H & R Times April May 2019

APRIL/MAY ’19

€3.65

T H E B U S I N E S S P U B L I C AT I O N F O R T H E H OT E L A N D R E S TAU R A N T I N D U S T R Y

Investing in Traditional Values

Cork's Carrigaline Court Hotel

Fáilte Ireland Taste the Island

Trident Hotel The Original Blueprint

The Scourge of Plastic Becoming Sustainable www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie

“Nature’s purest tasting VODKA” INFO@DALCASSIANWINES.COM WWW.DALCASSIANWINES.COM TEL: +353 (0) 1 2937977

P. 26 P. 28

COVER: Carrigaline Court Hotel

Contents

Editorial 4 News

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Appointments 10 Carrigaline Court Hotel

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Tipping Point

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P. 42

Bookassist 18 Tourism Ireland

22

Fáilte Industry News

Chef Network

24 26

New Fáilte Food & Drink Initiative

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Cash Solutions

30

Bush Hotel

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The Scourge of Plastic Ireland Skills Live

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P. 48

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Carlton Hotel

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Trident Hotel

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IFSA 42 Audrey Gaffney Design

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Guest Experience

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A Road Well Travelled

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ITIC 50

P. 50 Hotel & Restaurant Times, Ireland’s longest established trade publication, is circulated on subscription to Chief Executives, Directors and Proprietors of Hotels and Restaurants in Ireland along with Architects, Interior Designers and Suppliers to the Hotel and Restaurant Industry.

Managing Editor: Cyril McAree (01-6285447, cyril@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie) Contributors: Pavel Barter, Susan Clarke, Chef Network, Tourism Ireland, Conor Power, Fáilte Ireland, Conor Kenny, Des O'Mahony Sarah Gallagher, Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, Bookassist - Claire Sawier, IFSA. Graphic Design: Tara Mccormack Printing: Turners of Longford Online: Sarah Gallagher

ALL CONTENTS OF THE MAGAZINE ARE COPYRIGHT OF HOTEL & RESTAURANT TIMES. H&R HOUSE, CARTON COURT, MAYNOOTH, CO.KILDARE TEL/FAX: 01 6285447 EMAIL: editorial@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie WEB: www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie

All paper used in the production of this magazine comes from certifiably sustainable forestry.

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editorial

Rolling with the punches We are still in the dark regarding Brexit. The impasse remains and uncertainty reigns. What effect it will have on tourism remains a mystery. Another mystery is what Shane Ross has been up in his role as tourism minister. Recent indicators from the sector show that the VAT hike in the last budget is going to cost millions to operators and bring about job losses.

Why this measure was implemented prior to Brexit is bizarre. Surely it would have made more sense to wait and see Brexit's impact... then address the VAT issue.

The subject of tipping was in the headlines recently. This continues to be a grey area.

Some businesses spread tips among their staff, which some lower paid workers consider unfair, while others absorb tips into a restaurant's general cash flow. The latter activity seems somewhat disingenuous to workers. If a customer, satisfied with the service decides to reward the efforts of an individual employee, then surely the tip should be given to that employee?

editorial

An interesting spat took place recently with Paul Kelly of Fáilte Ireland and Pat McCann of Dalata. While both sides had merit, it was disappointing to have it played out in public.

According to Kelly, Dublin has one of the highest hotel capacity rates in Europe. He suggested "there is a demand for having an 800 to 1,000 bedroom hotel in Dublin as it would significantly support the city to attract even more large conferences and minimise the cost and complexity for event organisers to accommodate large groups of delegates.”

McCann disagreed. He said that he was in regular contact with the operators of Dublin’s Convention Centre and that Dalata occasionally made up to 1,000 bedrooms available across several of their hotels. “We have regular conversations with them about how we can fit this into our business model, which works for them and works for us. The important thing is that whatever business can be attracted to the city should be exploited to its maximum," he said.

A recent Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) media briefing, on the organisation’s 2025 strategy for the sector, brought sobering nuggets of concern to the attention of the sector.

Ruth Andrews, ITIC's new chairperson ITIC, who is interviewed in this issue, warned that a demonstrable lack of government focus will negatively impact Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer.

Speaking at the event, Andrews stated that government inaction on tourism has led to soaring costs of business, inadequate overseas marketing budgets, new regulations curbing self-catering tourism accommodation, and increased taxation and labour regulations.

ITIC estimates that growth in 2019 at 3% will only be half of what official estimates had stated earlier in the year. At a time of Brexit uncertainty, and a tightening of air services into Ireland, ITIC has called on the government to prove its commitment to tourism and not lose the opportunity for regional growth. Weakened competitiveness is apparent across a number of areas and has been highlighted by the National Competitiveness Council. This is concerning and needs the government and the Minister to take note.

Another area that needs addressing is how our educators view tourism and hospitality as a career. There needs to be engagement with the teaching fraternity to ensure they understand that these industries offer opportunities and are not a stop gap scenario. Jobs in these fields allow anyone with a skill to work anywhere in the world.

Tourism experience is a passport to the world.

Cyril McAree editor

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news

NEWS Irish gin hits the target Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin has been voted Best Gin at the 2019 Flaviar Spirit Awards in New York. Flaviar gives Best Spirit gongs to only 5 of the 22,000 eligible premium spirits brands each year. Winning brands are selected from over 90,000 ratings, submitted from thousands of premium spirits consumers from the USA, Europe, and across the world.

New Donegal distillery underway The starting gun has been fired on an ambitious plan to bring whiskey distilling back to Donegal for the first time in 177 years. Sliabh Liag Distillers, producers of An Dúlamán Irish Maritime Gin and The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey, has acquired the Show Field in Ardara. Led by company directors, James and Moira Doherty and James Keith, construction for the whiskey distillery is scheduled to start later this year, subject to planning approval, with distilling operations commencing in 2020.

Killarney property gets the PREM touch PREM Group, the international hotel management and hospitality company, is working on the latest renovation stage of its property: Cahernane House Hotel in Killarney, Co. Kerry. The group purchased the hotel in 2016 and has spent over €6.5m on the property.

The initial renovation programme saw all the bedrooms in the original house being renovated and the creation of 2 AA Rosette, Herbert Restaurant. Last summer all 28 rooms in the Garden Wing were redesigned and an eclectic bar, The Cellar Bar was added.

The property has been closed since December in order to allow a further €1.3m renewal programme to be carried out, bringing the total renovation figure to €7.8m.

Food glorious food Galway-based chef JP McMahon has been highlighting Irish food in Canada during a week-long series of events. Pictured are: JP McMahon; Anne-Marie Mediwake, co-host of Your Morning breakfast show for CTV; and Dana Welch, Tourism Ireland.

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news

Off the Laois Fáilte Ireland has launched the first in a series of bespoke Tourism Development Programmes for Laois, which will help attractions and activity operators across the county as part of the Ireland’s Ancient East brand. Pictured at the Fáilte Ireland workshop, which was held at the Killeshin Hotel in Portlaoise, are: Trudy Carmody, Experiencing Laois; Martina Lewis, Emo Court House; Sarah O’Dwyer, Fáilte Ireland; and Sinead Hanlon, Cosy Café.

Millimetre Design miles ahead of competition The interior design of Dublin’s iconic pub, Café en Seine, has won two awards in the 2019 Muse Design Awards competition. The winning work, selected from over 2,000 submissions from 42 countries worldwide, was created by Millimetre Design for the Mercantile Group.

Knowing Limerick Over 100 individuals and representatives of Limerick’s tourism and hospitality sector attended Fáilte Ireland’s Know Limerick Local Experts Programme workshops at the Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare, Co Limerick.

Pictured were: Niamh Mannion, Senior Travel Advisor with Fáilte Ireland; Jonathan Coyle and Monica Heavenor, Woodlands House Hotel.

Sweet treats for Temple Street April was filled with sweet success for the O'Callaghan Collection team who raised €4,500 for The Temple Street Foundation in their recent Great Irish Bake event held at The Davenport Hotel. Staff from four Dublin hotels - The Davenport, The Alex, The Green and The Mont - prepared pastries, cakes and desserts to raise awareness and funds for the children's hospital.

Cat that got the cream Black Cat restaurant in Salthill has been awarded Just Ask Restaurant of the Month for April. The Black Cat in Salthill has been a casual dining destination of choice since it was opened by Joanna Paszkiewicz and Chef Leon Mellsop in 2011.

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news

Come fly with me A total of 48 local community groups will share €276,000 under the latest round of allocations from Dublin Airport’s €10 million Community Fund. The Fund, launched in 2017, consists of an annual investment of €400,000 over 25 years. Dublin Airport’s support is focused on areas such as: environment and sustainability, sports and recreation, social inclusion and community development, health and wellbeing, and culture and heritage.

Pictured is Sinéad O’Donnell, DAA, with Betty and Joy Sherlock from the Newbury Enhancement Group.

Kilkenny property gets €1m boost PREM Group has completed its renovation and rebranding of The Hoban Hotel in Kilkenny, formerly known as The Aspect Hotel. Hugh Wallace, of Douglas Wallace Architects, overseeing the design as part of a €1m investment and renovation programme. Wallace is photographed here with PREM Group CEO, Jim Murphy.

Grape achievement Julie Dupouy, Irish Guild of Sommeliers contestant for Chapter One Restaurant, is pictured at the ASI Best Sommelier of the World Contest in Antwerp.

Also pictured is William Wouters, President of the Belgian Sommeliers Guild, being presented with a bottle of Silkie Irish Whiskey by Oliver Murtagh, President of the Irish Guild of Sommeliers and Andrew O’Gorman, Secretary of the Guild.

Great Dane Airlines to operate new Dublin service Great Dane Airlines that will launch a new Dublin-Aalborg service this summer. Aalborg is Denmark’s fourth largest city and is located in the North Jutland region, close to Denmark’s northern tip. Great Dane will operate the route twice weekly, from June 21 to July 26, and weekly between July and October 15, from and to Dublin Airport.

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news

A family affair Cork hotelier Michael Magner has acquired full ownership of the historic Vienna Woods Hotel, near Cork City, along with his father-in-law Brian Scully, having bought out the Fitzgerald family. Michael is pictured with his wife Anette and children Eric (right) and Daniel (6) and Charlie (3). The historic hotel, which has undergone a €5m refurbishment since Magner and The Fitzgeralds purchased it in 2006, is about to undergo a further €500,000 renovation and rebrand. For more information visit www.viennawoodshotel.com

New era for Hastings Hotels A new era beckons for Hastings Hotels, Northern Ireland’s largest independent hotel group, as its longest-serving employee steps into the role of Chairman after 47 years as Financial Director. Edward Carson’s succession to Chairman will pave the way for the appointment of a new Financial Director for the group.

Pictured (L-R): Gordon Carson, Managing Director, 4c Executive; Howard Hastings, Managing Director, Hastings Hotels; and Edward Carson, outgoing Financial Director, Hastings Hotels.

Let the games begin A team of four students representing Dundalk Institute of Technology were selected as the outright winners of the 34th Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI) National Hospitality Business Management Game 2019 at the Clayton Hotel, Dublin Airport. In addition to the Game, the IHI hosted a student seminar, Hospitality a World of Opportunity, attended by hospitality students. The speakers included Sandra Sutton of the Expedia Group, pictured here.

Five star rating for Mount Juliet Mount Juliet Estate, the 18th Century walled estate overlooking the River Nore, has been awarded a 5-star rating by Fáilte Ireland. The accreditation reflects exceptional standards across its two properties: the 32-bedroom Manor House and newly-opened, 93-bedroom Hunter’s Yard hotel. These include the Lady Helen, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and a signature championship golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus.

Painting a pretty picture Fáilte Ireland will invest €15.5m through local authorities to boost the attractiveness and appeal for tourists in up to 62 towns across the country. The scheme is part of the National Tourism Development Authority’s work to drive a better regional spread of overseas and domestic visitors and spend. Through the scheme, every local authority in the country will be able to bid for between €250,000 and €500,000 to develop up to two towns in their area.

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news

Best in show Organisations from tourism and hospitality, manufacturing, housing, voluntary and public sectors have been recognised at the Best Performing Companies Conference and Awards in Belfast. The EFQM 2019 Ireland Excellence Award was awarded to Titanic Belfast.

Pictured (l-r): Orla Murphy, Slieve Russell; Judith Owens, Titanic Belfast; John Irwin, Denroy; Angela Crone, Bombardier; Nigel Graham, Balcas; Trevor Anderson, Belfast Harbour; Bob Barbour, Centre for Competitiveness; Paul Stapleton, NIE Networks; Aine Kearney, Tourism NI; William Ussher, Fasthouse; Carol Fitzsimons, Young Enterprise Northern Ireland; Hazel Young, Wheatley Group.

Tree cheers for new Longford resort Accommodation at the Center Parcs Longford Forest resort has been completed in advance of its summer opening. The project involved the construction of 466 lodges and 30 lakeside apartments, which accommodate up to 2,500 people in the forest setting. For more information, visit www.centerparcs.ie

Fit for a king Castle Leslie Estate has made the shortlist in two categories in the inaugural Energia Family Business Awards for Best Customer Service and Hospitality Business of the Year. The ceremony, which is the first of its kind in Ireland, celebrates successful generations of families who work together.

The Energia Family Business Awards take place on 24 May 2019 in the Round Room of the Mansion House, Dublin. Over 200 entries were received: a remarkable response from family businesses both old and new across Ireland.

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appointments

The first estate Marco Zinanni has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing of Lyrath Estate, Kilkenny, (Ireland). Originally from South Africa, Marco holds a Bachelor of Consumer Science and Hospitality administration from the University of South Africa.

He began his career in London where he worked for the 5-star Baglioni Hotel for two years before progressing to the Morgan’s Hotel Group.

In 2008 Marco returned to South Africa where he spent the next nine years working for the Radisson and Marriott Hotel Group.

Heritage and Castleknock hotels welcome new teammates FBD Hotels & Resorts made two new appointments to its group management and operations team. Ger Alley has been appointed General Manager of The Heritage Hotel & Spa, acquired by the group in January 2019. Andrew Kavanagh, formerly Sales and Marketing Director at Castleknock Hotel, has been appointed Group Sales and Marketing Manager, with responsibility for overseeing the function for the entire FBD Hotel & Resorts portfolio.

New Mercantile MD born and raised in the business The Mercantile Entertainment Group has appointed Shane Treacy as its new Managing Director. After joining the group in January 2018 as Group Manager, Treacy now takes the helm of one of the country’s largest hospitality groups.

