega

Co. Galway

D'Vine Bar & Restaurant

Co. Louth

Darcy's Restaurant

Co. Kerry

Courthouse Restaurant

Co. Monaghan

Serendipity Café

Co. Cork

Grainne Uaile Bar

Co. Mayo

Co. Kerry

Luna Restaurant

Co. Leitrim

Courthouse Hotel

Co. Mayo

Clancy's of Glenfarne

Co. Leitrim

Comix

Co. Cork

Clancy's Bar & Restaurant

Co. Cork

The Courthouse Hotel

Co. Mayo

Barony Restaurant

Co. Mayo

Opium

Dublin 2

Delight Health Café

Co. Galway

Marcel's Restaurant

Dublin 4

Builin Blasta

Co. Galway

Roadhouse Bar & Restaurant

Co. Westmeath

The Brick House

Co. Dublin

The Oasis Bar & Restaurant

Co. Donegal

Adelphi Jade Restaurant

Co. Louth

Brimstone Steakhouse Bar & Grill

Co. Limerick

The Pier Head Bar & Restaurant

Co. Galway

The Courtyard Bar & Grill

Co. Kilkenny

The Beehive

Co. Mayo

The Black Cat Food Company

Co. Kilkenny

Pilot

Co. Sligo

The Oar House Seafood Restaurant

Co. Dublin

Shannon Bistro Restaurant

Co.Leitrim

Wild Honey Inn

Co. Clare

Primrose Cafe

Co. Derry

McMunn's of Ballybunion

Co. Kerry

Flannerys Bistro

Co. Mayo

1826 Adare

Co. Limerick

Hotel Westport

Co. Mayo

Oysters Restaurant

Co. Tyrone

Camilaun Restaurant @ The Ardilaun

Co. Galway

The Gate Restaurant

Co. MEath

The Broken Jug

Co. Mayo

La Dolce Vita Restaurants Ltd.

Dublin 18

Dunderry Lodge Restaurant

Co. Meath

McGettigans Cookhouse & Bar @ North Star Hotel

Dublin 1

The Friary Restaurant

Co. Roscommon

Riba Restaurant

Dublin 18

Zaragoza

Dublin 2

Co. Kilkenny

Sean Ogs Bar & Restaurant

Co. Donegal

O'Donnabhain's Bar & Guesthouse

Matt The Millers

New Associates

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BEVERAGE MACHINES

Marco, their market and JET

Marco Beverage Systems ltd is a leading Irish hot water delivery systems company specialising in providing creative ideas and solutions to coffee and tea brewers in the Food & Beverage Industry around the world.

They are dedicated to providing excellent, reliable service with integrity and accountability. They are always looking to develop new ideas and equipment that can enhance and bring the F&B Industry to the next level.

They offer a wide range of equipment and services, including: Water Boiler, Coffee Brewers, Coffee Grinders, Water Filter Systems and Bespoke Tea and Coffee Making equipment.

Their clients are varied and spread throughout the world. Bewleys, Robert Roberts, Horton’s, Starbucks, Coffee Mania, Costa Coffee, Auto Bar UK, Prêt a Manger, Tesco, Manchester United, Fulham Football Club, The Aviva Stadium and Wembley all boast their kit.

Their main market clientele are the hotel, restaurant and catering industry, the coffee industry and the tea industry around the world.

They have a global reach with manufacturing plants in China and India and their products are sold around the world on a daily basis. Despite this they remain intensely proud of their Irish roots and work closely with Enterprise Ireland in every territory.

They have grown throughout the recession and have grown to a staff of 65 from 50 in the last 3 years and they hope to continue growing and creating more jobs in Ireland every year.

Cathal Burke, Marco’s marketing manager has this to say: “Of late we have had huge success in the water boiler market as our Ecoboiler range has gone on to be the most successful and most economical boiler the market has seen and will see for years to come. We also recently launched the BRU which is a pour and serve coffee machine perfect for smaller restaurants, bars and coffee shops.”

But for their larger clients they have looked at launching something completely new: JET. JET is a filter coffee brewer with a vacuum insulated dispenser, and it comes with an optional paired grinder meant to “slave” right next to the brew device. It can brew between 2.0 to 6.0 litres of coffee at a time, and features a handy touch-screen interface. JET was designed to SCAE Gold Cup brewing standards, which is kind of an industry codified way of saying, “it brews coffee well” - it’s an internationally respected set of rules on brewing filter coffee. JET is also sleek and cool looking, which has become something of a Marco product standard over the years.

For the technically minded among you the performance has been incredible, reaffirming the core design choice. In terms of numbers we are currently looking at less than 1% variance in water volume delivery, and about +/- 1.5C temperature delivery from the sprayhead.

The JET will be available to the open market in June and all enquiries can be directed to sales@marco.ie

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TOURISM

Minister Ring promotes Ireland and the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’ITalia Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD, travelled to Milan, to join Tourism Ireland in promoting Ireland and the Grande Partenza or ‘Big Start’ of the Giro d’Italia. He was joined by Alastair Ross MLA, Assembly Secretary at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland.

Minister Ring hosted a business networking lunch in central Milan - where he met with, and addressed, 40 key Italian travel trade, airline and media contacts, as well as representatives of RCS Sport (organiser of the Giro d’Italia). As well as highlighting the Grande Partenza, he also took the opportunity to promote some of the many other reasons for Italian holidaymakers to choose Ireland - including our magnificent scenery, rich culture and world-class golf. During his visit, Minister Ring had meetings with journalists from Corriere della Sera (daily newspaper) and La Gazetta dello Sport (daily sports newspaper) in their offices in Milan.

The Giro d’Italia, second only to the Tour de France in terms of prestige, will help raise the profile of the island of Ireland and Tourism Ireland has been promoting the event across the world, since it was announced, to leverage its tourism potential for the island of Ireland.

Niamh Kinsella, Tourism Ireland; Alastair Ross MLA; Minister Michael Ring; Francesco Caputo, Cocktail Viaggi (major Italian tour operator); and Finola O’Mahony, Tourism Ireland, at a business networking lunch in Milan.

American travel organisers enjoy reward trip to Ireland One hundred American travel experts and leaders visited Ireland recently, on a ‘reward trip’ - as guests of Collette Vacations, one of America’s oldest and largest tour operators. Each year, Collette Vacations brings its prestigious ‘President’s Club’ of top-producing group travel organisers to a different destination. For 2014, the selected destination was Ireland. Coming from all over the United States, the visiting Americans were the top sellers of Collette’s travel programmes last year. As their reward, they were invited to take part in the trip to Ireland, which was supported by Tourism Ireland.

American travel organisers before a gala dinner in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin with (l-r) Fiona Herald, business development manager, Guinness Storehouse; Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s head of North America; and Dan Sullivan, president of Collette Vacations.

London launch of Limerick City of Culture The British launch of Limerick City of Culture 2014 took place recently, at the prestigious Embassy of Ireland in London.

Organised by Tourism Ireland, the event was attended by key British travel trade and media contacts.

The first ever designation of national City of Culture for Limerick presents Tourism Ireland with a wonderful opportunity to increase awareness of the city around the world as a cultural and historic destination. Tourism Ireland is highlighting Limerick City of Culture across the world - taking every opportunity to leverage the tourism benefits of this year-long celebration of culture for the city. The organisation has an extra-special focus on Limerick in its promotional programme in Great Britain, the United States, France, Germany and Canada.

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Mike Fitzpatrick, interim head of Limerick City of Culture; Sheila Deegan, Limerick Arts Officer; HE Dan Mulhall, Irish Ambassador to Great Britain; Siobhán McManamy, Tourism Ireland; and Tim O’Connor, vice-chairman of Limerick City of Culture.

TOURISM

Tourism Ireland and VisitBritain sign new partnership agreement Tourism Ireland and VisitBritain have announced a new agreement to boost tourist numbers from long-haul markets such as China and India.

The announcement was made in London, at a business event organised by the British Irish Chamber of Commerce to mark the historic State Visit of President Michael D Higgins to Britain.

Under the agreement, Tourism Ireland and VisitBritain will work more closely together - particularly in long-haul markets outside of Europe and North America - to promote the island of Ireland and Great Britain as destinations to be visited as part of a single holiday. The aims of the MoU are twofold: to align the work of both agencies, combining their activities in markets where appropriate; and to increase visitor numbers and revenue to both the island of Ireland and Great Britain from longhaul markets.

Sandie Dawe, CEO of VisitBritain, and Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, signing a new Memorandum of Understanding.

New strategy unveiled to boost tourism from Germany and France Germany and France offer significant potential for Irish tourism, according to a new three-year plan, ‘Germany and France - A Strategy for Growth’. The plan sets out challenging and ambitious targets which will see the number of German and French visitors to the island of Ireland grow to 1.1 million by 2016, delivering revenue of €602 million for the economies north and south.

2013 was a record year for visitor numbers to Ireland from Germany and France - our third- and fourth-largest tourist-generating markets. The new strategy - developed in close co-operation with Fáilte Ireland, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), as well as commercial industry and travel trade partners, at home and overseas will build on this success and drive accelerated growth from both markets over the coming three years.

Minister Varadkar and airlines welcome start of €0 Travel Tax

The air travel tax fell to €0 on 1 April. Marking the occasion were (l-r) Simon Fagan, chief commercial officer, Stobart Air (formerly Aer Arann); Declan Kearney, director of communications, Aer Lingus; Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar; Minister of State in the Department of Finance, Brian Hayes; Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland; and Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer, Ryanair.

Niall Gibbons, Tourism Ireland CEO; and Finola O’Mahony, Tourism Ireland’s head of Europe, at the launch of a new strategy to boost tourism from Germany and France.

‘Connecting’ Canada and Ireland

Eight Irish tourism companies joined Tourism Ireland in Canada for a four-day sales blitz called Connect Canada - targeting more than 120 influential travel agents, as well as 40 key travel and lifestyle media, based in Toronto and southern Ontario. Pictured are (l-r) Claire Myler, River Lee Hotel; Francis Brennan, Park Hotel, Kenmare; Carol Hinch, Ballynahinch Castle Hotel; Tony Keane, IrishTourism.com; Jim Deegan, Railtours Ireland First Class; Jayne Shackleford, Tourism Ireland; Dermot O’Neill, Abbey Tours; Siobhán Byrne Learat, Adams & Butler; Jason Powell, Causeway Coast and Glens; and Tanya Warren, Tourism Ireland.

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FÁILTE IRELAND NEWS

Ireland Inspires over 1 million viewers A new video highlighting the qualities that makes Ireland such a special place became one of the most globally shared and viewed videos over St Patrick’s Day weekend.

The video “St Patrick’s Day 2014 #IrelandInspires”, took the social media world by storm after it was posted online clocking up well over 1million views in the run up to Ireland’s most infamous holidays.

The video was then played for groups gathering at Irish embassies across the world to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Welcoming the impact of the initiative, John Concannon, Director of Market Development for Fáilte Ireland explained “This video was always intended as our animated postcard to the world and was tailored to appeal to visitors, investors and all those attracted to the type of energy, creativity and potential which this nation can offer.

“Never in our wildest dreams did we envisage that it would become so popular or that it would provoke such an emotional response. We, in Fáilte Ireland, would like

to send out a big thank you to all those at home and abroad who shared it and helped spread the word.“ “St Patrick’s Day 2014 #IrelandInspires”, was developed by Fáilte Ireland in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other state agencies as a means of promoting Ireland this St. Patrick’s Day and is available to view on Fáilte Ireland’s YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/failteirelandtv

Everyone’s getting behind the Wild Atlantic Way Government and local communities have been showing their support for one of Fáilte Ireland’s flagship projects for 2014, The Wild Atlantic Way, as the new 2,500km route was officially launched recently.

The Wild Atlantic Way stretches from Malin Head (at the tip of North Donegal) to Mizen Head (in the very south of the country) and hugs Ireland’s Atlantic coastline all the way. At 2,500km in length the route, which can be toured by car, bicycle or on foot opens up a huge number of towns and attractions to visitors along providing an unforgettable experience along Ireland’s west coast.

To support its development significant capital funding of €10m is being invested to develop the route this year much of which will be reflected in route signage and in establishing 159 discovery points along the way, each of which will bring the route and surrounding area to life. €1.4 million of this funding has also been allocated to three projects located along the route - The Connemara Greenway, Downpatrick Head Discovery Point and Signal Tower Restoration.

Speaking about this investment, Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn said, “The Wild Atlantic Way is an evolving project which will build and develop over the years and will significantly benefit those counties it traverses. Continued investment will ensure the new route delivers on its ability to drive extra visitor footfall and become one of the most significant developments in modern Irish tourism as well as a significant engine of regeneration for rural Ireland.”

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Fáilte Ireland CEO, Shaun Quinn and Head of Programme for the Wild Atlantic Way, Fiona Monaghan officially launch the Wild Atlantic Way with Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD.

FÁILTE IRELAND NEWS

Irish appeal remains strong as tourism continues to recover

Top line trends from Fáilte Ireland’s annual Visitor Attitudes Survey shows overseas holidaymakers continue to rate Ireland as value for money and that our people, scenery and culture remain our strongest assets.

The main findings of the research show: • Ireland is meeting and exceeding 99% of visitors expectations • More than half of visitors say they will return in the next few years with another four out of ten hoping to return in the future • Eight out of ten North Americans say they will be recommending Ireland • Value for money remains high with over half of overseas visitors rating value for money as good or very good.

• Word of mouth is also having an impact on the number of holidaymakers who came to Ireland based on word of mouth increased from 28% to 36%.

The full Visitor Attitudes Survey will be available on www.failteireland.ie shortly

€1.3M in funding for festivals and events announced

Among those receiving support from Fáilte Ireland this year is the Galway Arts Festival

Just over €1.3 million in Fáilte Ireland funding will be allocated to 29 festivals and events being held across Ireland this year.

Among those in receipt of support are the Cork International Choral Festival, the Great Limerick Run, Listowel Writer’s Week, the Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival, Galway Arts Festival and many more events ranging across the arts, sport and culture.

The new funding follows earlier funding announcements for the 2014 St Patrick’s Festival and the Temple Bar Trad Fest which got the festival year off to a great start.

Further funding of over 1/2 million Euro will be announced in the coming weeks under Failte Ireland’s Regional Festivals and Events Programme.

Head of Events for Fáilte Ireland, Keith Mc Cormack commented - “Festivals and events are the lifeblood of Irish tourism - complementing the beauty of our landscapes and the friendliness of our people with a rich variety of spectacle and experiences. These events will provide the backbone to the tourism calendar in communities throughout the country and add to our ability to grow overseas visitors and revenue.”

Great potential for Ireland following winning bid for the Union of International Associations Round Table Conference

The Fáilte Ireland International Conferences team celebrated the announcement that the Union of International Associations (UIA) Round Table event will be held in Dublin in November 2014.

This is the first occasion the event will be hosted outside of Brussels and Ireland is delighted to welcome up to 120 international associations to our capital city.

Speaking about the win, Azeta Seery of Fáilte Ireland’s Business Tourism team said, the UIA is a collaboration of international associations with the capacity to bring significant future conferences to Ireland.

What sets this event apart is the potential yield for Ireland, hosting the event in Dublin provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase all that’s good about our city and county.

Ms Seery continued: “Maximising on this opportunity, the International Conferences team in partnership with the Dublin Convention Bureau and the Business Tourism industry will ensure that the visiting associations experience the array of world class facilities and professionalism on offer in Ireland.”

“This is a great coup for Ireland, as it will allow us to showcase all the destination has to offer for association conference and meetings. It is our experience that as soon as key influencers have an opportunity to witness first-hand the quality of the product and the professionalism of the Irish Industry, they are determined to bring their business here. The agreed programme will also allow us to provide the Irish Trade with multiple opportunities to network with the delegates. It is a win-win scenario.”

If you’re interested in bringing an international conference to Ireland find out more about Fáilte Ireland’s business tourism supports at: www.meetinireland.com

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ONLINE MARKETING

Search is dead Dr Des O’Mahony An overly dramatic title perhaps, but we are in very turbulent times for search.

Specifically, natural search has been strongly eroded and is losing relevance in certain business sectors, travel being a key one. While this represents a threat for those with reliance on organic search result methods, it is by no means the death of search opportunity.

The search landscape has changed quite dramatically recently and will continue to do so through 2014. Should hotels be worried about this? Definitely. Can they make strategic changes to actually capitalise on the rapid change in search?

Most definitely. But they need to understand that benefit comes at a price.

Search Engine Optimisation Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a strategy and technique to improve traffic to websites by deliberately targeting a high position on search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO could be viewed as an effort to ensure your content and relevance is properly recognised in SERPs for relevant searches (which is a good and fair marketing effort, though difficult). Or, SEO can also be an attempt to rig the game by getting exposure you don’t justly deserve (which is a disingenuous marketing attempt, and bad for everyone in the long run).

Search engines of course want to always be relevant with their natural results, and not look like they’ve been rigged.

Relevance is critical, and search companies work hard on complex algorithms to ensure, essentially, that SEO becomes redundant. In other words, to improve their indexing technology so that it makes its own decisions about relevance for the searcher regardless of what the website owner has tried to do.

To quote moz.com (http://moz.com/ google-algorithm-change), “Each year, Google changes its search algorithm around 500-600 times”. Search engines make these algorithm changes to make deliberate SEO more irrelevant. Websites therefore more than ever need to ensure they have good content, relevant content and accurate content relating to their services. To justify a good position in SERP, you need to deserve it. You need to invest properly in website design and content on an ongoing basis to have a chance here, before you even consider the issue of your website’s impact on conversion, which is another story.

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Figure 1. Google search results for “hotels in berlin” showing Ads, Google map results, and the Google Hotel Finder and Google+ influence on results, injecting ratings and prices.

Competing Space However well you achieve optimisation, the bottom line is that your site is effectively listed once in a sea of results and products on a SERP. And that sea is getting extremely complex. If one looks at Google search results alone, you can see that it is increasingly dominated by Google products. To get more visibility, you need to play their game and use their services effectively.

The company is pushing hard on Google+, its social “network”, to the extent that optimising your Google+ page is arguably far more relevant for SERP positioning in Google than anything else. Google does stress that it sees Google+ more as a layer to bring all its various products and services together for you the user in a personalised way, and that it’s not a stand-alone social network in the way we view Facebook and others. Of relevance for hotels, Google is gathering reviews rapidly, and via Google+ is using them to influence search relevance. More and more, your hotel’s Google+ page content, the freshness of your interaction there, and your review rating, are influencing your hotel’s SERP position.