Treacy's grandparents owned and operated the Ross Hotel in Killarney. His extended family operate a number of 5 star hotels in Killarney and Cork, including the Killarney Park Hotel and Hayfield Manor, having taken over the business when his grandparents retired.

“So it’s in my blood and I have always worked in the industry, learning it from the ground up and relishing all the various challenges the industry brings”, said Treacy.

Three cheers for RAI's new president The Restaurants Association of Ireland has announced the appointment of Mark McGowan as President of the Association. Mark, along with his family, owns and operate Scholars Townhouse Hotel. He grew up in his family pub, McGowans of Phibsboro.

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Marriage made in heaven Marie Healy has been appointed as Wedding Coordinator of Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Limerick.

Marie joins the team from Cloughjordan House, a Tipperary based wedding venue and cookery school, where she worked as Operations Manager and Assistant Wedding Coordinator.

Carrigaline Court Hotel

T

raditional family hospitality in the luxury four-star market

Carrigaline Court Hotel For over two decades the Carrigaline Court Hotel has been at the heart of life and business in Carrigaline Co. Cork. Situated in the bustling town of Carrigaline, the 4-star Hotel & Leisure Centre offers luxurious facilities to both business and leisure guests. Just a 15-minute drive south of Cork City, the hotel’s location makes it ideal for those who wish to visit the Cork area with plenty of attractions and activities nearby, as well as being ideal for corporate business from the nearby pharmaceutical hub of Ringaskiddy. The Carrigaline Court Hotel is renowned for its warm and inviting atmosphere and service, offering many excellent facilities including 91 spacious bedrooms, the elegant Bistro restaurant and the contemporary Collins Bar. The hotel also has five superb conference rooms and offers an extensive leisure centre, including a 20 metre swimming pool, as well as beauty and massage treatment rooms.

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Carrigaline Court Hotel

Over a 20-year period, the privately owned hotel has celebrated birthdays, christenings, weddings and anniversaries with its locals. Now the hotel is entering a new era, placing itself at the top of the 4-star hotel market in the country, following a €3 million renovation project that has transformed the property into a stylish, contemporary haven. We spoke to general manager Jerry Healy about the extensive renovations.

“When I started 10 years ago, we realised the hotel needed investment, but the recession was just setting in so everything was put on hold. Thankfully we came through the recession with the hotel still privately owned; it is now owned by Peter Collins and his business partner, Alf Smiddy. Last summer we decided the time was right to invest in the hotel again, in order to bring it up to a very high four-star standard and to accommodate the business that we have, so we started our refurbishment project last September and the work will be completed this June.”

The property is located in a small rural town and it relies a lot on local business, however, the pharmaceutical industry and hub of Ringaskiddy is close by and the hotel also has a thriving corporate clientele. Jerry explains, “The locals are very proud of the hotel and equally, we really embrace and nurture the sense of community that exists here in Carrigaline by getting involved in a lot of local charities. We have predominantly corporate business from Monday to Thursday and we love to look after our regulars. When it comes to the weekend, we enter the leisure market, so we get the chance to welcome an entirely different client market, which is great in terms of variety and the fact that it offers us the chance to showcase every area of our hotel.”

“We host every kind of event; weddings, functions, dinner dances and more. Our stunning ballroom can hold up to 400 people and looks incredibly impressive when dressed for an occasion. We also have a function room that can hold up to 80 people and both of these rooms are booked every weekend. We have 91 bedrooms, which will all be completely refurbished by June to a very high four-star standard. Grainne Weber was the designer and the feedback from our customers who have stayed in our remodelled rooms has been fantastic. We’re absolutely delighted.”

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“

We host every kind of event; weddings, functions, dinner dances and more

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Carrigaline Court Hotel

“

The overall look is very contemporary, but also oozes character.

So how much input did Jerry have in the design? “I worked closely with Grainne. We created a brief together with the owners and Grainne came back with the design concept.

From that point, we designed a sample room to make sure it was what we were looking for. After a few tweaks and changes, we were happy to settle on a final design. The overall look is very contemporary, but also oozes character. The reception area has also received a complete makeover and is really something to behold, while we invested in the Collins Bar in recent years. The leisure centre is next on the list and will also be refurbished in its entirety in the very near future.”

Jerry continues, “We asked our customers what they were looking for from their stay at the hotel and we found that what most of our corporate and leisure clients wanted was a comfy bed, a good shower and a decent TV. Space and comfort were essentially the two key factors that would contribute to a positive experience overall. We listened to them and applied these guidelines when designing our bedrooms, choosing new beds with high quality pillows and linen; installing sleek fixtures and fittings in the bathrooms, including new walk-in showers; and creating eye-catching finishing touches with our fabulous bespoke furniture. We wanted to do it tastefully, keeping quality foremost in mind. The Carrigaline Court Hotel is not part of a chain so we have to create a product and look that people will remember. That was a

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Carrigaline Court Hotel deliberate marketing strategy we had in mind when undertaking the refurbishment, but we wanted to make sure we didn’t lose our personality in the process!”

The Carrigaline Court Hotel had their 20th anniversary celebration last November and there are seven key staff who have been working in the hotel all those years. In fact, a lot of the hotel’s staff are locals. The hotel also recruited a lot of local people to contribute to the recent renovation project. “Rose Construction is our builder on the project, they are a local company. We used local plumbers and painters also. The curtains, throws and fabrics are from a local provider,” explains Jerry.

“We’ve spent €3 million on the refurbishments, but as most of the work to date has been focused on the bedrooms, our local customers didn’t see the fruits of our labour until we unveiled our new-look reception area in April! The lobby in particular is very opulent and dramatic. We closed for six weeks to facilitate the work; we knew it was the only way we could do it. Everything was transformed, from the reception desk, which was created by Unique Furniture, to the seating area, where we now also serve afternoon tea. We identified certain key elements we needed to improve upon and we are delighted with the results. Customers love it! We chose O’Connell Furniture to kit out the reception and bedrooms and the carpets came from Mark Finnerty of Hotel & Office International, while the curtains are by Sullane Valley. We went to people who can deliver good products and the quality is amazing.”

So, what does the hotel offer to the three main strands of its business? “The three strands to our business at the Carrigaline Court Hotel are made up of local business, corporate customers and the leisure end of the market. So, we have family rooms for the family and leisure clientele, as well as offering a Kids’ Club during school holidays. In the corporate rooms we introduced little touches in

the bedrooms like coffee machines and newspapers, while WiFi is complementary throughout the hotel. That was all upgraded as part of the refurbishment.”

“Apart from the services we provide, the best thing about the hotel is its location. We are situated 20 minutes from Kinsale and Fota Island is 20 minutes away on the car ferry. We have golf courses at Monkstown, Mahon and Kinsale, and Crosshaven is close by for sailing. We’re a great hub because there’s so much to do in the immediate radius to us. Cork City is 15 minutes away and the bus stop is just outside the door! We are so lucky because no matter what our customers are looking for in terms of a break, we can provide it.

We have over-50’s ‘Golden Years’ groups, who come every year. We can put together a package of activities for any group.”

So, what has the hotel done to upgrade its food offering? Jerry continues, “We change our menu four times a year to coincide with the seasons. Peter Hennessey is our Head Chef and he sources and uses local produce. Presentation and flavour are his strengths and we have certain dishes that our customers rave about, so we tend to keep these as staples on the menu.”

And the inevitable question of Brexit? “Our UK corporate clients and Northern Irish clientele are still coming. But no-one knows the effect Brexit will have, only time will tell. We will adjust and make changes as we have done before. We have identified what has worked for the business we have here and we’ve maximised that now with this refurbishment. We are a tight-knit team who work really well together and we are all very proud of the product we have. In ten years’ time, I hope to remain as one of the leading four-star hotels in the country without losing any of our personality!”

The Carrigaline Court Hotel is one of the country’s best examples of traditional family hospitality. Its recent refurbishment places it as a front runner in the luxury four-star market, without losing any of its renowned warmth and customer service.

Hotel & Office Interior’s International Ltd Suppliers of bespoke Axminster carpet to the hotel and leisure industry

Continued success to Carrigaline Court Hotel!

35 years of making hotels look fabulous!

Ballymakeera, Co.Cork Tel. 026-45235 www.tffc.ie

Pleased to have worked with Peter, Jerry and all the team at The Carrigaline Court Hotel.

Mark Finnerty 304 Sutton Park, Sutton, Dublin D13 H9P8 087 2492442 mark@markfinnerty.ie

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Industry

TIPPING POINT

by Sarah Gallagher

The practice of tipping in the restaurant sector has been the subject of much public debate and scrutiny in recent months.

Sparked by complaints from staff at a well-known Dublin restaurant, the issue has attracted attention in the media and at a political level.

Tipping is a common practice throughout the hospitality sector.

When dining in a restaurant, diners will normally tip the waiter at the end of the meal, either by cash or credit card. Many restaurants automatically apply a non-discretionary service charge to the bill, often for group bookings, with diners assuming that the tips are then given to the staff who have served them.

The current area of discussion around tipping practice raises questions around whether serving staff are receiving their tips.

Restaurant owners have been accused of not passing service charges or credit card tips onto serving staff, with the money instead used as part of the general business cashflow to pay wages or other business costs. There is an apparent lack of transparency over how tips are calculated and then split amongst staff, as well as the assumption by diners that the service charge is given to the person who has served them.

Discussion was initially sparked by complaints from serving staff at a leading Dublin restaurant, which opened in July 2018. Issues around tipping practices at the restaurant began in late 2018, when it emerged that the resstaurant was not passing tips onto their serving staff, and was holding onto them instead.

A member of staff contacted RTE Radio 1’s Liveline show, and shared a notice which had been posted in the restaurant, advising staff that they would no longer be allowed to process payments from guests, after management alleged that some serving staff were asking customers to pay tips in cash, rather than on a credit card. Criticism of the restaurant's treatment of staff continued on social media and in the mainstream media, with protests taking place outside the restaurant in March.

There has been movement on a political level to introduce legislation to ensure that employers pass on tips and service charges to their staff.

In February, a Private Members Bill, introduced by Sinn Fein Senator Paul Gavan, passed the Committee stage of the Seanad.

The bill, which is seeking to provide additional protections for employees in the services sector to ensure that they receive tips

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(including service charges) or gratuities paid by customers, received allparty support. If passed, the bill will also introduce increased transparency around tipping, with restaurants and bars required to display their tipping policy.

That same month, the Low Pay Commission (LPC) published a report ‘A Review of Current Practices in relation to Tips & Gratuities’ for the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty T.D., examining current practices around tipping, including whether legislation might impact negatively in tax or financial terms, upon either employees or employers.

The LPC said it did not believe that sufficient reliable data existed to prove that the issue of employers withholding employee tips was a significant problem in Ireland, and advised that it did not believe legislation or regulation should be introduced in this area as the administrative and compliance costs involved would not be justified. The LPC was also concerned that there could be “unintended negative consequences such as the reclassification of service charges, leading to a potential reduction in the take home pay of low paid employees”, and also advised of the difficulties of enforcing such legislation.

The LPC did acknowledge that “the ownership of tips is not addressed anywhere in Irish legislation and therefore there is nothing to stop an employer from taking ownership of employee tips.”

Commenting at the time, Minister Doherty said it was an “incredibly complex” issue: “I believe that this report should frame the debate on the issue going forward. I am reviewing all options for solutions in this area in the light of this report which has brought a firmer factual basis to the current debate.”

In his President’s Report in March, the RAI’s president Liam Edwards highlighted the legislation regarding tips as a major issue facing the industry, which had already been discussed at a meeting between RAI chief executive Adrian Cummins and Minister Doherty. “We feel it is best practice that members display their tipping policy. I think the customer is looking for transparency and confidence that when they tip for serve that the money goes directly to staff.”

But while many favour a voluntary code, there are concerns that it will do little to fundamentally address the issue. And with political and industry bodies recommending against introducing legislation, it remains the decision of each individual restaurant how tips are distributed. Until something changes, it would appear that tipping practice will remain a divisive topic for the industry - at least in the short term.

BUILDING & CIVIL ENGINEERING CONTRACTORS UNIT 7A RIVERVIEW BALLYVOLANE CORK CITY

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021 450 2586 www.rose.ie

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Bookassist

Cancellations Part 2 Convert to Stay!

Hotels should rise up against the just-in-case booker

By Claire Sawier

Part 2 of a feature on cancellation impacts and how to mitigate their impact.

Part 1 in the last issue covered the soaring pace of hotel room cancellations and the phenomenon of the just in case booker, the “maybe” booker who books multiple hotels to make their final decision on one (or none) of them later. Providing the option to cancel a room later for free can often convince people to book with you, though they clearly do so with less commitment.

But this growing practice has sent cancellation rates through the roof, particularly from OTAs (>40%) who initiated and aggressively encourage the practice. Hotels have followed OTAs to focus more on “free cancellations” for direct bookings, but the net result is a lot of wasted valuable time and resources spent on trying to convert “maybe bookers” who go on to cancel as they had no real intention to stay.

Convert to stay, don’t convert to cancel

Hotels need to focus their efforts on “converting to stay” and forget about wasting time on converting those who have no real intention to stay and will most likely go on to cancel.

Hotel inventory is perishable, and bookings made in advance that cancel close to arrival make it much harder for revenue managers to yield revenue.

Converting “free cancellation” bookers far up the funnel, the just in case bookers who are still shopping around, is more like opening up an “I’m interested” list. It should not be viewed in the same way as a booking from someone who has made a firm commitment to stay. Don’t fool yourself with good conversion rates if a good chunk goes on to be cancelled.

Focus your efforts on offering decent direct booking benefits and incentivise early bookers to commit by paying in advance or at least paying a non-refundable deposit.

Learning from the Airlines

In this regard, hotels can learn a lot from the airlines. Rather than a free cancellation policy that ties up inventory for a long period, some airlines allow you to cancel a flight within 24 hours of booking it provided it’s made 7 days before take-off!

It’s the same free cancellation concept but their inventory is not locked down for weeks or in some cases months as it is with hotels. If you are going to lose a booking, lose it early!

Aer Lingus for example allows you to lock-in a price for 24 hours. This is designed to allow those who are not quite sure of their plans to hold a booking for 24 hours for a small fee.

Bookings must be confirmed with a full payment before the expiry time/date specified, otherwise the booking is cancelled, and the fee is forfeited. British Airways also offers the option to hold a flight price for 72 hours for a small deposit.