With the advent of Google Hotel Finder (GHF), the company began to gather availability and pricing from hotels (via the Online Travel Agents and also from direct representatives of hotels such as Bookassist), effectively becoming a meta search player within its own search results. The result of that effort so far is that for accommodation searches, Google now presents its pay per click (PPC) advertising (indicated by the little yellow “Ads” sign), its Google+ local results, and now its GHF integrated results that hotels (and OTAs) bid for.

If you look at Figure 1, the block headed “Hotels in Berlin on Google” has appeared after the PPC adverts in a search I’ve done for “hotels in berlin”. Here, you can see directly not just the pricing for hotels being fed by GHF, but also the Google+ reviews and ratings taking prominence. Interestingly, even if you click on a specific hotel in this listing, you will be brought to a full listing of hotels in GHF, as Figure 2 shows, not to that specific hotel you clicked.

GHF functionality is also integrated into maps and other areas of Google and taking more and more precedence and real estate on the screen, along with Google+. The result is that your natural listing is moving further off the page, and the money you are required to spend on PPC and on bidding within GHF is becoming more and more relevant to your prominence.

ONLINE MARKETING longer as relevant as it was, since your availability and pricing will drive how TripConnect returns your hotel within its metasearch. And even these observations about best approaches have changed in recent months.

Managing all of this is critical, and is not an easy task, especially since it must be done virtually in real time.

Figure 2. Google Hotel Finder as accessed from the search results in Figure 1.

The industry expects this trend to continue, with the move of technologies like the Google carousel (Figure 3) inevitably into accommodation. Typing a search like “things to do in London” shows the carousel of points of interest, and will display prominently on the right of the page the associated Google+ page when available.

When a carousel is used for hotels in a city, you can see just how relevant the GHF bidding and the Google+ page content will be for a hotel.

The Rise of Meta Search For hotels, the opportunity presented by meta search sites like Trivago, Hotelscombined and many others is a second wind on the internet. The dominance of OTAs over direct booking on hotel websites can now be mitigated by hotels using meta search sites, which can show the hotels’ own website and pricing via representative companies such as Bookassist, along with the OTA pricing. This levels the playing field somewhat for hotels and is a positive development.

Likewise, high traffic sites like TripAdvisor have seized on the opportunity presented by their qualified users, and have moved to offer meta Figure 3. Example of Google’s carousel and the dominance of Google+ for search services that elements of the carousel on the lower right of the page. combine OTA and hotel direct pricing, via their TripConnect service. Hotels’ own websites and pricing can again be listed along with the OTAs via representative companies for hotels, such as Bookassist.

However, when you now look at Google Hotel Finder, TripConnect and Trivago, you see quite different approaches to optimising the opportunities for your hotel.

For example, on Google Hotel Finder, it is often best to focus on your hotel’s website having the lowest price, and not focus on just bidding highest. You may be outbid by an OTA that grabs the first position, but the prominence of your lower price will win out in many cases. On Trivago, the layout of their results favours the highest bidder, and the process is extremely dynamic. When you are searching on Trivago, you can see results and prices literally changing before your eyes.

Meanwhile over in TripConnect, the push for the best TripAdvisor ranking is no

Where Next?

Just understanding the fast-changing nature of the search space and meta search in particular is a very difficult task.

The pace of change is quite breathtaking as the competition hots up between OTAs and meta search. Google is innovating fast, but must be mindful of treading on its paying advertisers’ toes too - it cannot afford to annoy OTAs too much with the hundreds of millions of dollars they literally spend per year on PPC. Likewise, OTAs and meta search are pushing their own brands so they can reduce reliance on Google, and we see Trivago and Booking.com investing hugely in offline advertising like TV to get customers to bypass search and go directly to them.

Monitoring the dynamic nature of all of this is complex in the extreme and poses a significant challenge for the individual hotel, let alone those hotel groups with more resources. But this is the reality of where we are in search today. Increasingly, your direct traffic must be bought. And this makes margin all the more relevant as the key issue to track in your business.

Hotels must invest even more strongly in PPC, and in meta search bidding, while making sure they are watching and measuring the real ROI. Since both these approaches deliver qualified traffic, but not actual bookings, hotels must invest ever more in website technology and have world class booking capability to ensure that the paid-for traffic converts. This may be daunting, but those hotels who move fast in this area can benefit significantly Expect the search space to be radically different by this time next year. Search today is nothing like the game we played just two years ago, and to compare then and now displays bewildering differences, with threats and opportunities. To borrow from Star Trek, “It’s search Jim, but not as we know it.”

Dr Des O’Mahony is CEO and Founder of Bookassist (bookassist.org), the leading technology and online strategy partner for hotels. Bookassist provides web design, digital marketing, distribution management and booking engine services to drive direct business to hotels and was twice voted World’s Leading Booking Engine Technology Provider by the hospitality industry.

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IFSA NEWS

Welcome to our Regional chapters and events new members

We are delighted to welcome the following new members who have recently joined the IFSA community: • 3M Purification • Baileycare • BWG Foodservice • JD Catering Supplies • KBR Foodservice • Kingspan Environmental • Vestey Foods • Reservoir Renewables • Shoes For Crews IFSA is an inclusive Foodservice suppliers group attracting suppliers from every sector of our Foodservice Industry bonded with the common goal of uniting to stimulate and drive our market forward. See www.ifsa.eu.com/suppliers-area to view a full list of membership benefits or contact louise.mcloughlin@ifsa.eu.com for more details.

The Dublin coffee & tea scene is a-buzz AS festival momentum builds Word is spreading throughout the food & beverage industry about the inaugural Dublin Coffee & Tea Festival 2014. This unique event, which will celebrate the evermore sophisticated consumer tastes for coffee and tea in Ireland, is fast becoming a must-do on the industry calendar as the place to present your offering directly to the consumer and is due to take place at the RDS, Dublin 1214 September 2014.

The Festival is already enjoying the support of some key companies on the Irish coffee and tea scene including: 3FE Coffee Ltd, Ariosa Coffee Roasting Company, Badger and Dodo, Boutique Coffee Roasters Ltd, Bailies Coffee Company, Bewleys, Cloud Picker Coffee, Coffee Hub, Coffee Mojo, Espresso Tech, Hancock & Abberton, Insomnia, Java Republic, Joes Coffee, Kingfisher Tea, Marco Beverage Systems, Mrs Doyles Tea, Niks Tea, Robert Roberts, Solaris Botanicals, Art of Coffee, Lilly’s Tea, McCabes Gourmet Coffee, UCC Coffee and Suki Tea. For information on the Festival or to book your stand see www.dublincoffeefestival.com or contact garret.buckley@ifsa.eu.com.

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Are you interested in developing foodservice networking and industry connections in your area?

IFSA will establish four Irish Chapters in 2014 which will drive local activity and boost connections in Connaught, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. Watch out for more details of upcoming regional events in your locality at www.ifsa.eu.com/events.

Map by our-ireland.com

3M Purification

Diversified technology company 3M provides an innovative water filter portfolio designed to protect professional catering equipment in commercial kitchens, pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels from expensive scale build up caused by hard water. The filters offer an enhanced taste experience for the consumer while helping reduce equipment downtime and service costs for owners.

For catering customers that want to save on service costs and reduce machine downtime, Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtration systems are an ideal option. The ScaleGard LP2-BL (SGLP2) Dual Port Reverse Osmosis System from 3M is a compact, wall-mounted unit that provides two separate water qualities for speciality coffee and flash steamer applications, which means that only one filter system is required for all the back-of-house catering equipment typically found in a professional kitchen - from steamers and combi ovens to ice machines, bulk coffee brewers and espresso machines. These are all expensive pieces of equipment to buy and maintain so the elimination of multiple filtration units presents significant cost and time savings.

Using twin RO membranes, the ScaleGard LP2-BL (SGLP2) Dual Port Reverse Osmosis System purifies mains water, removing solids and minerals that can cause limescale and corrosion problems typically associated with flash steamers, thereby helping to minimise equipment downtime and servicing costs. Also, as a nonelectric system, with filtration driven by incoming water pressure, the system offers high reliability with low ownership costs, immunity to power outage and enhances energy efficiency.

For water and coffee applications, the ScaleGard LP2-BL (SGLP2) Dual Port Reverse Osmosis System provides a second ROfiltered supply, which is recombined with a controlled quantity of mains water via a blending valve to maintain a consistent mineral composition. This blended water is then passed through a 3M cystrated filter to deliver tailored quality softened and particle-free water as the starting point for great-tasting coffee and ice.

3M Ireland Limited is based in Carrickmines, Dublin 18.

For enquiries, contact the 3M Ireland office on +353 (0)1 2803555.

Web: www.3M.ie/filtration 3M and ScaleGard are trademarks of 3M Company.

IFSA NEWS

Bunzl McLaughlin Bunzl McLaughlin is a well-established, trusted non-food catering supplier to the hospitality and food industries throughout Ireland. They offer a wide range of everyday essentials such as crockery, cutlery, glassware, paper hygiene and chemicals for your business. First with new and innovative products to the market, the company offers the latest in barware, chef supplies and food equipment.

Their new Catering Design Solutions division also offers a design and fit out service, beginning with consultation alongside their qualified architects, moving on to a full concept with design engineers to the final stage of turnkey completion and installation; all tailored to suit the client’s needs.

Bunzl McLaughlin is part of Bunzl PLC, a FTSE 100 company and are therefore able to draw on global expertise in product sourcing, working with top international brands as well as local suppliers. Bunzl McLaughlin has over 2,500 core items in stock available for next day delivery and access to over 50,000 products from the world’s leading catering and cleaning manufacturers that can be sourced and ordered to need.

Product Range: • Crockery • Cutlery • Glassware • Barware • Kitchen Equipment • Chef Supplies • Furniture • Disposables • Paper Hygiene and Chemicals Please visit the website at www.bunzlmclaughlin.com to download their latest catalogues, view latest offers and see some new products.

Hugh Jordan steals the show Hugh Jordan were this year’s real winners at the IFEX exhibition. Their eye catching stand attracted great interest from visitors coming from all sectors of the industry. Located just inside the door, their clever use of reclaimed pallets displayed only a fraction of the company’s one stop shop product portfolio. The focus on innovation and presenting new ideas was clear to see, as each of the displays showcased some of the latest trends in catering supplies.

The rustic look and colour was a common theme on the stand. Bold and vibrant colours such scarlet reds, lime greens and aubergine were a p p a r e n t a g a i n s t everything from crockery, buffet display and even linen. The rustic trend was visible across everything from rustic wooden boxes perfect for displaying fruit and confectionary to mini copper pans and steel buckets providing fun and playfulness to tabletop presentation.

For inspiration upon any of your catering needs, please don’t hesitate to call 01-862 7200 to arrange a consultation with your local sales representative. Alternatively you can order online at www.hughjordan.com or view their full product offering and current special offers.

Good Design is Good Business Fuse Graphic Design are award winning designers with specific experience in designing for the food, retail and hospitality industries.

Working on creative brand communications for clients such as Musgraves, Jurys Inn, Silver Hill Farm, SCAE, Good Food Ireland, Marco and more, FUSE understand the importance of clear and targeted messaging from brand identity design, packaging, point of sale, web and digital communications.

Helping great brands communicate clearly and creatively for over 16 years.

Contact: Anne Hartnett, Managing and Creative Director anne@fuse.ie Phone 01 4780802 www.fuse.ie

Stephens Catering Stephens Catering Equipment have been “Serving the Catering World Since 1967” working closely alongside the industry’s leading manufacturers to provide the most environmentally friendly & energy efficient products whilst still retaining product quality, output & durability. We are committed to providing our customers with competitive quality brands and products appropriate for the 21st century kitchen.

With the following in-house departments we strive to deliver excellent customer service at all times.

• Sales & Marketing - Our experienced and creative sales department offer a unique tailored approach to your business requirements.

• Consultancy and Design - Free CAD planning and design service in conjunction with the latest health, safety and hygiene regulations.

• Try before you buy - we have designated & fully equipped live test kitchens in our Broughshane, Dublin & Donegal offices. With regular menu development, training & demonstrations on the latest technology in the catering industry with our fully trained chefs.

• Stephens Fabrication - Manufacturer of bespoke stainless steel for ultimate durability to meet the highest hygiene standards.

Manufacturing & installing canopies to BOHS LEV P601/P602 quality standards in accordance with DW172. Producing bespoke countering with corian, granite, wooden & other material finishes.

• Stephens Service Department - Over 25 manufacturer trained, qualified and experienced engineers, strategically placed throughout Ireland.

At the recent IFEX Show in Belfast we were awarded the ‘Overall Winner’ prize in the ‘Product of the Show Awards’ for the Garland Induction Line. A revolution in cooking, powerful, clean, precise, fast, safe, 50% energy saving, no wasted energy when cooking. Garland induction offers solutions for virtually any application counter top or drop-in including hobs, griddles, woks & with a braising pan now available. We also lunched the new Frima MULTIFICIENCY VarioCooking Center 112T, a compact counter top model. Like the larger models, the 112T is up to four times as fast, and saves up to 40% energy, compared to conventional cooking equipment, with the ability to boil, sear, braise, fry, deep fry, cook at low temperatures, confit, sous-vide... without watching, without burning or sticking, and without having to cope with the stress of pots and pans. Contact one of our showrooms to experience this must see labour & energy saving equipment.

Pictured from left - right are, Soraya Gadelrab, IFEX Event Director, Keith Howland, Garland Demo Chef & Ian Manson, Sales Director Stephens Catering Equipment.

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GMIT NEWS

Success for GMIT students at IFEX 2014 (Belfast) Culinary Competition Co. Clare student wins ‘Student Culinarian of the Year’ Culinary students from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) scooped a range of top awards at this year’s IFEX Culinary Competition in Belfast, with Co. Clare student Patrick Phillips winning ‘Student Culinarian of the Year’ for his three-course meal.

Patrick, from Cooraclare, who is in his first year of a Higher Certificate in Culinary Arts in GMIT’s Galway campus, won the top accolade for his starter of goats cheese parfait, main course of panfried monkfish and dessert of baked apple.

The 22 year old, who has always had a passion for food, originally pursued a degree in architecture before deciding to switch to culinary arts last year. During his first year in GMIT, he won an academic scholarship for holding the highest points in the Leaving Certificate in GMIT’s College of Tourism & Arts.

Patrick’s achievement is all the more remarkable because he works with one hand, due to a congenital birth defect on his left arm.

In addition to his full-time studies in GMIT, he works part-time in Galway’s only Michelin star restaurant, Aniar, as a commis-chef.

GMIT culinary arts students who won top awards at the IFEX (Belfast) 2014 Culinary Competition, with their lecturers and mentors, L to R: Gerry Talbot, Head of Dept, GMIT College of Tourism & Arts, lecturer Noel Loughnane, student Lynda MacDonald, Sligo, lecturer Frank O’Connor, student Patrick Phillips (Student Culinarian of the Year IFEX 2014), lecturer Mary Reid, and student Elaine Boyle, Milltown, Co .Galway. [Missing from the photo are students: Julia Babikova from Moycullen and Zoe Keller from Portarlington, Co. Laois who also won awards]. (Photo Joe Travers)

Speaking about his achievement in IFEX (Belfast) 2014, Patrick said he was thrilled to win Student Culinarian of the Year. “It’s very important to me to be known for my skills and talent as a chef, as opposed to being known as a chef working with a disability.”

“I really appreciate the well-structured education I’m getting in GMIT and also from Head Chef of Aniar Ultan Cooke and JP McMahon, proprietor. I can see myself developing greatly as a chef because of them.”

GMIT Culinary Arts students who won awards at the IFEX (Belfast) 2014 culinary competition, L to R: Lynda MacDonald from Sligo , Patrick Phillips from Cooraclare, Co Clare (Student Culinarian of the Year), and Elaine Boyle from Milltown, Co Galway. [Missing from the photo are students: Julia Babikova from Moycullen and Zoe Keller from Portarlington, Co Laois who also won awards]. (Photo Joe Travers)

“I hope to have my own restaurant based on showcasing Irish food, one day. I also plan to travel to England and France for experience before I settle in Ireland, hopefully in Clare. I’m thankful for support from friends and family. They’ve been great.”

Other top awards went to first year student Elaine Boyle from Milltown, Co Galway, who won two Gold medals and the overall title for her novelty wedding cake (the part-time student also runs her own cake business in Milltown); third year degree student Julia Babikova from Moycullen who won a Silver medal for her pastellage piece (of Galway Cathedral); second year culinary student Linda MacDonald from Sligo town who won a prize in the senior category for her lamb dish (she also works weekends in The G Counter in Galway); and second year culinary student Zoe Keller from Portlaise, Co Laois, who won a prize for her novelty cake in a separate category.

The students were prepared for the competition by their culinary arts lecturers: Mary Reid, Frank O’Connor and Noel Loughnane.

Gerry Talbot, Head of Dept, College of Tourism & Arts, says the college is delighted with the students’ achievements in Belfast.

“These competitions are great opportunities for our students to compete with other international students and to be judged by leading professionals in the international food industry.”

“They are all passionate food ambassadors for the culinary arts department in GMIT.” For more information on programmes in GMIT’s College of Tourism & Arts, see: http://www.gmit.ie/college-tourism-and-arts/college-tourism-arts

Destination Dublin for Bachelor of Arts Final Year Students!

Final year BA4 Hotel & Catering Management students and lecturers John Carty and Maria Murphy took 2 days out of their busy academic schedules to visit ‘Destination Dublin’ in February 2014.

Staff and students used their tourism and hospitality industry contacts to arrange interesting site visits and tours to different businesses with a tourism/event/hospitality focus.

Day 1 began of a back and front of house tour of the O2 arena by John Johnson, MD of Live Nation. Guinness Store house facilitated with a guided tour of the facilities followed by a very inspiring talk from Shauna Morton, Event Sales and Marketing Manager. The tour finished with its usual and very welcoming complimentary pint of Guinness in the Sky Bar! Dublin Wine Rooms in CHQ was the venue for a very interesting wine tasting event followed by a 2 course dinner in the evening and all retired to the comfortable Maldron Hotel at Cardiff Lane which offered a very good rate to accommodate the group.

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The second day began with a show-around of the Dublin’s newest 5 Star Marker Hotel and Roof Top Bar in CHQ. All were very excited with the tour of ‘THE’ GOOGLE Foundry event space and food and beverage areas. The very enjoyable tour of Dublin concluded with a show around of the Fabulous 5 Star Merrion Hotel and coffee and pastries in the spectacular Penthouse Suite.

Bachelor of Arts Students in Dublin

GMIT NEWS

GMIT College of Tourism & Arts - Music & Wine Event The new classical music programme ‘Musical Moments’ is an initiative of GMIT College of Tourism & Arts in partnership with Dúchas na Gaillimhe - Galway Civic Trust, held a very successful public ‘ music and food’ event on Wednesday April 2nd in the college. It follows on from the ‘GMIT Music @ Theatre 903’ initiative started in 2007 when the Institute received a mini grand piano on loan from ESB and Galway Civic Trust.