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Why do hotels offer early bookers a free cancellation period up to 24 hours before arrival? That’s potentially months and months of that room being tied up only to be cancelled last minute.

Using another approach, American Airlines sell fare add-ons that let you change your flight for free at any time, you pay extra for that flexibility. Other airlines offer leniency to those who like to plan ahead, like Alaska Airlines where you can cancel flights for free as long as you do so 60 days before your departure. And some other airlines, like Southwest, let you change and cancel fares almost whenever you like, but instead of a refund, you get credit toward a future flight within a year of the original reservation. All Ryanair flights are changeable, but they cannot be cancelled so all “just in case” bookings become “use it or lose it” bookings.

Lots of great ideas there to consider from the industry that masterminded yield management!

Direct champions Marriott and Hilton lead the way Chains like Marriott, the largest hotel brand in the world, and Hilton are well known for their direct booking programs - It Pays to book Direct (Marriott) and Stop clicking around (Hilton). They combine a very strong direct booking strategy with a smart cancellation policy

Bookassist In 2017 Marriott famously revised its free cancellation policy from 24 hours before check-in time to 48 or 72 hours before checkin if cancellation fees were to be avoided.

Other hotel chains such as Hilton soon followed suit.

“We regularly review guest booking and cancellation patterns across our 5,000+ properties and have seen cancellation rates rise over the last few years,” Hilton spokesman Nigel Glennie said in a statement. “These insights have led to the proposed update, which will allow us to maximize the number of available rooms for guests seeking accommodation.”

The changes that Marriott and Hilton made reflect an industry shift in the way hotels are approaching cancellations. It makes good business sense and removes a lot of volatility and headache around occupancy and forecasting.

Direct Cancellation rates below 15% for over half of respondents to Bookassist’s survey

Bookassist surveyed hundreds of hotels across our network in April and the general feedback (unsurprisingly) was that OTA cancellation rates are significantly higher than direct cancellation rates. This supports general industry findings that report an increase in cancellations across the board, especially via OTAs. Just over 42% of all respondents to the Bookassist survey reported OTA cancellation rates of between 30% and 50%, while more than half said their direct cancellation rates were below 15%. At Bookassist we see a huge variation across hotels largely due to the strategy they employ. What’s really obvious is that hotels that fail to adopt a strong direct booking policy suffer higher rates of direct cancellations, some of which can exceed 30%.

Interestingly 26% of all hotels surveyed said that their cancellation rates on OTAs had decreased in the last year, with 28% saying that direct cancellations rates had decreased. On closer inspection we see that respondents with a reduction in both OTA and direct cancellations are hotels that have implemented a strong direct booking strategy that is reflected in their rate and cancellation policies. It’s great news for these hotels who are actively implementing successful strategies to reduce cancellations.

When it comes to trying to understand why people cancel, over 50% of hotels reported they are not tracking the reason and a further 10% responded that they just “don’t know”.

Just 37% of hotels surveyed said they are tracking why people cancel. But if you don’t know the reasons, you can’t address the issue and assumptions can be misleading.

We asked hoteliers for ideas and got lots!

We also asked hoteliers what they are doing to address the issue of rising cancellations and here are just a few of their nuggets!

• “The best option is always to present the best rate and best conditions in the direct channel all the time” (Spain)

• “Take a 50% non-refundable deposit” (Gambia)

• “Engage with the guest once booked” (Mexico)

• “Present last minute and discount deals as non-refundable only” (Czech Republic)

• “Raise cancellation policy on OTAs to 3 days” (Italy)

• “Use non-refundable rates on OTAs only for certain dates - close off standard offers” (Czech Republic)

• “Offer a free change of date but not a cancellation” (Czech Republic)

• “Make non-refundable conditions more attractive” (Austria)

• “It's very important not to lower rates on dates more than a few months into the future, to avoid cancelations and rebookings” (Spain)

• “We try to avoid lowering rates as much as possible, starting always with lower rates to begin with. If the market forces us towards lower rates, we try to do it only very last minute and outside the free cancellation window” (Spain)

• “We now have a non-refundable night in Booking.com for high demand months and kept our own website more flexible to incentivise direct bookings.” (Spain)

• “Set stricter rate policies for bookings that have longer lead-in times” (Spain)

• “Make the customer commit in advance by paying a deposit” (Spain)

• “We fill out a no-show report every day. This allows us to over book where we know we might get rooms back. We also do weekly calls for arrivals especially on the weekends, this cuts out a lot of cancellations at the last minute.” (Ireland)

• “Propose non-refundable benefits.” (France)

• “Credit cards are all tested, and reservations canceled in case of wrong cards” (France)

• “Bookings of 5 nights and more are automatically non-refundable” (France)

• “Pre-authorize the cards a week in advance in order to resell the rooms.

Boost non-refundable bookings.” (France)

• “The client has the option to transfer the reservation to another date within one year of arrival.” (Czech Republic)

• “We offer unique benefits and room types only available through the official website.” (Spain)

• “Remove the cancelation option for short lead in times e.g. 48hrs before arrival.” (Ireland)

And one response that doesn’t exactly surprise...

• “we would like to remain anonymous as this can negatively affect our relationship with Booking.com” (Spain)

Our own pointers

In addition to the ideas above we’d stress the importance of: • Adopting a strong Direct Booking Strategy.

• Working with a direct booking partner who can help you to focus on your strategy.

• Engaging with metasearch - these are higher-intent bookers.

• Ensuring you offer direct bookers a strong mobile experience to avoid pushing would-be direct bookers onto OTAs. • Building a deeper connection with your customers to be more resilient to cancellations.

• And most importantly, give people reasons to book direct, not just reasons to book...

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Bookassist

Figure 1 Three examples of using your website to clearly state the direct booking advantage, instead of just offering the same content as your OTA already does. These examples are all proven examples to capture more direct bookers.

Stop giving useless Direct Booking benefits In our previous article on cancellations we stated that there are basically three reasons why people cancel. One of these is because they found a better deal for your hotel elsewhere. For a hotel to allow this to happen is totally unacceptable and it is totally avoidable. The only place a customer should ever be able to get the best deal should be hotel direct. Knock this one on the head by offering direct booking benefits that bookers actually value, and by making sure you actually tell them!

Bottom Line

Cancellations rates are rising and are a thorn in every hotelier’s side. They cost heavily and often mask and artificially boost hotel conversion rates. To effectively address cancellations, hotels need to: 1. Capture cancellation data, reasons and timing, to allow for informed actions.

2. Put in place a solid cancellations policy that favours the direct channel and advertise it.

3. Introduce and advertise ‘real’ direct booking benefits that reduce any risk of a potential guest booking elsewhere.

Free wifi, complimentary parking and no booking fees are not direct booking benefits if you can also get them via an OTA. They’re just hotel benefits! If you want to encourage bookers away from OTAs then you need to offer “real” value that is not for OTA bookers, such as those in the example. Your website needs to highlight what’s in it for them if they book on your website, not just what’s in it for them if they book anywhere.

We will keep our Bookassist cancellations survey open and report back again, so please continue to share your valuable experience and ideas!

Take a look at some winning examples that have proven direct booking uplift in figure 1.

https://bookassist.org/blog/post/just-in-case-bookers-and -soaring-cancellations/en/

Claire Sawier is Head of Marketing at Bookassist, (bookassist.com), the multi-award-winning technology and digital strategy partner for hotels worldwide.

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THE FUTURE OF CATERING DESIGN

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Service Delivery Design

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Call: 015 337 300

www.cateringdesignsolutions.net H&RT APRIL/MAY 2019

21

tourism ireland

World’s top travel influencers gather to capture

'A Digital Day in the Life of Ireland’ Nothing like this has been attempted before, harnessing the power of some the world’s most popular travel influencers to document a single place on a single day – a multi-perspective, multi-media log of 24 hours on the island of Ireland.

Tourism Ireland and Steller, the world’s largest travel storytelling app – in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland and Tourism NI – invited 28 of North America’s most followed and popular travel influencers to visit Ireland. These influencers collectively have a following of more than 53 million.

At 12:01 am on Sunday, 28th April 2019, the influencers were dispatched around the island of Ireland, tasked with creating multi-media stories for the Steller app. They had exactly 24 hours to create their stories (the deadline is 11:59 pm on 28th April) – through video and photos. The series of stories they created on this special spring Sunday in Ireland will be collated into a new collection on the Steller platform – called ‘A Digital Day in the Life of Ireland’ – revealing what 24 hours on the island of Ireland has to offer for travellers everywhere. Their stories will focus particularly on our hidden gems and lesser-known attractions and experiences.

As well as telling their stories on Steller, the influencers also shared their content with their fans and followers on social platforms – bringing those island of Ireland stories to an estimated audience of 200 million.

Shauna Marah, Vagabond Tours; Antoinette Reilly, Fáilte Ireland; Ruth Moran, Tourism Ireland; and US influencer Stefanie Michaels (aka @adventuregirl), at the ‘Steller Meet’ tourism event in the Guinness Storehouse.

In advance of ‘A Digital Day in the Life of Ireland’, a ‘Steller Meet’ took place at the Guinness Storehouse – an event for Irish tourism companies to learn how to craft stories on the Steller platform. It includeDesi- 46 d demos on how to use the Steller tools to create the most impactful stories, with a team of Steller experts on hand to help.

Welcoming the Steller team and the influencers to Ireland, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “We know that travellers are increasingly using mobile devices and social media for inspirational travel content. So, we’re delighted to be involved with this innovative Steller project – which will generate wonderful new content about the island of Ireland. We’re an island of storytellers, so we’re proud to share our heritage, culture and our great tourism stories with the world, through the Steller app.”

Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin joins Tourism Ireland’s sales mission in Boston Tourism Ireland, together with a delegation of tourism companies from Ireland and the US, undertook a sales blitz to the US recently – meeting, and doing business with, hundreds of travel professionals in Chicago, Dallas and Boston. Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin joined the sales mission in Boston, where he met influential travel professionals and journalists.

Tourism Ireland has prioritised North America, as a market which offers a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure. A key message for Tourism Ireland is ease of access to Ireland from the US – and, in particular, the new American Airlines flight from Dallas to Dublin, which will launch in June.

Brendan Griffin TD, Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, said: “I am delighted to be here in Boston to join Tourism Ireland’s ‘Fill your heart with Ireland’ sales blitz and to promote everything that is great about a trip to Ireland. 2018 was the sixth consecutive record year for visitor numbers to the island of Ireland from North America. In 2018, we welcomed over 2 million American and Canadian visitors, delivering revenue of €1.85 billion for the economy. Boston and the east coast of the United States are important sources of US visitors to Ireland and events like this provide a vital opportunity to 22

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Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin (back, centre), with the delegation of tourism companies from the island of Ireland and the US; Maria Melia, Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (front, right); and Ruth Moran (front, left), Siobhan McManamy (front, third left), Alison Metcalfe (front, centre), Hillarie McGuinness (front, second right) and Paul McDonagh (back, fourth right), all Tourism Ireland, at the ‘Fill Your Heart With Ireland’ event in Boston. highlight what is new and exciting in Ireland to influential local travel trade and media. Tourism Ireland looks forward to continuing to work with our travel partners, to ensure that US travellers enjoy a unique and memorable vacation and receive the very best of Irish welcomes.”

tourism ireland

Giant, stained glass installations celebrate the legacy of Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland A giant, stained glass window has been unveiled opposite the entrance to Belfast City Hall – part of Tourism Ireland’s new Game of Thrones campaign, to showcase and celebrate Northern Ireland as ‘Game of Thrones Territory’ to millions of fans worldwide.

After a decade of filming and production in Northern Ireland, Game of Thrones is finally drawing to a close. Timed to coincide with the eighth and final season, the campaign – called ‘Glass of Thrones’ – has been created by Tourism Ireland in partnership with HBO. It is rolling out to millions of fans in ten markets – including Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

As each episode of the final season airs, six beautifully crafted stained glass windows are being installed across Belfast. Each window highlights a key House from the show, with a series of panels depicting the most exciting and talked-about moments from the entire saga. The windows are large enough for fans to pose in front of, for photos and selfies, so they can recreate their own Game of Thrones photo opp. They can then share the photographs on social media and encourage their friends and fellow fans to come and visit Northern Ireland and experience it for themselves!

By the end of series eight, the stained glass windows will form a new Game of Thrones trail, leading fans across Belfast to the final window at the Titanic Studios, where much of the show has been produced.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, in front of the first ‘Glass of Thrones’, which is all about the House Stark.

Tourism Ireland gets ready to lead biggest ever sales mission to China A record 26 tourism companies from across the island of Ireland – including 13 first-timers – will take part in Tourism Ireland’s 2019 sales mission to China. The companies were briefed by Tourism Ireland, ahead of the sales mission in May, which will take in four major Chinese cities – Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Beijing.

The sales mission will target top Chinese travel agents and tour operators, through a programme of workshops and networking events. Tourism Ireland will use the sales mission to highlight ease of access from China to Ireland, with three direct flights to Dublin – from Beijing and Shenzhen with Hainan Airlines and from Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific. The organisation will also highlight the British-Irish Visa Scheme, which enables Chinese travellers to visit both Ireland and the UK on a single visa of either country.

Olga Wang, Chinese Embassy in Ireland (fifth left); James Kenny (centre) and David Boyce (right), both Tourism Ireland; and some of the Irish tourism companies taking part in Tourism Ireland’s 2019 China sales mission.

Spotlight on Galway in London The Galway International Arts Festival and Galway 2020 were highlighted to leading British cultural and lifestyle journalists in London recently. Tourism Ireland invited journalists from media outlets like The Daily Telegraph and The Independent to attend the opening night of Rooms – an interactive stage performance by Enda Walsh – at the Barbican. After the performance, the journalists had the opportunity to meet playwright Enda Walsh, as well as John Crumlish and Paul Fahy of the Galway International Arts Festival. The event was part of Tourism Ireland’s programme of promotions to highlight Ireland to its ‘culturally curious’ audience in Great Britain. Pictured after the performance are (l-r) John O’Ceallaigh, The Daily Telegraph; Cormac Ó Suilleabháin, Tourism Ireland; Sinéad McPhilips and Paul Fahy, both Galway International Arts Festival; Kyle McAleavey, Travelzoo; Coman Kenny, Tourism Ireland; Gráinne McBride, Condé Nast Traveller; Dominique Green, Travelzoo; Ben Kelly and Lucy McInerney, both The Independent; and John Crumlish, Galway International Arts Festival.