Award-winning Romanian pianist Eliza Puchianu performed a programme of sonatas by Beethoven and Chopin, as part of a new series of concerts called ‘Musical Moments’ launched by the Institute. The wine and canapé reception was hosted during the interval on the GMIT President’s balcony and the guests enjoyed the wonderful views over Galway Bay. Eliza Puchianu is in her final year of studies under Professor Reamonn Keary at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM). She has studied under Roland Batik at the Konservatorium Wien University in Vienna (2006-2008) and has won numerous awards in national and international competitions across Europe including the Yamaha Piano Scholarship (February 2014), the Nordell Cup 2013, Ludving Cup 2011, Audery Chisolm Cup 2010, Lieder Duo 2010 and English Song Cup 2010.

She has performed as a soloist in the Romanian Atheneum, Sofitel, with the Romanian Radiodifusion Society Orchestra, and in festivals such as Opera Briefs Productions (2013) and the Edinburgh Festival (2012).

The concert series was hosted by the GMIT College of Tourism & Arts and Event Management students (BB in Tourism Management).

Event co-ordinator and lecturer Maria Murphy says “GMIT is pleased to open up these classical music events to the public, and in particular, to our neighbours on the East side of the city.”

“We are particularly delighted to have a classical musician such as Elize Puchianu in this our first programme of concerts. She has given many recitals in venues throughout Romania, as well as Paris, Venice, Vienna, Vilnius, Bratislava, the Canary Islands, Padua and Dublin.“ Event Organisers: Maria Murphy, Gerry O’Neill, College of Tourism & Arts and Delo Collier, Galway Civic Trust

Maria Murphy ,Gerry O’Neill and Delo Collier

Eliza Puchianu

The College of Tourism & Arts, Careers Fair 2014 The annual College of Tourism & Arts Careers Fair took place in GMIT on Wednesday the 12th of March. Each year this event is oversubscribed and this year was no exception, with over 50 industry colleagues attending from Ireland, the U.K and the U.S.A., all recruiting for over 120 positions in hotels, restaurants, tourism projects, and catering companies both at home and abroad. This is a free event hosted by the College of Tourism & Arts, and well worth participating in.

The event was open to students looking for placements and internships for summer 2014, to graduates both present and past, and to the general public. Experience has proven that those companies that attend the careers fair, are more likely to secure students and graduates, than those who do not attend. If you would like to be on the mailing list for an invitation to attend for March 2015, please email the LINKS Office at: CTAevents@gmit.ie

Cait Noone with BA Hotel & Catering Management 4 Students (Photo Joe Travers)

Michelle Connellan & Patrice Mc Mahon Trump International Golf Resort, Doonbeg and Agreda Lyons & Jenny Alderson of Dromoland Castle.

(Photo Joe Travers)

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39

NAMA

Under the thumb

NAMA hotels are hopping off the market, but is it at the expense of independent hoteliers, wonders Pavel Barter.

The National Management Asset Agency (NAMA) might have a reputation as a “bad bank”, but the body appears to be doing a good job in facilitating the sale of hotel properties.

Last year, NAMA offloaded properties such as the 3-star Trinity Capital Hotel in Dublin, for €35m, and the 5-star Fota Island Hotel & Resort in Cork (for €20m). In 2012, it helped sell Dublin’s 138-room Morrison Hotel for the asking price of €22m. Over the last few weeks, the statecontrolled “bad bank” achieved a coup when it sold its entire Northern Irish property portfolio - which includes office blocks and shopping developments, pubs and hotels - for a reported £1.3bn.

“NAMA, through debtors and receivers, has achieved over €160m in hotel asset and loan sales to date,” a spokesperson told H&R Times. “18 hotels in NAMA’s Irish loan portfolio have been sold to date.”

The agency is doing its job. But at what cost? Some independent hoteliers, who are not bank-controlled, believe it is at the expense of their businesses.

“The independent guys are finding it very difficult to match the rates being offered by the hotels in bank control,” Dara Calleary, Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Jobs, told us.

They literally have to beg the bank for support and working capital, without any guarantee of getting it. Then they have to wait ages for the bank’s decision. Hotels in bank-control don’t do that. We have a fantastic range of hotels, but they are dependent on local business such as weddings, to keep the show on the road.”

Dara Calleary, Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Jobs

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Fota Island

NAMA is ploughing on regardless. In December, the agency announced its decision to bring “several prime Dublin hotels” to the market. It has established a dedicated firm, National Asset Leisure Holdings, to manage some of its assets.

“In addition to hotels currently on the market through NAMA debtors and receivers - which include, for example, Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links - a number of others are being prepared for sale in line with improved market in the sector,” said the spokesperson.

Daniel O’Connor, VP of hotels and hospitality sales in global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), is running a small hotel team in Dublin, and handling Portmarnock Hotel, amongst others, on behalf of NAMA. “The fact I am in Dublin since the Jan 1st, 2014, selling hotels NAMA, through debtors for JLL, which have the largest market share across Europe and nothing in and receivers, has Ireland, is testament to the increased achieved over €160m activity we are seeing in the Irish market. in hotel asset and I’m living proof of that,” said O’Connor, loan sales. in an interview with H&R Times.

18 hotels in NAMA’s Irish Other parts of the country are less buoyant. Regional NAMA and bankloan portfolio have been controlled hotels - particularly smaller sold to date. properties - are not exactly hopping off the market. NAMA hotels do not create a level playing field for the industry, according to Calleary.

“The hotels that are being run independently, be they part of an independent group or a family, are finding it very hard to compete against the hotels that have full support of the banks,” he said. “NAMA hotels can use that support to give discounted room rates, or discounted packages for functions and weddings. They offer a service at a cost that the independent trading hotels can not match. They are driving down rates in the industry.”

In response, NAMA claimed it does not own, buy or sell, properties, or have too much influence in the sector: “It is a secured lender and its role is similar to that of a bank.”

But the agency has come under criticism for distorting the market by keeping a large number of failed businesses alive. Calleary continued: “If they are keeping them growing at unviable rates, and because of the support they are giving them, and they are putting good family-run hotels out of business, then they are definitely distorting the market. They are distorting the opportunity for people who have done everything by the book and tried to keep up with all their payments. They are making it very difficult for those business to survive.”

“

NAMA There is a worry that the influx of foreign owners might dilute the Irish market and reduce our ‘céad míle fáilte’. “Anybody who buys a hotel in Ireland will be marked in terms of the strength and attractiveness of the Irish offering,” said Calleary. “People don’t come to Ireland to get the same hotel experience as they get in every other part of the world. They come here for the Irish experience. If you think you can run a business without giving that experience, then you are foolish.”

According to O’Connor, the Irish hospitality industry has little choice in the matter. Foreign investors are “certainly better than the status quo, which is receivership. NAMA is out there to achieve the best price. I’d rather see a hotel in the hands of a reputable international owner than the hands of a receiver. We all know the constraints employees, general managers, and everyone involved in the hotel business are under in a receivership scenario.”

Morrisson Hotel

In an address to the Hotel Property Conference in Dublin, last December, Patrick Ryan, a senior adviser in the agency’s hotels division, insisted NAMA did not support loss making hotels. Indeed, the company has closed 11 of its original 134 properties.

Indeed, NAMA’s approach to disposing its assets appears deliberate and staged, in line with economic recovery and market demands. “They give a lot of consideration to when is the best time to sell an asset, given all its unique characteristics,” said O’Connor. “It’s quite a thought through process. They are quite pensive and take all due consideration before launching anything to market, to ensure they get the highest price.”

Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links

NAMA wait for the best moment to offload a property, added O’Connor. “They have probably been proven right by holding onto hotels for longer periods, given what we’ve seen in terms of trading over the last three years in central Dublin.

Taking a longer term view probably puts them in a better position when it comes to adding up the return to the taxpayer.”

This strategy is in contrast to some banks, such as Lloyds, who have accelerated approaches to selling their hotel portfolios in Ireland.

NAMA was created late 2009 in response to the financial crisis. As of December, 2013, the body controlled 10,900 hotels rooms - around 5% of the country’s entire stock. Patrick Ryan has said enquiries about the hotels mostly come from “highnet” investors from overseas.

“ Anybody who buys a hotel in Ireland will be marked in terms of the strength and attractiveness of the Irish offering. People don’t come to Ireland to get the same hotel experience as they get in every other part of the world.

While the state’s involvement in the hotel sector is not ideal, NAMA is perhaps essential for hotels to exit bank control.

Some hoteliers believe NAMA have a responsibility for the properties under their remit, and should ensure they do not distort the market. As far as NAMA is concerned, it will focus on the task at hand.

“NAMA’s influence on the Irish hotel market is frequently overstated,” the spokesperson told us. “NAMA, through its debtors and receivers, currently has exposure to 108 operating hotels in Ireland - 13% of the total and, we believe, substantially less than other secured lenders. The Agency must act in accordance with the objective set for it by the Oireachtas - to obtain the best achievable financial return from the loans it has acquired. All hotel sales are conducted on a competitive, open market basis to ensure that each buyer pays the highest achievable price - i.e. the current market value of the hotel in question.”

Ultimately, though, the taxpayer has lost out.