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fáilte industry news

Doolin Designated a Tourism Destination of Excellence Doolin, one of Ireland’s most popular visitor destinations was recently awarded Fáilte Ireland’s Destination Award for Excellence in Customer Service. To achieve the Award, tourism businesses in Doolin undertook Fáilte Ireland’s Accredited Service Excellence Programme with nearly 120 local tourism frontline staff across 41 local businesses completing a dedicated course of customer care training.

Fáilte Ireland’s Accredited Services Excellence Programme is aimed at helping tourism businesses reach the highest standards in customer care, which can result in major benefits such as business growth, additional repeat business, increased visitor spend and positive recommendations. The Award can be presented to individual businesses or to a whole town, as is the case with Doolin.

Over 1,300 mytaxi drivers sign up for Dublin Welcome Programme A partnership with mytaxi has seen over 1,300 drivers sign up for the Dublin Welcome Programme. As part of the programme, an online training module provides information on Dublin’s main attractions and the importance of local knowledge when welcoming visitors.

The programme has been customised from Fáilte Ireland’s highly successful Accredited Service Excellence Programme, which has been completed by over 500 tourism related businesses nationally. The initiative will provide mytaxi drivers with information on the importance of tourism to the economy, Fáilte Ireland’s programme brands and includes guidance on how to deal with customer-service expectations, feedback and queries.

Meitheal Brings Industry Together to Pitch for New Business This year’s Meitheal, the longest established and most important travel trade event for the Irish tourism industry, was billed as the most significant yet with Brexit looming. During the two-day event at the CityWest Hotel, 600 Irish tourism businesses pitched to 300 international buyers and tour operators from more than 22 countries including Britain, Germany, France, the US, the Middle East, China and India. Running since 1975, Meitheal is Fáilte Ireland’s flagship trade event, organised in conjunction with Tourism Ireland, and is staged over two days to enable businesses in the Irish tourism industry to pitch face-to-face to hugely influential international buyers. More than 13,500 appointments or ‘pitch meetings’ were scheduled with deals worth millions of euro to industry expected to be signed over the course of the event.

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fáilte industry news

Major €15.5m Investment Scheme for towns Announced An investment fund of €15.5 million was announced through the local authorities to boost the attractiveness and tourism appeal of up to 62 towns across the country. Through the scheme, every local authority in the country will be able to bid for funding of between €250,000 and €500,000 to develop up to two towns in their area which have the potential to become a ‘destination town’ for tourists.

The ‘destination towns’ will need to demonstrate their capacity and appeal to attract more international visitors to stay overnight and have at least one visitor attraction of scale that can drive tourism demand. Town’s will also need a range of things to see and do for two days, a selection of accommodation and a range of food offerings.

€1.75m Announced for Dublin Visitor Attractions Investment of just over €1.75 million was announced through ‘Dublin’s Surprising Stories Grants Scheme’ to 11 Dublin visitor attractions. The funding is part of Fáilte Ireland’s strategy to ensure continued growth and sustainability in the tourism industry and to support the development of world-class visitor attractions in the Dublin region. The investment will be used for the improvement of physical interpretation such as foreign language provision, video, interpretive panels and interactive technology, and is also designed to encourage attractions to extend the opening hours.

The Successful applicants were: • Christ Church Cathedral • South Dublin County Council (Clondalkin Round Tower) • Croke Park GAA Museum • Dublinia • EPIC- The Irish Emigration Museum • Glasnevin Cemetery Museum • Irish Whiskey Museum • Newbridge House & Farm • St Patrick's Cathedral • The Custom House • Teeling Whiskey Distillery

Lift Off for Customer Service Excellence at Ireland West Airport Knock Ireland West Airport Knock has been awarded Fáilte Ireland’s Accredited Service Excellence Programme’s Business Award. The Programme is aimed at helping tourism businesses reach and maintain the highest standards in customer service excellence, strengthen competitiveness and help differentiate Ireland from its international competitors as a location where the customer is at the centre of everything a business will do.

Further detailed information on the articles above is available at : www.failteireland.ie H&RT APRIL/MAY 2019

25

Chef Network

KITCHEN CULTURE Meet the chefs & teams of Ireland’s professional kitchens, with Chef Network The Chef Network community brings together chefs at all levels from all sectors across Ireland. In a Hotel & Restaurant Times regular column we meet some members and hear from them what inspires and motivates them, their career challenges and opportunities, and how they believe we can improve the industry.

In this edition, we meet Domini Kemp, Joint MD at the ITSA Food Group.

ITSA was set-up with my sister Peaches at a time when we were both unemployed and unsure of what our next steps would be. We decided to put all that we had learned throughout the years to good use and set up ITSA, which started out as one tiny bagel store in Dublin 1.

Everyone thought we were bonkers, they all tried to talk us out of it.

Nothing was going to stop us though; I think it was an almost blindconfidence, this was going to happen! Since then we have created 5 brands, run 12 locations and employ around 100 people.

Why did you become a Chef?

I’ve actually been cooking since I was a teenager. My sister had a catering company and growing up I used to work for her. You tend to be attracted to something you’re good at and I was always good at cooking - it came easily to me.

In my mid-20’s I made the decision to move to the UK as I was competing as a show-jumper, but it came to the point where I had to start thinking more seriously about my future. Should I continue show jumping, training horses and working within the sport or change careers and go down the path of becoming a chef? Cooking felt like a safer option for me, so I decided to study formally at Leith’s Cookery School, become a chef, and get my piece of paper to prove it.

“

I was so worried about screwing up, I didn’t want to be ‘that’ person.

"

What was your path to where you are today?

After finishing chef school, I worked in London for some time. I began in The Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols under Henry Harris. I was very green coming out of school and unsure if this is what I wanted to do with my life. I think many students feel this way when they start off in the industry. I was so worried about screwing up, I didn’t want to be "that" person. Kitchens are high-pressure environments and I didn’t want to fail. Lack of confidence can hold you back. I think it would benefit young chefs to have an easyish first experience in the kitchen, not too easy though, as there does need to be a level of focus to what you do.

In 1996, I was out in Atlanta catering for VIP Executives during the Olympics. I met my former partner (Conrad Gallagher) whom I worked with for three years, during which time we achieved a Michelin star and opened up several restaurants. We went our separate ways in 1999 and that’s when I set up ITSA. 26

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What advice would you offer other chefs starting their own business?

The growth with ITSA happened organically and naturally, but I think looking back on it now if I could give my younger self some advice it would be to slow down and avoid making hasty decisions that I eventually had to untangle at great cost. But also, that it's okay to plan to be bigger and more successful. Take the time when you’re setting it up to look at the finer details, look at what’s out there (especially in relation to property and leases) and don’t settle for the first thing you see. Sometimes we rush to sign a lease, because we are so keen to get open. Don’t be so trusting and most importantly, make sure you have all your agreements in writing.

What is the most important ingredient in your success to date?

I think hard work is always going to be important. Innovation is also something that has come up quite a bit for me; creating a new concept to working on a brand and then developing the story of that brand. I’m good at that creative side and love it.

There really are no short cuts, you have to put the time and effort in. You need to have confidence. Don’t worry too much about how something will turn out, be more prepared to give it a go and be open to change.

It’s important to learn from your failures. You can make one massive mistake or a lot of little mistakes. It doesn’t matter, the important thing is to learn from them. We as a company are constantly looking at how we can improve: our food, our suppliers, our systems, our bottom line. You need to try to be clever with how you tackle challenges - it doesn’t always work to just throw money at a problem. Sometimes the best thing is to do a complete U-turn and change your approach altogether.

Listening to our employees has definitely helped us do this. If there’s a problem on the ground, it’s your employees that are facing it on a daily basis, we listen to what they have to say. Sometimes it takes seeing things from another point of view in order to make the right decision.

Tell us about the team you work with.

All of our teams are different and working with each team requires a different focus. It’s important to find out what motivates your team and how you can help them enjoy the job they’re doing.

My sister Peaches and I are also a team, we’ve worked together since day one. It hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve been able to grow together and figure out what works best for us. We have distinct roles within the company and that clarity is important for us and our staff. In the early days we often blurred the lines as siblings and work colleagues. Later in our career we took part in mentoring sessions which helped us have the discipline to stick to a more formal structure when in work.

Chef Network

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There really are no short cuts, you have to put the time and effort in

"

There have been some incredible people we’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years , many of whom have gone on to open their own businesses. These people often come with a very clear objective in mind; to learn and use that to build their own business. These people always contribute something amazing to the team. I’m always proud to see members of our team blossom and use the lessons that they’ve learned with us to build something new.

Likewise, as with any business, you make mistakes and there are definitely some people I regret hiring. The wrong people can create lasting impacts on the organisation, which has made me more cautious about who we bring on board at a senior level. You need to be able to check in with the culture of the kitchen when you’re not around. We try to remain approachable but respectful with our teams, if something is not working everybody should feel comfortable speaking up. Creating a good company culture is so important to us and it's something we’re always looking to maintain.

“

It's not about the fall, it’s about how you recover.

"

The Chef Network Kitchen Charter aims to create a positive and nurturing work environment in kitchens, which point(s) on the charter do you feel are most important and how do you implement these in your own kitchen/business?

I think mentoring is incredibly important. Although we sought it late in our careers, I think we would have benefitted from more mentoring at the start of our journey - maybe I was just too arrogant to look for it!

Training is something we definitely try to have a focus on and invest in. Training is a common language that management and staff speak, we know that we don’t have all the answers but we’re trying to better ourselves.

I want our staff to feel good when they’re coming to work for us. You need to feel pride in the work that you do, so we try to do what we can to help create that feeling and share their success. We also believe in giving credit where it’s due. It’s a lovely feeling when you get a nice review about your food or your restaurant and being able to share that win with the team. That feedback gives you such a glow - it's a big part of why we love what we do. It's such a key component of hospitality.

What is the most important lesson you have learned about being a leader in the kitchen?

It's not about the fall, it’s about how you recover.

There’s always a way out, I think it’s important that we remember that. For example, in event catering, it’s a highpressure environment where things can go wrong, people can make mistakes, but you need to be able to look at the solution. How can you fix this? How will you pull the proverbial rabbit from the hat?

Keep calm, keep your cool and focus. As a leader you need to be able to deal with the problem that’s in front of you. You can scream and shout about it later but in the heat of the moment you keep calm and figure it out.

Show your team that there’s always a solution, there’s always a way out.

My greatest mentor has been… Ross Lewis has always been a good person to give counsel. Finding someone who is trustworthy and has plenty of experience is really important. I really believe a problem shared is a problem halved.

MY ADVICE TO CHEFS…

starting out is…work in good restaurants and although those first 4 years may not feel as though your career is rising, by putting in the time and having a plan of action, the benefits will come soon after. trying to progress their career is…. don’t be afraid to write a letter to get into a restaurant that you would love to work in. Some of the best people I have worked with got in touch with me personally and were so keen to come on board, that I created positions for them. running their own business is… you must find a way to deal with stress that does not involve reckless and unhealthy behaviour. You simply will not survive. Focus on your health - mental and physical. The two are so interlinked. You will need strength and a clear head to deal with the challenges you will undoubtedly face.

Chefs and Employers, have you seen our Kitchen Workplace Charter?

Visit www.chefnetwork.ie today to download your copy and find out how you can be part of creating a positive Kitchen Culture.

Share your support & progress with us online #KitchenCulture

Working together towards a better industry

Join CHEF NETWORK free today at www.chefnetwork.ie to connect, communicate and collaborate with your chef community H&RT APRIL/MAY 2019

27

fáilte interview

Fáilte Ireland encouraging visitors to ‘Taste the Island’

When Fáilte Ireland launched their plans for 2019 they set out a clear focus to develop and drive tourism growth during the off-peak season. As part of this, an exciting new initiative ‘Taste the Island – a celebration of Ireland’s food and drink’ has been established focussing on creating another reason for visitors to choose Ireland as a destination throughout the months of September, October and November.

Tracey Coughlan, Fáilte Ireland’s Manager for Food and Drink Tourism has a strong background in hospitality and has worked on numerous national projects within the organisation including involvement at the creative stage of the most successful piece of branding that the Irish tourism industry has seen – the Wild Atlantic Way.

Clearly neither her ambition nor the ambitions of Fáilte Ireland have waned one bit and having worked on the team managing the longest coastal touring route in Europe, Tracey is now at the heart of creating the world’s longest food and drink celebration – ‘Taste the Island’ with the tourism authority’s dedicated Food and Drink Tourism team.

“This hasn’t been done here before now,” says Tracey.

“It’s our first dedicated celebration of Ireland’s food and drink experiences. We’re combining forces with Tourism Northern Ireland and Tourism Ireland to make this Ireland’s first all-island tourism initiative.

“In terms of other cities or countries doing something of this scale, we’re not aware that anything like this has been done before. A little bit like the Wild Atlantic Way being the longest coastal touring route in the world, this will be the longest food and drink celebration in the world.”

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Taste the Island will spread across September, October and November, nailing itself firmly to a shoulder season that begins in the traditional harvest month.

In preparation, Fáilte Ireland will run a series of eighteen workshops to mobilise tourism and food and drink industry, beginning on the 7th of May and continuing until June 13th around the country. The idea of these workshops is to inform and exchange information with industry in the food and drink sector in Ireland and help to lay down the cornerstones of the success of this ambitious and exciting tourism initiative.

Just how successful will an idea like this be? Here in Ireland, we certainly have learned to appreciate our food – both as consumers and producers – but do we really have something unique to offer foreign tourists brought up on foie gras or parmigiano reggiano?

“Interestingly, our research shows that even though we are exporting what’s regarded as a premium product to 180 markets around the world, visitors coming to visit Ireland have low expectations of our food as part of the holiday experience. However, what our research is also showing is that almost 80% of people, having been here, go away pleasantly surprised by the quality of their food and drink experience.

“This presents us with a huge opportunity to showcase and really draw attention to our food and drink offering as part of the Irish holiday experience. When you combine our fantastic food with what we’re already famous for – warm hospitality, wonderful seascapes and breath-taking landscapes, which we’ve successfully promoted for years, we feel that Ireland is a truly unique destination.”