Although NAMA sold off its property portfolio in Northern Ireland for £1.3bn, the loans originally had a value of £4.5bn.

While the country scrabbles back some dignity, it is important to remember that we are still paying for the state’s blunders.

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TOURISM

The next horizon

Frank Corr on what the next Tourism Programme may hold.

Shortly after the people of Ireland recovered from the giant hangover that was ‘Millennium 2000’, the then Minister for Tourism John O’Donoghue had a Bright Idea.

He would set up a Working Group which would examine the tourism industry and how it might grow through the period to 2012.

John Travers was asked to chair the group, which also included industry heavy-hitters such as Gillian Bowler, Tony Kelly, Paul O’Toole, Shaun Quinn, Niall Reddy, Brian Patterson, hoteliers Pat McCann and Patrick O’Donoghue, trade unionist Peter Cassells and the Department’s top tourism specialist Paul Bates. After a year of beavering away (or at least signing off on Civil Service beavering) they produced a document called ‘New Horizons’ which was to have a marked bearing on how the tourism industry developed over the coming decade.

The report contained some 70 wideranging recommendations and set challenging targets for the tourism industry for the period to 2012. Achieving these targets would require an average annual growth rate of almost 7% in revenue and

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5.4% in visitor numbers overall - higher than the then growth forecast for international travel, which was 4% per annum. A key to achieving the targets was the strength of the response to the recommendations, particularly from Fáilte Ireland which was charged with implementing over 30 specific actions. Significantly, the report included specific targets and deadlines which would enable progress to be monitored and mid-way through the programme an ‘Implementation Group’ was established to do just that.

The principal goal set in ‘New Horizons’ was to double tourist numbers and revenue over a ten year period to 2012- and it got off to a flying start. Overseas visitor numbers, which stood at 6.1m in 2003, grew to 7.7m by 2007 while revenue bounced from €3.6bn to €4.9bn over the same period.

We all know only too well what happened then. As the world’s economies nosedived in the wake of burst property bubbles and failed banks, tourism also hit a downward spiral. In 2009 visitor numbers at 6.57m had fallen to 2005 levels while revenue collapsed to €3.4m. Worse was to follow. In the following year visitor numbers were down to 5.94m and revenue came in under €3bn for the first time since 1999. A slight improvement in world economies and hard work by Tourism Ireland resulted in visitor numbers climbing above 6m in 2011, although revenue further declined to €2.91m. In 2012, the final year of ‘New Horizons’ the recovery continued with 6.28m overseas visitors producing €2.95m in revenue- and of course 2013 was a lot better showing a 7% increase in visitors. The final revenue figures are yet undetermined but ITIC has put it an optimistic €4bn.

The overall outcome of the ‘New Horizons’ era therefore was that far from doubling tourism numbers and revenue, the industry ended up close to where it had begun in 2003. This is of course in no way a reflection on the authors who could not have possibly foreseen the collapse of the world economy in 2008.

TOURISM

What it does mean however, is that we have to start all over again and the Department of Tourism is currently working on a document which will be a successor to ‘New Horizons’ and will plot our tourism course into the 2020s.

In many respects the new document need not be a lot different. Most of the issues outlined back in 2003 still remain and the strategies proposed could be revived to telling effect. These largely centred around joined-up thinking about tourism between Government Departments, a more favourable tax regime for tourism enterprises, the construction of key tourism infrastructure and the training of staff. While it will never be known just how joined-up thinking really is within the Public Service, tourism has gained from the 9% VAT rate and the scrapping of the airport passenger tax. The completion (eventually) of Conference Centre Dublin, recommended in ‘New Horizons’ coupled with the Aviva Stadium , the Bord Gais Energy Theatre and the 02 (all incidentally in Dublin), have been a major benefit while the perceived value for money of Irish holidays has improved dramatically, even if it is driven by weak domestic consumer demand.

Getting to Ireland is also a lot easier than it was when ‘New Horizons’ was written.

The completion of Terminal2 at Dublin Airport gave the city a fine new facility while many more airlines have opened routes into the country. Access is a key to the success of any tourism destination largely because of the expertise on the part of airlines to put bums on seats. Any incentives to develop new inward routes are a good investment and DAA has acted positively in this key area.

It is also worth noting that the LUAS has come on stream in Dublin, that CIE has invested heavily in developing the frequency of its rail and bus services and that the private transport sector has brought much needed competition to many routes.

Other goals set way back in 2003 however have yet to be attained. The regional imbalance in Irish tourism has, if anything, become more pronounced and is reflected in the now widely varying property values of hotels in Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Killarney and other major tourism centres compared with those in large swathes of the Midlands, for instance.

The cost of insurance also remains an issue which has been exacerbated by the imposition of a raft of new local and national authority levies, fees and charges. These ‘stealth taxes’ are now a serious imposition on hotels, restaurants and tourism enterprises and are combining to undermine the competitiveness which has been hard won during recent difficult years.

‘New Horizons’ also set some challenges for Ireland’s tourism authorities, commenting that ‘there is considerable scope to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of spend in marketing and promotion by the State and tourism industry’. Such a generalised statement is open to wide interpretation, but what the report did not envisage is the seachange which social media has brought to tourism marketing and the innovate response to a new world by Tourism Ireland and Failte Ireland.

Just as the authors of the report could not have foreseen the banking collapse, neither could they envisage the insolvency of more than 100 of Ireland’s new hotels, many of which were not even planned in 2003. Any new tourism strategy must look objectively at our current hotel stock and produce positive recommendations designed to end the ‘wait and see’ policy which currently prevails.

Failure to deal with current hotel indebtedness will seriously damage the quality of hotels over the remainder of this decade.

Finally a strategy for the 2020s must come to grips with the issue of visitor concentration. From the very dawn of the industry, 250 years ago, Ireland has been a destination of much-favoured tourism spots with large tracts of the countryside remaining relatively unloved and unvisited. Better roads and public transport have made less popular areas more accessible, but developing them into places which significant numbers of tourists would want to visit, remains a major challenge. It may well be that politically unpopular choices will have to be made about developing some towns, villages or localities at the expense of others.

Way back in 1978 Eamon Keane, who was then marketing manager at Bord Failte, produced his own ‘Vision for Irish Tourism’, which he said, could increase visitor numbers seven-fold, while avoiding the creation of a ‘Costa del Irlanda’. Such a destination, he said, would be based on Ireland’s unique environment, its heritage, its history and its people.

Not a bad starting point for ‘Horizon 2020’.

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INITIATIVE

Reaching out to the Diaspora €3m public/private initiative to support up to 700 local events annually The Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD, recently launched a new Community Tourism Initiative for the Diaspora which seeks to build on the legacy of The Gathering 2013. The initiative, a joint partnership between Fáilte Ireland, IPB Insurance and the 34 Local Authorities (under the auspices of the County and City Managers Association), will provide an annual fund of €1m over the next three years to support up to 700 local community-based events and festivals each year.

Launching the fund, Minister Ring pointed out: “The Gathering was a great success all round. It brought people back to Ireland, and it got us all working together. But the real reason it worked so well was because of the passion and drive of thousands of volunteers and communities around the country. People often ask me what the legacy of The Gathering should be.

“I believe The Gathering has brought communities together, near and far. This initiative means we can support that legacy and build on the new relationships, and the many new projects that came out of 2013.”

The Community Tourism Diaspora Initiative is a direct response to one of the clear successes of last year’s The Gathering where 5,000 communities mobilised to harness their diaspora links for the benefit of local and community tourism.

The initiative announced today is jointly funded by Failte Ireland, IPB Insurance and the local authorities will be administered at county level where local authorities will seek applications for support from local community events. The objectives of the initiative are: • To provide support in the form of smallscale funding incentives to communitybased tourism events that have the capacity to carry through on the legacy of The Gathering in 2014 and beyond; • To create a national network of local events with the capacity to deepen diaspora links and networks that have been developed or re-activated during The Gathering year; • To foster the growth of strong county diaspora networks on the basis that diaspora relationships are rooted in ‘people and place’.

With an estimate of up to 700 local events capable of being supported and with each of these reckoned to have the capacity of attracting up to 50 visitors, the potential maximum impact of the fund could be an additional 35,000 visitors to Ireland each year over the next three years.

Commenting on the initiative’s potential

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to build on the legacy of The Gathering, Fáilte Ireland Director Paul Keeley emphasised: “There clearly is an appetite out there to continue many of the Gathering community events which sprang up last year. Indeed, our own research on The Gathering showed that more than half of the organisers involved were interested in running their local event again. The initiative launched today is a very tangible proof that we wish to build on the legacy of The Gathering and nurture those grass roots networks which sprang to life last year.”

Local authorities throughout the country will now seek to clearly identify those local events with the best potential to be successfully repeated and to support them in their efforts to develop long-lasting diaspora connections. It is estimated that there are possibly 500-700 viable community events which could be supported in this way. A number of Gatherings held last year were recognised through the Excellence in Local Government Awards which highlighted those events that merit special attention.

The Local Authorities are to implement the initiative at county/city level and will be responsible for funds administration including grant applications and awards in accordance with agreed national criteria. In the next few days, they will be calling on all interested local parties to make their applications.

Mr Peter Hynes, County Manager, Mayo County Council (and representing the County and City Managers Association) said: “Local Authorities are delighted to be partner with Irish Public Bodies and with the Department of Transport Tourism and Sport in delivering this innovative and exciting initiative. Pride in Place and Pride in Community is at the heart of what we do in Local Government, and reaching out to and re-connecting with our Diaspora is a very important part of our work with our communities. The gathering demonstrated the phenomenal potential in this area and today’s launch will maintain the momentum and keep the process moving forward.”