It does seem as though people from countries such as France, Italy and Spain – where they would have otherwise baulked at the mere possibility that any other country could take food as seriously as they do – are becoming more aware of Ireland’s food offering. Much of the groundwork in this regard has already been laid by the tireless efforts of the many innovative and creative people in this industry along with, as Tracey points out, a whole groundswell of revolutionary movement from farmers’ markets to baristas to breweries and distilleries.

fáilte interview

Pictured at the Taste the Island Workshop in Croke Park are members of Fáilte Ireland’s Food and Drink Strategy Team (l-r) Sinead Hennessy, Caitriona Fitzpatrick, Paul Keeley, Tracey Coughlan and Aimee Graham.

“There’s so much happening, and we feel that the time is now right to push our message around Ireland’s food and drink. Our research shows that our visitors have been noticing it which is why they register that they’re pleasantly surprised by our food offering.”

For the first year of Taste the Island the focus will be on the home market as Tracey explains: “Initially in 2019, there’s a very strong focus on the domestic market because we want to grow the awareness and knowledge of what’s available across the island and encourage people to go out and experience it for themselves.

“If you look at other food nations, they are so proud of their food culture. It will be important in the first year to encourage and build on that sense of national pride in our indigenous food and drink culture. Fáilte Ireland will also be looking at educational opportunities to work with our next generation of chefs and seeking to inspire our children’s appreciation on the quality of what we have here in Ireland.

In year one, due to the relatively short lead in time the focus will be on the domestic market and overseas markets closer to us. From 2020 on, we’ll be going fully global and targeting all our main source markets – Mainland Europe, Great Britain, US, Canada and the emerging markets.”

Tracey is keen to point out that many people in Ireland don’t realise just how strong a reputation certain niche Irish food and drinks products have in particular overseas markets. For example, Kerrygold is the number one butter brand in Germany and second in the USA. We began exporting Irish cheese to Japan in

2013 and figures have gone from €4 million worth to €40 million in just six years, making Ireland the fourth largest foreign market for cheese.

Irish whiskey is also the fastest growing premium spirit in the world. This type of international standing is a great starting point for Ireland’s food and drink.

On the ground, Tracey says that there is an overwhelmingly positive response from so many in the industry who are delighted that the tourism authority is working with them on an initiative of scale to showcase all we have to offer.

“Timing is everything in business and we feel that the time is now absolutely right to add this dimension to the story of why people should come to Ireland.”

There will be an extensive marketing campaign around the whole event – right across all forms of media. It will be Fáilte Ireland’s flagship marketing campaign for this autumn.

As someone who has lived and worked in France for a number of years at different stages of her life, Tracey has a deeper appreciation than most of the kind of engrained traditions associated with food in a country that has made it a central part of their culture and identity for centuries:

“I’m always fascinated by a French child sitting at a table next to me ordering steak tartare…their appreciation of food from a young age is something I’d love to see more of here in Ireland. We have a wonderful tourism industry and world class food and drink so now let’s hold our heads up and invite the world to come here and experience it’

#tastetheisland Workshop details available on www.failteireland.ie

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Cash Solutions

Automate your cash office to drive a new breed of cash efficiencies across hotel operations If you ever wandered into the back office of hotels such as Pembroke Hotel Kilkenny or the stunning Adare Manor, you’ll see an automated self-service cash office that is driving a new breed of cash efficiencies across hotel operations. In the hotel industry, cash is accepted at every point of transaction: the front desk, the bar, the restaurant and the spa, therefore, it is vital to have a cash process in place in order to streamline operations and to make the system as seamless and efficient as possible.

Convenient, anonymous and easily transferable are just some of the reasons why cash still reigns as the most common payment method worldwide. Whilst cash trends are consistently changing, volumes of cash in circulation continues to rise with ECB statistics (2017) showing that the share of cash transactions at the point of sale in Ireland is at 79% and 49% in value terms. As a result, hoteliers are increasingly looking for new ways to innovate around cash handling and achieve cost and time savings. Whilst, at the same time, freeing up staff from administration tasks so they can concentrate on delivering the hotel’s overall customer experience offering.

Premium Cash Solutions (PCS), supply, install, maintain and advise on a wide range of cash handling solutions to the hospitality, retail, leisure, forecourt and convenience store sectors. PCS is the exclusive agent for Gunnebo secure cash management products and is the driving force in Ireland behind the rollout of the SafeCash Retail Station product, a full self-service cash recycling solution that combines depositing and dispensing capabilities in one convenient secure solution. SafeCash Retail Station allows staff to quickly and securely fill, replenish and reconcile tills

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resulting in less administration. Ideal for hotels, venues, supermarkets, cinemas, big retail outlets and more.

Alan Condron, Director, Premium Cash Solutions talks about the benefits that the self-service solution brings to hoteliers and the need to eliminate unnecessary administrative tasks in your cash process: “You likely already know how much time is wasted at the end of each shift and at the end of the night counting and recounting the day’s cash takings. It’s one of the most time-consuming administrative tasks in your cash process. What’s more, manually counting each note and coin can lead to innocent calculation errors. Our SafeCash Retail Station is a complete selfservice cash management solution in one terminal for both notes and coins. Staff can deposit and withdraw notes and coins and get change at their convenience, simplifying the cash-management cycle for cash-in and cash-out transactions and maximise cash flow. It also provides a quick and easy reconciliation of cash takings to individual tills. Specifically designed to address and eliminate the many concerns associated with managing large volumes of cash, some of which are lost time due to reconciliation tasks, shrinkage, and high costs and are often at the expense of customer service with staff away from the floor for long periods of time counting and depositing cash. Our recycling solutions are proven to help hotels reduce the time spent on daily cash management by almost 80% and we are proud of our success stories to-date with clients like Adare Manor, Pembroke Hotel, Omniplex and McDonald's, who are all benefiting immensely from the introduction of SafeCash Retail Station solution.”

Cash Solutions

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I’ve got more time to do my job, no stress or cash responsibility

When you have multiple employees in different areas of your hotel handling cash, you leave a lot of room for error. And these innocent mistakes can result in lost time and big revenue losses for your business. Paul Broderick, General Manager, Pembroke Hotel, Kilkenny says Retail Station adds real value to the hotel:

“

“Since we’ve installed the Retail Station, it has saved us a lot of time and money. One of the advantages of the Retail Station is that the cash is completely secure at all times. A staff member goes to the machine, puts in their unique code, it empties out the cash right into their cash drawer and they then pop that directly into their till.

Likewise, when they are cashing up, they take it from the till and put it back into the Retail Station, all in a matter of 90 seconds. Before, staff were spending 30 minutes faffing around with the tills, counting money, causing inaccuracies etc.

Now they are literally taking the money from the till, putting it into the machine, it prints off a receipt and they are done and swiftly back with the customer. Staff can now spend more time with the customers on the floor, delivering the customer experience, the Pembroke way. As a hotel manager, it is all about efficiency, spending more time dedicated to the customer and saving money. Retail Station does all three, very cleverly and succinctly and it has completely exceeded our expectations”

Since we’ve installed the Retail Station, it has saved us a lot of time and money…..and it has completely exceeded our expectations.

When your staff is spending much of their time counting and sorting money throughout their shifts and at the end of the night, they’re not being as productive as they can be. Manually handling end-of-night counts and daily floats takes time—time that your employees could be spending on tasks such as cleaning or re-stocking.

Michelle Lynch, Staff, Pembroke Hotel, Kilkenny says: “Before the hotel installed the Retail Station it could take me between 20 minutes to half an hour to cash up, sometimes longer if I had miscalculated. Cashing up was very time consuming and it was stressful being away from customers for long periods of time. The new system is so easy. I simply do the paperwork and put it through the machine and I’m back on the floor within 30 seconds. I’ve got more time to do my job, no stress or cash responsibility and it frees me up to dedicate time to the customer. Plus, I’m able to get more prep done for the next shift coming on. I’m a lot happier in my role and my job is easier and more efficient.”

www.premiumcashsolutions.com

Paul Broderick, Pembroke Hotel

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Bush Hotel

Bush Hotel

If only these walls could talk…

The position of the Bush Hotel in the centre of the country straddling the mighty Shannon has given it a pivotal point in Ireland’s social and economic history too.

Behind its unassuming but alluring façade on the Main Street, a lot of history has been witnessed and made. The hotel’s current owners – Joe and Rosie Dolan – are the ones responsible for taking up the flame of the Bush Hotel that had been dropped and almost extinguished back in the 1980s, to carry it into the new millennium and continue the spirit of this remarkable place that first opened its doors in 1793.

That might sound like a lot of exaggeration but there is something decidedly special about a building such as this one which has borne witness to so many significant characters and events in Irish history.

It’s far more than a place to rest your head for the night – it’s like looking through a keyhole into the past, while all the while being conscious of a vibrant living present.

A quick glance at the guest list of the Bush Hotel over the decades reads like a who’s-who of Irish politics: Michael Collins held Sinn Féin meetings here over 100 years ago; Charles Stuart-Parnell was a guest, as was Jeremiah O’Donovan-Rossa and, much earlier, Daniel O’Connell. The hotel was featured in Anthony Trollop’s first novel

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“The McDermotts of Ballycloran” and has been eulogised in poetry.

Perhaps it’s something to do with its situation close to the border and in the heart of a town by a particularly enchanting stretch of the River Shannon.

“We arrived here in 1991 and we opened here in March 1993,” says Joe, formerly President of the Irish Hotels Federation (2016-18).

“Times were certainly challenging back then… We’re not far from the border and things were fairly depressed and the product in this part of the world was not great.”

It’s a measure of how much things have changed in this part of Ireland that it’s so difficult to recall just how depressed and strange an atmosphere pervaded along these regions – particularly at a time when the shadows of those clouds are beginning to make their presence felt once more.

With the assistance of a cross-border scheme from the International Fund for Ireland designed to improve hotels and guest-houses, Joe and his wife set about investing in what was then a somewhat rundown shadow of its former self.

The hotel re-opened with eleven employees. “Seven of them are still with us,” says Joe, very proudly. “We’ve the highest retention rate and the lowest absenteeism rate in the Irish hotel sector.”

One of the secrets of the success of the organisation has been

Bush Hotel

the fact that all employees are multi-skilled: “We’re huge into multi-skilling.

Everyone here does everything, myself and my family included.”

The hotel’s core business is locally based and they have kept that market alive and encouraged it over the years with plenty of active involvement with the local community.

“I was only recently reading this thing about Corporate Social Responsibility but in real terms, we’ve been doing that for many years. Our community is our customers, our suppliers and our employees so it has always made perfect business sense that we engage fully with it and we do that on all sorts of fronts.”

One of their core engagements locally has been the sponsorship of Leitrim GAA – a partnership that has been going on for nine years at this point and one that puts the hotel in touch with so much of the fabric of social life in the area.

On the environmental front, the hotel has also seen the good business sense of getting ahead of the game long before some American marketing type invented the notion of “sustainability”: “We’re the first hotel in Ireland (and before any hotel in the UK) to get EU Ecolabel, recognising exceptional environmental management and performance. We got that in 2010.

“It’s not about cutting-edge technology. It’s more about innovation; maximising the efficiency of existing machinery, resources and people.” Some of the innovations include such simple but effective ideas as car-pooling, using their own herb garden and buildings made of recycled material The hotel has picked up plenty of other rewards too, reflecting its commitment to pursuing excellence. These include a Vodafone ‘Passion for the World Around Us’ award, Georgina Campbell awards, Green Ireland Hospitality awards and they were finalists with Chambers Ireland for Corporate and Social Responsibility in 2014 and received a Floral Pride award in 2015 and 2016.

The river cruising sector has had a lift in the last three to four years after a long hiatus of negative growth. The huge marina in the town has been one of the more positive developments for the Bush, according to Joe: “There are two elements to it. There’s the cruiser hire sector – those that hire out a boat for a holiday – and then there are the privately-owned cruisers.

Their activity in terms of meetings and organisation tends to congregate at the Bush Hotel and so there’s a huge connection between us and the representative bodies that we continue to foster.”

The hotel’s unique heritage is well presented and taken advantage of throughout the hotel: “It’s a four-storey building and all along the corridors and as you go up the stairs – we call it ‘steps to the past’ – you can trace the evolution of the hotel since it opened. The photographs mark different moments in history, famous guests and milestones and events both happy and sad.

“There’s a huge appreciation of that,” says Joe, “but it’s actually clever marketing because there are new hotels all over the world and once you close the curtains in your room, you could be anywhere but when you’re in the Bush, you certainly will feel the difference.

These rooms are in the older part of the hotel and even though they have extended to include newer and often larger rooms, the older ones with that special character that reminds you of precisely where you are both physically and historically, are the ones that are the most sought after.

Two of their themed rooms are based on themes of the local Catholic (with a telescope to view a Bush Hotel sponsored inscription on the steeple) and Church of Ireland (featuring a stained glass window) churches. The close association with the local of place of prayer continued in 2010 when the hotel’s ballroom served as a Mass venue while the town’s Catholic church had to be closed for renovation works.

“At the time, we were featured in the Irish Times as being the only hotel in Ireland to have an in-house Mass service facility.”

In a location such as Carrick-on-Shannon, businesses like Joe Dolan’s have to be resourceful in order to survive. This is the edge of profitability for the hotel and catering sector – a highly seasonal part of the country and one where

they know the feeling of being in a forgotten borderland. They are thus acutely sensitive to the vagaries of bumbling decision-making farther afield that can have massive ramifications for their business: “We manage to buck the trend in this part of the world and we’re lucky that we do better than average but it’s still very challenging so we’re always looking for opportunities… a clever piece of marketing that will allow us maximum publicity for minimum investment.”

One such coup happened the last time that the Leitrim football was hosting London. In his capacity as main sponsor of the team, Joe sent an official letter of invitation to Queen Elizabeth II. The monarch didn’t show up for the GAA match but Joe received a polite reply from her diary secretary, respectfully declining the invitation.

The letter was swiftly scanned and put up on social media, generating a flurry of publicity worth many thousands of euros.

All of this is part of the hotel’s tradition of appreciating and making the very most of what they have; it’s about being resourceful and providing the best service all the time. It’s simple and straightforward and it should be bread and butter to all those involved in the hotel and catering sector but some are that little bit better at it than others.

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Sustainability

The Scourge of Plastic

By Conor Power

The scourge of single-use plastic is upon us and we should all be well aware of it by now. In all the online social media channels, it has become something of a cause célèbre. It turns up in new stories with shocking statistics and facts such as the appearance of micro-plastics even in the deepest reaches of our oceans; we’ve all seen images of close-ups showing veritable floating islands of plastics somewhere in the world. Any walk along country lanes will reveal massive amounts of plastic bottles and other singleuse plastic packaging thrown into the hedges.

And yet it’s still proving a difficult tide to turn, in spite of all this avalanche of concern. In this regard, hotels have been no different but for a business that should at all times be carefully tuned in and alert to the tides of public opinion, there seems to be curiously slow progress.

Go to most hotels today and you’ll encounter a lot of single-use plastic. From the bottle of water left by your bedside to the plastic wrapping on the spare blanket, the wrapping on the couple of biscuits, the plastic band across the toilet seat cover informing you that the toilet has been hygienically cleaned to the plastic cup wrapped in plastic and the plastic pen. The coffee machine probably comes with a whole range of plastic coffee pods.

In the agri-food sector, an association has been set up to target the elimination of plastics in food presentation and storage. Formed at the end of 2018, the Plastics Action Alliance is an organisation made up of eleven companies from around the country, representing a broad sweep that includes processors from the beef, dairy, poultry, vegetable, pork, fruit, lamb and prepared foods sectors. In their manifesto, they set out targets to eliminate “unnecessary single-use plastics” by the end of 2020 and commit to eliminating “problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through improved design, innovation or alternative renewable options by 2025.”

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In the hotel and catering sector, meanwhile, progress is a little bit slower. One of the key points in all of this is the word “necessary”. Just what level of involvement of plastics in our lives is necessary and in terms of running a hotel where things need to be kept fresh and clean, aren’t plastics a necessary evil to some extent?

While some hotel groups are recognising the urgency of plastics elimination, it’s amongst some of the smaller independent hotels that you’ll find the most thorough action.

According to Maurice Bergin, Managing Director of Green Hospitality, he explains the irony of hotels being slow to react to public opinion: “When it comes to change, hotels are notoriously followers instead of leaders,” says the head of the main resource in Ireland for sustainability in the Irish hospitality sector. The organisation was funded by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) but has been self-sustaining through membership subscriptions and consultancy fees since 2016.

“It’s because there’s an in-built fear in hotel groups of annoying your customer… Around the world, most hotel chains have announced initiatives but they’re focusing on area such as banning plastic straws and plastic coasters. These are the easier things to do. It can get very complicated once you drill down into the issue – if you take away all the single-use plastics from one night in a hotel, for example.”

He cites Ashford Castle in Co Mayo as one of leading lights when it comes to the eradication of unnecessary plastics. The luxury 5-star establishment is due to have their front-of-house area free of single-use plastics by the 1st of June this year.

“It’s really about the message you send out there. If they (Ashford Castle) can do it, they’ll set a standard for the industry that will be followed. The key is seeing how the customer in a five-star hotel will react.”

According to Michael Lennon, President of the Irish Hotels Federation and owner of the Westport Woods Hotel, hotels in Ireland are beginning to react and he is already working with Maurice Bergin: “A major win from Maurice’s training has been the opening of discussions with OCL – our Ballinrobe based laundry service – who have started an initiative to rid their business of the shrink-

The IHF president is leading from the front on the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility and improving sustainability in the hotel sector in Ireland. According to a recent survey amongst their members, 78% said that they were planning to invest in energy conservation. A lesser majority (60%) of respondents said that they were increasing their efforts to reduce the use of plastic within their properties. Examples of this, says Michael, are “the reduction in the use of single portion sized plastic containers of breakfast jam and marmalade. Hotel bars have used portion control ketchup and sauces in single use plastic containers which are being replaced by glass and porcelain crockery service units. Single use shampoo and body wash containers are being replaced with larger containers or bulk serving units.”

The Hotel Doolin – a 17-room boutique hotel in the famous Co Clare musical village – is taking the issue of sustainability and the abolition of plastics very seriously. As far as they’re concerned, their discerning customers not only love what they do, they’re also booking their hotel primarily on the basis of its green policies.

They’re a carbon-neutral hotel and have been awarded the Greening Award for the Tourism & Entertainment section from 2015 to 2017 and have been awarded the Greening Award in their size category covering all industry in 2019 and 2018. They manage without the perceived necessity of plastics just fine, and their experience is a good example of how the dream of plastics elimination can be achieved. Áine Martin is the HR and Purchasing Manager at the hotel but also has a very important role as Green Team Leader.

“To the customer, there’s no inconvenience at all,” says Áine. “If we start with the bedroom, we use Voya which is a range of organic seaweed products from Sligo and we use a 750ml re-usable bottle in the room… for all the products from shampoo to body lotion. It’s a far superior product to most of those that you’ll find in little single-use bottles in other hotels.”

“

Sustainability improves your bottom line, it’s as simple as that.

“

wrap plastic they use upon their delivery of towels and linen to their hotel customers. This is normal practice on the continent for many years and will save ton of plastic being used in our Industry… Compostable straws are being used by all of the Westport Pubs and Hotels since late last year and is being supported by our suppliers”

Sustainability

People may be used to being presented with little single-use bottles of bathroom product in a 4-star hotel, but that’s not the case here, with the shampoos being presented in the large bottle that’s attached to the wall.

From the hotel’s point of view, they’re avoiding having to pay for the disposal of the plastic bottles and, even though the customer doesn’t get to take away a free sample in a little plastic bottle, they’re very happy with the service, she says. In any case, if they really like the product then they can buy some in the hotel.

As for snacks in the room, they offer their own home-made cookies with fruit and hot drink of choice. There’s no plastic wrapping which, according to Áine, presents no problem for the customer. No blankets are wrapped up in plastic either.

“No, they’re not complaining about that either,” says Áine in answer to the question of whether or not people find such practices unhygienic in this day and age.

When they leave the hotel, guests are presented with a plastic-free gift pack that includes a loaf of Dooliner bread wrapped in brown paper. There are no plastic straws or plastic cups of any kind. Áine maintains that their journey into carbon-neutral territory has been much easier than many would fear. There has been no backlash from customers on any of their measures – only whole-hearted support and their carbon-neutral approach has increased the hotel’s popularity.

“Even when there has been a small initial cost to some of the things we do, the long-term benefits far outweigh any of that… we’ve had guests who have booked the hotel based on the environmental efforts that the hotel is making. People are choosing to stay in hotels that are more environmentally friendly more and more now.

“We’re a small hotel so if we’re able to do it, chains of hotels can do it and they have even more buying power as well.”

According to Maurice Bergin, the important message that all companies – hotels included – need to understand is that sustainability is damn good marketing: “Sustainability improves your bottom line,” he says. “It’s as simple as that.”

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Success served up at Ireland Skills Live 2019

Long Term Investment

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OVER 12,500 visitors descended on the RDS, Simmonscourt for Ireland Skills Live - the first event of its kind in Ireland.

Fabricator

Taking place on the 21st – 23rd March 2019 visitors to the show included eager students, parents, teachers and employers, who travelled to the event to take part in handson activities, listen to career advice, question industry peers and watch the country’s most talented apprentices and learners compete in National competitions.

With standing room only, the ‘Heroes Stage’ was a must visit with Industry leaders taking part in discussions and panel sessions on their inspiring real-life stories. Head Chef at Brooklodge, Mags Roche was joined on stage by Simon Regan, Culinary Lecturer at Kerry ETB to discuss ‘catering for Ireland’s future workforce’. Sodexo Country President Margot Slattery led an informative Q&A whilst Evan O’Ceallaigh, a young Chef from Galway and Tom Flavin, Executive Chef at The Strand Hotel, Limerick discussed, ‘Pursuing your passion, how to earn whilst you learn’.

Joinery

Bricklaying

Celebrating excellence within the industry, over 160 competitors took part in 25 national skills finals, ranging from carpentry to beauty treatments and aircraft maintenance to foodservice. Ricky O’Brien, Head of BWG Foodservice, comments:

“Ireland Skills Live was a showcase of the “best in class” not only in the foodservice sector but across many different disciplines. While Ireland has a proud tradition of entry in WorldSkills finals, this is the first time that all the national competitions have been gathered under one roof, and BWG Foodservice was delighted to be a part of it.”

The National Restaurant Service and Cookery competitions, sponsored by BWG Foodservice, Sodexo Ireland, Fagor and Chef Ireland where a hotbed of talent. Young chefs cooked

Long Term Investment

National Champion in Restaurant Service, Ruairi Grealish with Dr. Vivienne Patterson, Head of Skills and Engagement at the Higher Education Authority

up a storm with Galway native Ruairí Grealish taking the title of National Champion in Restaurant Service, a competition focused on the skills of fine dining, banqueting, casual dining, and bar/ barista, with an emphasis on the importance of classic skills integrated with modern service skills. A student at Shannon College of Hotel Management, Ruairí will train full-time from the start of June until August under the supervision of Andrew Langford, WorldSkills Ireland Restaurant Service Expert at Shannon College.

Andrew said: “I am absolutely delighted that Ruairí has won, and it is great to have Shannon College representing Ireland on the world stage again. He worked hard to prepare for the competition and his dedication has paid off. I look forward to working with Ruairí to prepare for the WorldSkills in Kazan at the end of the summer.”

In the Cookery category, competitors demonstrated their skill in performing multiple culinary tasks across a spectrum of disciplines with Aisling Delaney a Third-Year student of the BA in Culinary Arts at IT Tralee, winning the title - National Cookery Skills Champion.

Alan McCabe from Dundalk Institute of Technology (dkIT) and a WorldSkills Ireland cookery judge comments: “I was amazed at the level of talent on display in the kitchen and the professionalism shown by all those competing across the three days. Aisling was a very deserving winner, and this provides a great opportunity and platform for her to develop her skills and experience, I have every confidence that she has a promising career ahead" Speaking after the event Julianne Forrestal, Executive Development Chef, Sodexo Ireland, commented: “Ireland Skills Live was an ideal showcase to highlight the support in terms of training and further education that Sodexo offers prospective employees setting out on their careers. The standard of competition was uniformly excellent and competing in

National Cookery Skills Champion, Aisling Delaney with Dr. Vivienne Patterson, Head of Skills and Engagement at the Higher Education Authority

the National Skills Final is a welcome addition to any student portfolio.”

Sean Martin, Sales Director, Bunzl added: “As a main sponsor for the National Restaurant Service and Cookery competitions at Ireland Skills Live it was inspiring to see the level of talent on offer and the passion shared by many of the young chefs.

“There can be nothing more empowering than a real face to face opportunity allowing students, parents and teachers to experience the realities that so many of our apprenticeships and skills can offer today.”

Thousands of Irish school students thronged Simmonscourt to watch the competitions and demonstrations, opening their eyes to new third level options and career paths. With opportunities to meet career professionals and companies currently hiring apprentices, opportunities were endless with plenty of scope to ‘try a skill' and seek inspiration about future career choices.

Throughout the three days visitors to the show could visit the 80+ exhibitors including many leading names in the private industry, public educational bodies, government departments and semi-state organisations. Adrian Cummins Head of the Restaurant Association of Ireland revealed that they had over 150 career enquiries for chef courses at the Failte Ireland / Tourism Ireland Hospitality stand, over the three days. "We need chefs in hospitality in Ireland" Adrian comments, "I have been saying this for years, so it is great to get such a good reaction from students and potential apprentice chefs."

An event showcasing all the trades, skills and career opportunities to Irish students, Ireland Skills Live in its inaugural year was a resounding success. To keep updated on the plans for 2020, follow the show on twitter @IreSkillsLive, search ‘Ireland Skills Live’ on Facebook or check the website www.irelandskillslive.ie

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Carlton Hotel

Declan Meagher, Carlton Hotel at Dublin Airport

By Sarah Gallagher

The Carlton Hotel at Dublin Airport is a busy, thriving hotel in north Co. Dublin. The 100 bedroom hotel, which has been in operation since 2006, naturally enjoys a strong business traveller clientele, benefitting from the hotel’s proximity to Dublin airport, as well as having a healthy conferencing business.

General Manager Declan Meagher has been with the Carlton since it opened in 2006, and recently oversaw a full refurbishment of the hotel’s ground floor, working with design architects Audrey Gaffney & Associates and KC Construction. The project was completed within a 6 week time frame in late 2018, and Meagher is delighted with the results. “We completely gutted the ground floor, and we now have a new reception and foyer area, a new bar and café area, and a totally new restaurant”, he explains. “We traded for a long time with a combined bar and bistro. We now offer Kitty Hawks Café and Bar, and separately the Mayfly Restaurant.”

Meagher hopes that the Mayfly will be of appeal to local businesses: “It’s a brand new space, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.

It’s pitched to local businesses and resident, as well as regular day to day business and overnights”, he outlines.

The industry-wide challenge in recruiting and retaining staff is one which has been experienced by the Carlton. “We’re lucky in that our staff turnover is quite low. The team that we have here, some of them have been here since we opened in 2006”, says Meagher.

“Chefs are the big challenge nowadays, to find qualified chefs with cooking experience. We’re lucky that we have a brigade that have been here for around 4-5 years, so our turnover is low. We look after our team, they’re appreciated and well taken care of.”

Meagher feels that staff training is an area that requires much more investment and support, saying: “I think the industry has taken its foot off the gas. Fáilte Ireland recently reintroduced some training programmes, but over the last 5-6 years they had completely disengaged with the industry, and we did it at our own cost through the recession. Going forward, we all know the shortages that exist with entry level craft employees, they are nigh on impossible to find. Anybody we have found, we have brought them in at basic entry level and trained them. That’s the way forward I see.”

Meagher believes that the biggest challenge facing the industry today is finding people who want to work in the industry right now. “There is so much choice, so many better paid employments out there, I do firmly believe we need to open our borders. Look at Dubai for example, the people working in the tourism sector out there, they aren’t necessarily from the UAE, they have migrant workers from the likes of India and Pakistan. Our borders are currently closed, we can’t get work permits for anyone from outside the EU.”

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Carlton Hotel

While there are currently a certain amount of work permits available for chefs, the cost is too expensive in Meagher’s opinion. “The cost of getting a permit is prohibitive, in terms of the salary that you have to advertise, and pay that person to bring them in.”

He also believes that the education system is not conducive to encouraging people to pursue a career in the hotel industry. “I don’t think career guidance understands that it’s a career at all”, he says. “I fear for the next generation coming through. I don’t see any junior or middle management people coming through. They’re just not there.”

Meagher strongly feels that the traditional perception of hospitality as being a hard job with long hours and low pay is unfair. “The hotel industry was always synonymous with long hours and unfavourable pay, but that’s all changed”, he says. “People in our business now are generally well remunerated and generally don’t work very long hours.”