This initiative is a public/private partnership with one third of the funding being provided by IPB Insurance as part of its Corporate Social Engagement strategy where the Irish diaspora is a nominated priority.

IPB Insurance CEO Ronan Foley stated: “Last year, an estimated 7% uplift in tourism numbers injected somewhere between €170-€220 million into the Irish economy. These results are remarkable. What is even more heartening is that tourism figures in the first quarter of this year are ahead of last year, suggesting that not only was the Gathering a success, it continues to grow in momentum.

“The public private partnership model adopted for The IPB Gathering Ireland Fund has proven very successful. IPB Gathering Fund regional flagship events accounted for at least €50 million in additional income for regional economies from additional overseas visitors. This figure is so important. Because it proves that every cent invested in Ireland is money well spent. It shows us that the Gathering works. It shows us that the model of social engagement through public private partnership also works.”

During The Gathering last year, €1 million in funding was provided by IPB Insurance to support events in every county or main city around the country.

CARVERY AWARDS

Tommy Bowe issues final call for pubs and hotels to enter the Great Carvery Competition New category launched to find the best one-day-only carvery

Pictured (l-r) Marguerite O’Gorman, Customer Marketing Executive at Unilever Food Solutions; rugby ace Tommy Bowe; Jim Reeves, Customer Director at Unilever Food Solutions and Mark McCarthy, Business Development Chef at Unilever Food Solutions and head of the Great Carvery of the Year judging panel.

Competition ambassador and rugby ace Tommy Bowe has been encouraging pubs and hotels across the island of Ireland to get involved in this year’s Great Carvery of the Year competition. Those entering have a chance of being crowned Ireland’s best carvery.

This year sees the exciting addition of a new category to find Ireland’s best ‘oneday-only’ carvery. This category will search for the venue that serves the best carvery only one-day-a-week and will run alongside the established Great Carvery Public House of the Year and Great Carvery Hotel of the Year categories.

Launching this year’s competition, head judge Mark McCarthy of Unilever Food Solutions said: “Since 2010, we have received an overwhelming response from pubs and hotels across the island of Ireland, all vying for the title of best carvery.

While we know that the foodservice industry is still under considerable pressure because of challenging economic conditions, we also believe that carvery is something truly unique to Ireland and we should be highlighting it as one of the industry’s unique selling points.

“I’m also thrilled to announce a new category as part of this year’s competition.

The new one-day-only category recognises the very best that is on offer from venues that only serve up carvery once a week and is a direct result of the growth we are seeing in this channel. I’m excited to see how venues respond to this new challenge and can’t wait to see what the competition serves up.”

Now in its fifth year, the nationwide Great Carvery of the Year competition is firmly established as the premier carvery competition on Ireland and Northern Ireland’s culinary calendar. Registration is now open to venues across the island of Ireland until the end of April - venues can register atwww.greatcarvery.com. The public vote

will be open from 12th May; people can vote for their favourite venue by text or online at www.greatcarvery.com/vote.

Once the public has determined its shortlist of venues, a team of mystery shoppers will travel the length and breath of the country to whittle this list down to the top three pub and hotel finalists from each province, and the top three ‘one-day-only’ venues in Ireland. The provincial winners and overall winners will be announced at an awards presentation in Dublin in September.

The overall winning venues will each receive PR to the value of €2,500 and marketing support valued at €2,000 for each venue. The winners’ prize also includes a specially commissioned wall plaque to remind customers that they are about to sit down and enjoy the best carvery in Ireland.

For further details visit www.greatcarvery.com.

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ROOM RATES

Rooms for improvement A new survey puts Irish hotels on top for RevPAR growth. So can the Irish industry continue to capitalise on the improving economic climate?

Paul Tuite and Jennifer Gillen of PwC Ireland with Minister of State Michael Ring

Ireland is on the road to recovery, and hoteliers are set to benefit from increased occupancy, according to new reports.

Room to Grow, a Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) forecast on European city hotels, has called Dublin Europe’s “top RevPAR growth story”.

According to the report, RevPAR (revenue per room) in the capital jumped a huge 11.2% in 2013, with an occupancy leap of 5.5%. New supply and demand is expected to drive the city’s RevPAR by 5.2% this year, and a further 3.8% in 2015.

Dublin hoteliers have increased their returns more than any other European city.

“From 2007 to 2010, Dublin had a more dramatic drop in RevPAR than the majority of cities across Europe,” explained Jennifer Gillen of PwC Ireland. “It had a long way to climb back. In 2009, RevPAR dropped 22%. In 2010, RevPAR dropped 5%. The city has performed well over the last few years. In 2013 it now ranks number one in RevPAR growth.”

This revenue-per-room increase is in line with a rise in hotel prices and occupancy levels. According to the latest Hotels.com

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Hotel Price Index (HPITM), room rates across Ireland were up 4% to an average of €94 per night.

“This average is based on prices people paid on our sites for Irish hotels,” explained Lizann Peppard, spokesperson for Hotels.com. “We have 85 sites around the world. We don’t release exactly how many hotels we have, but we have a representative mix. In Ireland, we have everything from the top name five star hotels in Dublin, to guesthouses and hostels.

From 2007 to 2010, In Dublin, we have everything from a hostel called My Place, which is selling Dublin had a more for €12 at the moment, up to the five dramatic drop in star Merrion at €197 per night.”

RevPAR than the Hotels.com said that Dublin prices rose 7% in 2013 to an average of €96 majority of cities across per night, while PwC set it at a more Europe. It had a long conservative €84. PwC’s report way to climb back. focused on Dublin, but Hotels.com gave a more representative view of the entire country.

According to the booking website, Killarney is Ireland’s most expensive destination, with room rates increasing 4% to an average €106 per night, on account of its position as “a key tourist destination” with “a strong supply of fourand five-star accommodation”. Hotel prices in Galway dipped 4% to an average €96 per night, while Limerick is Ireland’s “best value destination... offering exceptional value to visitors both at home and abroad”, at an average €68 per night. Room rates in Cork rose 2% in 2013 to an average of €86.

According to PwC, London and Paris are following Dublin in the ranks of RevPAR increases in 2014. These capitals are followed by Edinburgh, Berlin, Frankfurt,

“

ROOM RATES

Vienna and Moscow. London is projected to top the growth league in 2015, followed by Dublin.

“The UK had a very good year last year as well,” said Peppard. “It was up 4% to an average £103 room rate. France was up 3% to €112 per night average. Italy was up 2% to €122. Spain was up 1% to €101. Netherlands was up 1% to €120. In terms of percentage increase, it was great for hoteliers in Ireland - it shows Ireland is a very keenly priced destination.”

The reasons for recovery can be attributed to a number of different factors.

“There hasn’t been a huge level of new supply in Dublin,” said Jennifer Gillen of PwC Ireland. “Only one new hotel was built in the city over the last four or five years: the Marker Hotel. Lots of hotels have changed hands, though, on account of NAMA and the banks. Overseas tourism dipped a few years ago. However, it has begun to pick up: in particular the American market. The National Conference Centre helped city centre hotels. The corporate and leisure market has started to pick up again. In 2013, The Gathering brought people back into the country, along with the EU presidency. Our unemployment rate seems to be bottoming out and the economy is starting to improve.”

According to the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), hotels and guesthouses reported a 1% increase in national room occupancy levels for 2013, driven largely by an upturn in overseas visitor numbers. Statistics suggest overall visitors to Ireland were up 7% in 2013 with the USA, Germany, France, Spain and Australia all registering record numbers.

The occupancy rate for Dublin hotels has passed pre-recession levels. Last year, there were 79% occupancy rates: a stark comparison to 2008’s 67%. 2014 has a projected occupancy rate of 80%. “The higher the occupancy, the more the rates go up,” said Peppard. “Generally, it’s a sign of increasing confidence amongst the general public. They’re happy and willing to pay more. The economy in Ireland is on its way to recovery.”

Despite the increase in RevPAR, Irish hoteliers are still offering value for money.

This Easter has seen a flurry of deals across the country. The Hayfield Manor in Cork offered three Easter packages, including a family break from €348 per night for 2+2. Fitzpatrick’s Castle Hotel in Killiney, had 2BB1D Easter family packages for 2+2 from €189 per adult. And the fivestar G Hotel, in Galway, had a 2BB package from €180 pps, which includes dinner and a complimentary visit to the hotel spa. The Limerick Strand Hotel also had a number of Easter packages, including the 2BB for 2+2 for €115pps.

Room rates, even in Dublin, are still very good value, confirmed Gillen. “We’re still way off the room rates we saw in 2006 or 2007, in the Celtic Tiger times, so there is room for recovery in the market while staying keenly priced. Although hoteliers have started to increase their prices over the past few years, I don’t think we’ll be back to 2007 levels in the next few years.”

Sean McKeon, CFO, Dalata Hotel Group, concurs: “We saw good growth in Dublin in 2013, with strong momentum in the last quarter. I expect RevPARs will continue to increase in 2014, perhaps more modestly, driven by the continued underlying correction in the market, good corporate activity and returning confidence in leisure markets.”

Despite this optimistic news, the increase in RevPAR is balanced with the country’s corporate charges. According to the IHF, Irish hotels pay an average €1,500 per bedroom in local authority taxes - equal to about 7% per room per night.