An education campaign by Industry bodies such as the IHF and the IHI would certainly be of help, in Meagher’s opinion. “It would certainly work in terms of lobbying our government and working with schools. At the end of the day, if we can’t get people from school to go into college into a tourism future, that’s really where the issue lies. We need more people wanting to work in our industry.

Meagher is concerned about the future of the industry. “There are 30003500 extra bedrooms being built in Dublin, but nobody’s really thought about who’s going to service these every day of the week? Currently, as an industry, we struggle to turn around rooms on a daily basis every day of the week, how are we going to fare out with all these extra rooms? We at the coalface in the hotel business in the industry understand that, but I don’t think those outside our industry do.”

Staff training is an important area of focus for the Carlton, and something that the business invests in on a consistent basis: “We are continuously looking at training employees to become trained in the industry.

We have regularly run supervisory skills programmes, management development programmes. We have a number of our chefs who go to college in DIT one day a week. We look after that, we support them, we see the value in investing in these people when they join us, so that they know they have a future and we can retain them.

As a Dublin based hotelier, Meagher highlights the ever-rising accommodation costs in the Dublin market as a major issue for staff.

“The biggest challenge for an employee in the Dublin market is the cost of accommodation. Monthly rent has gone completely out of control.

We’ve already had employees leave because they can’t afford to live in Dublin, and I don’t see that improving at any stage.”

Brexit remains a challenge facing the hotel industry as a whole, and the Carlton is no different. With business travellers from Britain being the hotel’s biggest market, the continuing uncertainty around Brexit is something he is keenly aware of.

“Every Monday, at least half of this hotel check ins are people from across the water, from the UK, here on Monday and gone on Friday. Any sort of a difficult Brexit is going to affect us in the negative sense”, says Meagher.

He believes that the Department of Tourism haven’t provided much support to the industry, despite the looming threat of Brexit; “We’re bombarded every day of the week with Brexit stories in the news but there’s very little being given to tourism in my opinion. The way forward is definitely not clear at all”.

He continues: “Our Minister for Finance has a background in tourism, as does our Taoiseach, one would think they should be looking at our industry and understanding how much it generates on an annual basis from a revenue and employment point of view. The reason our tourism numbers are so high is because of the tourism product we have. Unless we invest in it I do fear for the future.”

So what can the government do to help the industry? Meagher feels strongly that the recent vat increase for the sector needs to be revisited.“The government hitting us with a vat increase was absolutely the worst thing they could’ve done, and that will cost jobs and

businesses in the short and medium term. I think the decision should be reversed. The 9% vat rate should be reintroduced, let prices stabilise and let businesses continue to grow”, he outlines. “It’s not that long ago since the industry was on its knees and we were in the doldrums of recession. For the sake of the additional tax revenue, a lot of businesses and livelihoods are being risked. We can absorb it somewhat, but take the local café down the road, they’re the ones that are going to falter and fail first, and it has a domino effect.”

Despite the many challenges facing the tourism industry, Meagher is confident about the future of the Carlton Hotel, saying: “I’m confident in the future purely because of our location. We consider ourselves to be very lucky.

Dublin Airport has grown year on year and once the second runway comes in a couple of years,the DAA forecast we will hit 50-55 million visitors by 2030-2035.

“Brexit will definitely affect us all, given the amount of traffic between here and the UK every week. We held off investing for a number of years, we knew that the time was right in 2018 and we did it, we now have a very modern, plush building that will take us forward.” And Meagher is confident that the future is bright for the Carlton: “I think the future is positive, certainly for where we’re located.”

It's a challenge that the Carlton is well equipped to handle, with a second 100 bedroom hotel on the site planned for the near future.

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Trident Hotel

The Trident Hotel sits on a superb site on the outskirts of Kinsale, with commanding views of the harbour and back towards the town itself.

the original blueprint

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In many ways, the story of this landmark hotel mirrors that of the story of Kinsale itself. Its success finds its roots in the early years when Kinsale began its first tentative steps towards transformation from a little fishing village into a culinary capital.

Today, there are plenty of others coastal towns around the country that have done likewise but Kinsale was, in many ways, the original blueprint.

Although the original cut-stone building could easily be mistaken for a converted 19th-century warehouse, its history is far more recent and, appropriately, more glamorous: “It was originally built in the 1960s by the Rank Cinema organisation on the site of a deep-sea angling centre,” explains the hotel’s general manager Hal McElroy. The objective for the now-defunct British film company was to have a place where they could entertain their stars. It was one of a number of such venues located around Ireland and within easy reach of an international airport. Cork Airport – today only 20 minutes away by car – had recently opened for business at this point.

The 1970s saw the start of the decline of the famous cinematic group and the hotel was sold off to the Costello Group who, in turn, sold on the hotel to a Dutch owner.

Trident Hotel

“He used to love coming fishing here and he and his wife ran the hotel for about twelve years until it was sold to the Goods in 1986.

They were a local business family from Kinsale.”

Then along came Hal. It was in 1987 that he first arrived at the Trident Hotel to work. At this point, Hal was a newly-trained hotel manager who had already built up an impressive CV from working in Fitzpatrick’s Hotel in Killiney as wells as in Bunratty. As was the norm in those days, he had gone through what was then a very normal rite of passage of having worked in a hotel in Switzerland, gaining a high level of experience and fluency in French in the process.

“Switzerland and Germany were the two places that were seen as important in the catering world at that time.”

He worked as General Manager and worked with the Goods while it was developed from a 45-bedroom hotel to a 4-star 75-bedroom hotel. Continuing to work together to enhance the hotel, Hal has clearly found it difficult to leave since.

For the Trident, the home market has always been the mainstay of their business. As Kinsale developed as a gastronomic and sailing destination, it became the place to escape to from Cork city – only 25km away.The town’s twinning arrangements with Antibes in the South of France and Newport in Rhode Island, USA played their parts too in establishing a healthy foreign trade for The Trident.

“The Old Head Golf Links course has just re-opened for the season,” says Hal, “and it’s a great asset: it brings in a lot of people, particularly when taken with the Newport link.

Like Kinsale, Newport is known for its seaport and its tourism. It has been described as Kinsale on steroids!”

The Norwegian Air trans-Atlantic link between Providence and Cork has been a great help in this regard and exchanges have extended to many personal relationships and chefs coming over to share their culinary experiences and learn some from Kinsale.

“The Nice link was very vibrant in the early days and, hopefully, that will be re-kindled with the re-opening of the Cork-Nice link this year…

I used to travel to both Holland and France a lot during the earlier days to help drum up business from abroad.”

The hotel features a low turnover of staff, with many of those working there having been at the Trident for a couple of decades: “We have a great core staff here with us, with

quite a number of them who have been here twenty years or more. Many of them would have come in at a junior or trainee level and worked their way up.

“Our policy would be to encourage people from within the hotel as much as we can to fill positions higher up… People don’t tend to leave.”

Just recently, Hal says that they had the unusual situation of two of their long-term senior staff leaving them but they were replaced by promotion within the hotel rather than taking in someone from the outside.

One of the biggest problems affecting hotel staff in Kinsale is getting accommodation for staff to live in. Renting is a problem with the increase in popularity of the town and the increase in the number of restaurants and hotels (at last count, there were some 65 places to eat in the town).

Like many hotels, the Trident used to have on-site staff accommodation many years ago but that gradually phased out and now demand has risen exponentially.

With regard to the recent hike in the VAT rate, Hal says that the negative effects of the measure have been felt: “It has had an impact, yes. We took the decision that the contracts with rates made before the VAT increase would be honoured.

“It’s also quite incredible that the VAT went up on the same day that the minimum wage went up – the 1st of January 2019. It doesn’t sound like a lot on paper but when you take into account all the employees and the VAT increase happening at once, you experience a knock-on effect on margins… While it’s looking reasonably strong from a business point of view so far this year, and without getting too bullish about it, one can see these issues presenting difficulties by the end of the year.”

The Trident has recently undergone a €1.5 million refurbishment that saw very little structural work done but with the bulk of the energy channelled into redesigning and remodelling. The furniture, Hal says, was made lighter in colour – something that has help to lift the feel of a hotel with so many views of the water. In this landmark four-star hotel, there are 75 bedrooms and all of them have a view of water – to greater or lesser degrees. Some have two walls of glass overlooking the sea while some have views looking back towards the town. Even counting the conference and banqueting rooms, the only room without a view of the sea is the Night Bar.

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IFSA news

Food & Bev Live Opens for Business

Food & Bev Live 2020 returns to the Citywest Dublin on 4th & 5th February, continuing the event’s history of celebrating excellence within the industry. Home to world-class competitions, such as the National Barista Championships, The Bartenders Association’s Irish Cocktail Championships and returning to Food & Bev Live is the ‘hotly’ contended Chef Ireland Culinary Competitions.

THE two-day show which is brought to you by IFSA, the organisation behind the phenomenally successful CATEX show – is the only trade show in 2020 which will see ALL industry support. With thousands of visitors expected to attend, Food & Bev Live is one of the most eagerly anticipated

IFSA Golf Society Season launched The IFSA Golf Society has announced its schedule for this year’s for events. With 5 outings planned this year, the society hopes to welcome many new members to join in the golfing pursuits and of course some valuable networking with industry colleagues.

The first outing will take place on Thursday, 16th May • Venue: Royal Curragh Golf Club, Curragh, Co Kildare • Tee Times: 12:30 to 1:30 • Golf, Dinner and Prizes: €55, Golf and prizes: €35, Dinner only: €20 • Visitors Welcome All are invited to take note of the following diary notes for the rest of the season: • Friday June 14th - City West Golf Course • Thursday July 18th - Carton House - Niall Jenkins Captains Day sponsored by Kaneco • Friday, 30th August – IFSA Annual Golf Day • Friday September 6th - Rathfarnham Golf Club - Presidents Day sponsored by IFSA Contact Hon Sec Joe Gallagher at 0872580418 or email jgallaghers37@hotmail.com to get involved.

MAK Group

foodservice events of the year and IFSA look forward to welcoming visitors to the show and growing their partnership over the coming years.

As well as providing the ultimate platform for networking and forging new relationships, Food & Bev Live is a must-attend event for finding the latest, cutting edge products across food and drink, catering equipment and technology. It is an opportunity for everyone to get involved, to get inspired, to learn from one another and to come away with valuable insight and products to help revolutionise their business.

For further information on Food & Bev Live 2020, visit www.FoodandBev. ie or follow along on social @FoodandBevLive. For stand sales or exhibitor enquiries, Sales Manager on 01 8460020 Margaret Andreucetti Margaret@ eventhaus.ie For details on how to get involved with Food & Bev Live contact Margaret at margaret.andreucetti@eventhaus.ie or call (01) 8460020.

Bunzl Rafferty Hospitality are widely recognised as the leader in personalised guest amenities within the hospitality sector in Ireland.

We aim to supply customers with the latest products to make sure they are on trend and keeping up to date with their customer’s expectations.

We recently launched the newest innovation in luxury showering for the most savvy of hotels. Skin jay -This unique concept makes it possible to diffuse the right combination and a dose of essential oils directly into the water so that your customers can enjoy the positive effects on their skin. The perfect way to shower, the perfect positive effects of aromatherapy.

Visit our catalogue online or our website https://www. raffertyhospitality.com/products/skinjay Also in today’s climate the environment is more important than ever. When choosing products from us, you can rest assured you are purchasing products from a company who are committed to protecting our global environment as best we can. From environmentally friendly formulations, to highly recyclable packaging, to ensuring that our suppliers are “green” manufacturing processes, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint while maintaining the highest levels of excellence.

We have lots of new environmentally friendly products coming your way soon keep a look out on our social media and website.

The task of trying to clean difficult areas is always a challenge and more and more hotels and restaurants are turning to steam for better and consistent results. MAK Group are the sole distributors in Ireland and the UK for Novaltec of Italy and they have enjoyed great success with there range of products. Using Steam to Clean makes the task of dealing with grease simple, the task of cleaning floors easy and insures a dry surface when finished. Cleaning at 175 degrees the Novaltec machine is now the market leader in Ireland. The machine can be used on ovens, fridges, walls, cold rooms, stainless steel and just about any surface. Changing the tools also allows cleaning of soft furnishings, baby chairs and so much more. Businesses like Supermac's, Supervalu, Centra, Woodlands hotel, Castletroy Park hotel, Manor House hotel, Radisson Group, Darina Allen Ballymaloe, Knockranny house hotel, Huntsman Inn Galway and so many more are now using Steam to Clean for top class results. For more information or a free demonstration contact Martin at MAK Group on 087. 2765790 or email info@makgroup.ie 42

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Design

a

By Sarah Gallagher

Audrey Gaffney Associates (AGA)is firmly established as one of the country’s leading interior architectural design companies, and enjoys an enviable reputation in the hospitality sector, with recent successful projects completed by the company including the Castleknock Hotel, Heritage Hotel, Loretta’s Restaurant in Glasnevin, and the Carlton Hotel Dublin Airport.

The company celebrated its 10 year milestone in 2018.

“In the early days, we didn’t necessarily focus only on the hospitality sector”, explains company owner and founder Audrey Gaffney. “We did a lot of refurbs in the Republic in the first 1-2 years, but we were undertaking a lot more renovation work based in Northern Ireland. Through contacts and word of mouth referrals, things started to turn around in the Republic towards the end of our second year in business.”

Since those early days, AGA have found their nice in the area of hospitality, and now concentrates on the high end, luxury market.

Audrey and her team work closely with clients, and approach projects by ensuring they have a full understand of what are the client and customer needs.

As she explains, “Clients may want to develop their bar and also have a very strong food offering. We’ll question the customer journey, asking how and where is the best focus for driving revenue. It’s important to make clients fully aware of their options, and look at what kind of customers they want to attract. It’s so important to have a full understanding of the client brief, brand and market.”

Audrey recognises that there Is a practicality required when working with clients in the hospitality sector: “A lot of our hotels are operational, so you can’t close down the whole hotel to refurb. You need to work around it in phases or stages.We understand that people don’t want to be closed down for too long, so we work with them to minimise the disruption. Because our skills have been developing in the hospitality sector, we are focused on how they are going to drive their revenue and footfall.”