Hoteliers are not out of the frying pan just yet.

For more info: www.pwc.ie, www.hotels.com

H&RT APRIL/MAY ‘14

47

SEAFOOD

An Oscar for Oscar’s

Marilyn Bright talks to Michael O’Meara, chef-proprietor of Oscar’s Seafood Bistro, Galway Michael O’Meara is a chef who literally immerses himself in his work and in the process has been named BIM’s Seafood Chef of the Year. Swapping chef’s whites for a wet suit, Michael explores Galway Bay’s rich sea life and gathers research for a book featuring the award winning fish and sea vegetable dishes he serves up in Oscar’s Seafood Bistro.

Anything from six to 10 species of fish feature daily on the small blackboard menus on each table, offering unusual choices ranging from forkbeard, rockling or megrim to the more familiar cod and hake.

Michael is a vocal campaigner for the less usual fish that are often discarded and laments the amount of prime fish being exported. “I estimate that only about 10% of fish landed here reaches Irish tables,” he claims.

When it comes to cooking, “old fashioned classical training” in Galway tech is how Michael describes his roots, built on later with work in Dromoland Castle and the Mediterranean south of France.

Returning to Ireland to run a popular bar and restaurant in Westport, Michael determined to open a place of his own, looking for a city location with year round rather than seasonal trade.

“People laughed at me,” he recalls, when he opened Oscar’s in quiet Dominick Street in 2000, just off Galway’s bustling main beat, correctly gambling that this would be an up and coming area. “The first Saturday night we did three covers, but that built little by little and by the end of the year we were full at weekends. We just made sure we didn’t lose any customers once we’d got them through the door.”

Seafood specialty was something that evolved as Michael appreciated the superb local produce that Galway provides.

“Buying local is just a better way of doing things. It’s nothing new but people are more aware now because of work by people like Myrtle Allen and the late Gerry Galvin.”

Menus are kept flexible because they’re dependent on what is available on the day.

A reliable supply chain is vital to Oscar’s

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Michael O’Meara & Sinead Hughes

and Michael uses Stephane Griesbach’s highly regarded Gannet Fishmongers who source much of their fish from the Galway and Aran Fisherman’s Co-op in Rossaveal.

Rockling

Less usual fish like the three-bearded rockling may be paired in a dish with a more familiar fish like John Dory but in general Michael finds that customers like to try different things. “Although a lot of seafood menus seem obsessed with monkfish and scallops, we find that everything sells well here, with no particular favourites.”

With fish bought in every day, a lot of kitchen time goes into preparation and getting the basics right. “Michael favours just scaling most fish and leaving skin on for cooking. Bones, especially from flat fish like turbot, go into the vast quantities of rich stock used in the sauces that are made to order during service. Stock is made in large batches, enriched with vegetables and wine and blast frozen in 500ml containers for use as needed.

Bouillabaisse is a house speciality, made with crab and turbot stock and a variety

SEAFOOD

Pollock salsa verde

of fish, given sunny south of France flavourings of saffron, tomato and Ricard. Other dishes show Asian influences with fish gently cooked in bamboo steamers lined with seaweed or banana leaves. Michael considers the Japanese masters of fish cookery and often uses seasonings such as sweet mirin rice wine, sake and soy.

For spicy dishes he prefers wasabi and horseradish, finding it complements seafood better than chilli. Any variety of fish may turn up in Michael’s version of perennial favourite fish and chips, but he uses gram flour made from dried chickpeas to make a spicy batter - “it crisps well and doesn’t hold oil like wheat flour.”

Wild Atlantic seaweeds are another of Michael’s passions and they turn up in flavourful butters to finish off grilled fish or sauces such as a colourful beurre blanc flecked with purpley-red seaweed and bright green parsley to go with potted crab.

Dillisk goes into the yeast bread baked daily and hard-to-get large leaves of sea lettuce may be used to wrap fish and impart a savoury flavouring. As a flavour enhancer, fresh (or fresh frozen) seaweed is better than dried, Michael says, and his supplies are collected professionally on the Aran Islands. “You have to be aware of restrictions like foreshore licensing,” he points out. “I do sometimes cut a bit under water when I’m diving, which is allowed if you do it without assisted breathing” The waters of Galway Bay are also providing material for Michael’s magnum opus - a book that aims to combine his cookery and photography skills with aquatic knowledge. “I want to include all fish found in Irish waters, with two or three recipes for each. The photos need to be good and taken on the spot so that it can be a reference book as well. With fish being seasonal, this is a long term project, so I expect it will keep me busy for some time.”

Black sole with kafir lime butter

This article is taken from GCG syndicated portfolio

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49

INTERVIEW

A life in travel

We recently caught up with Sharon Jordan, who has been working in the travel industry for over 15 years and is now heading up the Irish base for a large global travel group. She filled us in about her current role and the career trajectory that took her to this point.

Sharon knew from a young age what she wanted to do - there was never any question of what she would pursue career-wise, “I always knew I wanted to work in travel from a very early age.” It was actually a trip to the US to see Disneyland that confirmed this for her, “My parents brought me there at the age of nine and from then on I was hooked.”

One of the very first intake of students for a new travel degree at DIT, she credits this Bachelor of Science degree in Tourism Marketing for giving her the requisite business knowledge to understand the commercial aspect of the tourism trade. It was, as she describes it “a business degree with a travel spectrum to it.”

When we caught up with her she was just back from giving a talk to would-be graduates of this degree at the DIT. Obviously keen to share her passion for the industry, she delivered her talk without any sugarcoating, “I was telling them all that it’s a champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget!” She recognizes that not everyone is cut out for this type of life, “I think travel is in your blood - you’re either in the hospitality industry or you’re not. You certainly don’t do it for the 9-to-5-ness of it!”

It was as a student herself that she first got involved in the business, at first writing up the airline tickets at Go Travel, when such a task was the norm.

A slight detour saw her working for a department store but she soon felt compelled to return to the travel world. She set her sights on working in one of the leading groups at the time and made a call that ultimately kick-started her career: “I rang the General Manager at Panorama and begged him to give me a part-time job.” At that time it was rare to find part-time work in the travel trade given the level of training required to understand and service customer requirements.

However, undeterred and clearly full of tenacity, Sharon landed the role, convincing the manager to start opening on Saturdays to facilitate her student timetable. Clearly this tenacity paid off and the day she finished college, they offered her a full-time position.

She worked as Marketing Executive dealing with advertising and communications, working with PR and ad agencies to promote Panorama’s offering.

She then moved to Sunway as Product Manager responsible for shaping and refining holiday packages for the Irish market. “I would go and vet the destinations

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and check out the hotels to see if they were suitable for Irish consumers.”

She maintains that these trips are essential to the role, “I’d say I’ve been on around 5 to 6 trips annually. How can you sell the product if you haven’t seen it?”

Her most recent move, over 3 years ago was to global company The Travel Corporation, which owns 25 different brands. They approached her and asked her to set up their operation in Ireland. The office was established on Dublin’s Merrion Square with her main responsibility to build brand awareness within the travel trade, drive sales and organise consumer/ trade sales and marketing. The office is the hub for their sales and promotion activity in Ireland. Sharon explains how the model works: “In Ireland we sell in two ways: through travel agents and through the direct model. As we’re in a niche area the travel agent is really important to us. Our main market - the 50+ market -they may do their research online but they’ll tend to go to their local travel agent to make the purchase.”

Online competition is huge in the travel, leisure and hospitality business and increasingly companies are having to sharpen tactics to ensure they are top-of-mind for holiday-goers, Sharon maintains that they invest in PPC and other tools to keep their online position strong. Evidently they are doing something right, with growth figures on the rise and ambitious plans underway across the group. Sharon reveals, “We’re up 180% year-on-year so we’re experiencing huge growth at the moment.”

This South-African owned Travel Corporation operates in 60 countries, with each of the 25 brands being independently managed. It comprises tour operations, hotels and river cruise ships. According to Sharon these are largely focused on the ‘luxury, niche arena” where an excellent customer experience is paramount. Their ambitious plans include the refurbishment and renovation of one of Ireland’s longstanding and famous hotels, Ashford Castle, “The story of the year, from one the brands, Red Carnation, is the purchase of Ashford Castle and Lisloughrey Lodge. The company intends to rebrand Lisloughrey into The Lodge at Ashford. The entire rebranding and renovation is costing over €25M so it’s clear there are huge plans to position this as the destination hotel for Ireland.”

The Red Carnation Hotel Collection includes sixteen luxury award-winning, family owned and run boutique hotels located in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland and the USA, most notably the Rubens and Montague Gardens in London as well as The Twelve Apostles in South Africa, all of which earn high ratings for top quality hotels. According to Sharon, “We rank in the top 3 on Tripadvisor for our London hotels and overall the Red Carnation brand has won 12 awards in the last 5 months.”

Clearly the same goals are in mind for Ashford Castle - Sharon outlines their intention over the coming months: “We plan to install a state-of-the-art spa as well as renovate entirely throughout. Ashford is set to become a premier hotel in Ireland. In fact, one of the most important properties in Europe… not just Ireland.”

In March, Ashford Castle unveiled 30 new rooms and suites after the completion of the second phase of the restoration programme. The third and final phase of the renovation is expected to take place from October 2014 to March 2015; during which time the remaining guestrooms will be completed. By March 2015, the Castle will include a 32-seat indoor cinema, a billiard room and a cigar terrace, as well as a children’s game room, full service spa and large indoor heated pool.

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