AGA not only provide a full project and cost management service to all its clients, but also offer a market research and brand insight service and is one of the few companies in the sector which provide a ‘one-stop design agency’ service for its clients, providing this additional service to clients when they are required.“Many client brands can suffer as a result of out of date insights into their own customer experience, and this is where we can come in. A lot of people actual don’t like to complain or give useful constructive comments directly to the property. We are function led first, and design second. We look at what is

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Design

needed structurally, what is needed in terms of the fire, DAC and M&E and include it in the design development from the start. We take on the full design package for our clients, where they don’t necessarily need a separate architect or engineer from the start”, says Audrey. “We are leading them the full way along the process, and a lot of our clients are very appreciative of this, particularly our repeat clients.”

“We have a core team of 12 people, and we also bring in additional skills, depending on when and where they’re needed, depending on what the client is looking for. It’s good to have the additional skills that you rely on, such as a conservation architect or a specific engineer. We have a good reputation, and it’s really important if we’re recommending someone to the client, we have to be able to rely on them to give the best advice possible”, says Audrey.

Having a practical approach to projects is key. “We’re practical, we work quickly and meet deadlines, and we’re accessible. If you’re trying to minimise the amount of timeyou’re on site, you need to have all that planning done beforehand. You need to work on schedule and work quickly.”

AGA places an emphasis on talking to operational management and staff at the beginning of each project to get their views and input on the process. “When we’re taking the brief from the client, it’s always important to talk to the management and staff, and because they’ve been involved from the start, they are keen to work with the development, they feel they have a part to play.”It’s an approach which has worked well for AGA, and has led to the company receiving successfulreferrals from clients.

Every project undertaken by AGA is approached differently; “you can see a particular style running through the hotel, but every project is different or unique. What will work in Dublin city centre won’t necessarily work in other locations”, says Audrey. “The style of the building and business should marry with the design. For instance, we’ve worked on a number of castles, and each one is unique and different. It’s important to make distinct features part of the story, such as the Markree Castle, which has four different design eras represented within the one castle. It’s important to make the most of the features that where within each room. The requirements depend on the individual project.”

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Castleknock Hotel

Audrey and her team recently worked with the Castleknock Hotel on their public areas. The hotel has a wide range of clientele, including the local market, which is very important to them.

When Audrey and her team started speaking to the hotel, there was a central bar located in the middle of the restaurant areawhich the clients were adamant did not need to be moved. However, when Audrey spoke to staff and customers, it became apparent that the functionality of the bar just didn’t work. It was difficult to servecustomers, it did not serve operational plus it wasn’t a very attractive bar. The hotel wanted to increase the number of seats available, especially during the breakfast period, as they were unable to accommodate numbers at busy times.

As Audrey’s approach is founded on functionality; she recommended extending the project by two weeks, and provided a strong rationale for this approach by highlighting the potential increase in covers, and her recommendations were approved by the hotel.

The new design has resulted in better functionality for the hotel, with a back bar which operates much more efficiently. AGA were nominated as a finalist in the Interior Design of the Year Awards in 2018.

Carlton Hotel Dublin Airport

Another satisfied client of AGA is the Carlton Dublin Airport Hotel. The majority of the hotel’s client base is corporate groups as well as airport travellers, and so a quick service is very important.

Audrey and her team worked with the management of the hotel to identify the customer needs, and then undertook to redevelop the whole public space area in the hotel. Their design reduced the original reception area but extended the space to enclose an external area and created seating arrangements suitable for large groups. This approach has also helped to create a smoother, more customer friendly check in process. They also developed a coffee dock area, where guests can wait in comfort for their transport.

The bar in the hotel was located in the restaurant, which disrupted the customer journey for those seeking to have a drink before dinner. AGA wanted to create a more effective space which would be more attractive customer experience, and the new design is much more conducive to having a drink, watching a match, or having a more relaxed dining experience.

Design As the hotel caters to a large corporate clientele, there are a lot of meeting rooms for corporate groups and workshops, and often these groups need to dine all at once. By relocating and opening up the kitchen into the restaurant, AGA created more seating and service spacesallowing diners get served and seated quickly. As a result, a huge amount of covers has been created within reconfigured restaurant area, even though the overall space used is the same, allowing the hotel to experience the benefits in terms of driving their footfall and revenue.

Heritage Hotel

AGA are currently working with the 5-star Heritage Hotel on the third phase of a large renovation project. The hotel enjoys a mixed clientele, ranging from golfing groups and US visitors, to couples and locals. The company recently refurbished the main hotel bar at the hotel, as is currently working with them on their ballroom. The third phase of the project will focus on the hotel’s restaurant areas.

Their work on this project has given the bar in the Heritage a better sense of functionality for dining purposes. “Seating within the bar wasn’t appropriate for dining which led to an awkward dining experience”, Audrey outlines. “We also recognise that guests stay in this type of hotel for more than one night and want to experience and enjoy different areas within the hotel during their stay.”

AGA provided the hotel with a variety of different options, with functionality once again being the primary emphasis. The refurbishment of the bar area was the first phase of the project to be approached. “We created areas using a lot of the existing elements of the bar, and introduced a hidden serve area to reduce disruption to the guest. We looked at various elements to make a big impact such as the lighting, floor & wall finishesand style of seating as we wanted to maintain a ‘bar feel’ to the dining experience.”

Loretta’s

Loretta’s restaurant on Doyle’s Corner in the heart of Phibsboroughwas a demanding conservation project to undertakenby AGA but having undertaking many conservation projects in the past they were well up for the challenge.

As well as creating a sophisticated American diner experience, AGA also had to factor in working with a conservation building into every step of the process, whether it was meeting the required regulations for the public toilet spaces, or the fire criteria for the open kitchen. It was a project that benefitted from Audrey’s relationships with trades, who they were able to trust and work with them on the project.

“It took over a year to complete, but it was a brilliant project to work on”, says Audrey. “We have a huge amount of experience in this area, so we know what’s needed to drive it forward.”

It’s impossible to speak to Audrey Gaffney, and come away unaffected by her passion and enthusiasm for her work. “You have to have passion and enjoy what you do. I don’t think you can do a very good job if you don’t have passion. It’s something I instil here in the business, it’s not a nine to five job!”, she says. “When you meet a client and when you click with them and they understand you and what you can do, they see that you have the passion and drive for their business.”

It’s a passion that has served Audrey Gaffney well, with the company being re-accredited with the All-Star Hospitality Design Team again this year following on from winning the All-Star Female Led Business award in 2018. We wish them well as this year they are in two categories within the All-Ireland Business Awards; Female Leader of the Year and Small Business 2019.

As the hotel has been operational throughout the process, the work with the Heritage Hotel has been broken up into different phases, which AGA managed throughout so that business is maintained throughout the refurbishment process.

Delighted to be Associated with Audrey Gaffney Architectural Designers.

Distributors: Alontin Sales & Marketing Ltd, 3022 Euro Business Park, Little Island, Cork Contact: sales@alontin.ie

Dublin: Blarney House, Unit C, Baldonnell Business Park, Dublin 22 +353 (1) 9104046 Cork: Unit B3, Fota Retail Park, Cork +353 (0) 21 485344 H&RT APRIL/MAY 2019

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Guest Experience

Foster a valuable learning culture to give employees the confidence to boost the guest experience What is the secret to successful employee engagement? It’s making your employees your number 1 priority. Investing in employees doesn’t mean big bonuses and promotions, it’s about nurturing and sustaining commitment and motivation, as well as giving them the right tools to do their job. Whilst the hospitality industry has always faced considerable challenges when it comes to employee engagement and retention, fostering a learning culture and making sure all staff members are adequately trained for their role could be the answer.

Guestline, the global leader in hotel cloud property management, distribution and digital marketing solutions, is making waves within the industry after the recent launch of its new Guestline University e-learning platform. The platform has been developed to provide hoteliers with remote and on-the-go accessible product training to equip them with an up-to-the-minute understanding of the various functionalities and benefits of the different solutions within Guestline’s cloudbased portfolio - ideal during the onboarding process, when new features are released and when there are new starters at the hotel.

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Clio O’Gara, Ireland Country Manager for Guestline talks about the importance of a continuous and rewarding training strategy:

“We are extremely passionate about providing our customers with first class implementation and training for them to truly reap the benefits Guestline Rezlynx PMS has to offer, hence we are delighted to be in a position to roll out Guestline University to support our Irish and global clients. We believe adequate and ongoing training gives employees the confidence they need to perform their jobs well. Guestline University offers training and modules on its products and upgrades and its integration with Guestline’s Rezlynz PMS means that hoteliers can simply sign up and login in to access all the University’s features and training.

As a leading cloud-based software company, we are committed to developing and providing solutions to our clients and offering a market leading service that ensures they maximise the full benefits of the technology they employ to support both their operations and revenue.”

Guest Experience

In recent times, hospitality companies have been leveraging technology to automate more components of the service experience, transforming most aspects of hospitality operations. But, no matter how effective technology becomes, people will be instrumental in the delivery of the all-important customer experience, striking a balance between technology and the human touch. Hotel employees are a KEY channel for delivering superior customer experience, so, teaching staff to understand their role within the organisation and how everyone contributes to guests’ perception of it is hugely important. Pair their new understanding with effective ongoing training of the technology they use, and they will be able to deliver a superior guest experience.

Guestline’s implementation of Guestline University is in addition to the brands existing training and support offering to clients. Guestline provides continuous learning opportunities for hoteliers and employees, from hands-on training and workshops to virtual classroom sessions, ensuring clients are always up to date with new product updates and using Guestline systems in line with best practice.

Chris Kearney, Group Financial Director, Loughview Leisure Group, values the hotel’s implementation training received by Guestline:

“The training team at Guestline did a brilliant job in preparing us for the installation of a new PMS system and implemented exactly what we required to improve business processes and to enhance the guest journey.”

Claire Bird, Rooms Division Manager, Breaffy House Resort, found Guestline’s training effective and fitting to their needs: “We found the Guestline trainer, Denis Hurley, fantastic in delivering training to the team. He was thorough and coming from a hospitality background, he could understand the hotelier’s needs and adapt his style accordingly.”

No matter how much the hospitality industry evolves, employees will continue to be the essential ingredient for superior customer service. Without the right training tools and procedures in place, hospitality employers’ risk inconsistent messaging and communication, potentially hindering customer experiences and employee skillsets. To thrive in this evolving industry, hoteliers need to prioritise how they educate and train their workers and investing in the right technology for effective training programmes ensures that employees are always equipped with the appropriate tools for development and growth. In a move to amplify a fully integrated, 24/7 training and support system, Guestline’s remote e-learning platform, Guestline University, arms hotel employees with the knowledge and flexibility to effectively and efficiently complete tasks and gain confidence in their PMS so that they can focus on guest needs as quickly as possible.

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Tourism

A road well travelled Tourism is booming but we should not become complacent, Ruth Andrews, new chairperson of ITIC, tells Pavel Barter in a wide-ranging interview.

Irish tourism is experiencing a golden age. In 2018, an estimated 11.2 million people visited the island, a 6% increase on 2017, making it Ireland's busiest year in history.

Spending was up €6.1bn: a 10% increase on the previous year.

Considering the state of the country eight years ago, the hospitality industry has a lot to be proud of. We have come from a place of survival and recovery to one of growth and success.

"This was partly enabled by government and some of the policies introduced by Leo Varadkar, when he was Minister for Tourism, such as the lower VAT rate," Ruth Andrews, recently appointed chairperson of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), tells Hotel & Restaurant Times. "These initiatives were hugely important in terms of recovering our industry. We are now enjoying success at a pace never experienced in the past."

ITIC has been instrumental in our recovery. The organisation, founded in 1984, represents large, medium and small groups, including: the Irish Hotels Federation; Restaurants Association of Ireland; airports and airlines; vintners; car rental agencies; caravan and camping businesses, bed and breakfast associations. Every element of Irish tourism, in fact.

"We influence policy and represent the interest of our members at a national government level," says Andrews. "We conduct research on specific areas, as directed by ITIC members."

The Incoming Tour Operators Association (ITOA), the representative association of Ireland's premier inbound tour operators, is among groups in the ITIC stable. As the long standing chief executive of ITOA, Andrews is keenly aware of the needs of the industry.

In her ITOA role she is "responsible for the day-to-day activities of the association, providing advocacy for inbound tour operators:

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Tourism

people globally promoting and selling Ireland as a destination.

We have 32 members. In 2018, they delivered 750,000 holiday and business tourists, contributing €865m into the national tourism economy of export earnings. My job in ITOA is to identify the challenges and solutions to tourism infrastructural issues that are coming down the tracks. We work closely with every sector in the Irish tourism industry: tourism agencies north and south, and the government departments relevant to tourism."

ITOA members purchase every element of the Irish tourism product: accommodation, attractions, transport, entertainment, food and beverage. "They package programmes and itineraries that they promote and sell in overseas markets, both to their partners and direct to the consumers." Andrews will continue in her role at ITOA as she becomes ITIC chairperson.

She succeeds the ITIC role from Maurice Pratt, a former president of IBEC and former CEO of Tesco Ireland. These are big shoes to fill, she notes.

"Maurice brought energy and enthusiasm to his role as chairman of ITIC. He also brought experience from other industries and provided a wider business knowledge. He had strong probusiness credentials, which were very valuable for ITIC." Andrews, however, is well positioned to take over his position.

She served on the board of ITIC for four years and was Vice-Chair for the past two years.

"My background is steeped in tourism," she explains. "I have over 30 years experience as an industry professional. I started my career in marketing and sales in the hotel sector: working for hotel groups, small hotel chains and individual properties. I've consulted for a wide variety of tourism businesses. I don't think there's any part of tourism that I haven't had the pleasure of working in or behalf of. I'm hoping that my in-depth knowledge of the industry, and its varying sectors, will help move things along in a strategic way."

Much of ITIC's work has already been mapped out. In March 2018, the Confederation published an 8-year roadmap, titled Tourism An Industry Strategy for Growth to 2025. The result of a 10-month consultation with tourism and hospitality businesses across the country, this plan aims to increase tourism earnings from overseas visitors by 65% and jobs by 80,000.

The roadmap identifies 51 policy recommendations and is providing update reports every six months. The next report due is in September 2019. Andrews wants to keep this strategy as the Confederation's primary agenda.

"It will shape where ITIC puts its energies in the future. But there are other areas and challenges that will need to be addressed during my tenure as chairperson. I will support Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, our chief executive, in ensuring that the well-being of Irish tourism can continue on a successful trajectory."

Ten years ago, the country struggled to have four gateways out of the North American market. In 2019, that has grown to 27 gateways. Experience destination programmes - such as the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's Ancient East, Dublin, and the Hidden Heartlands - have allowed the industry to spread the success of tourism on a regional basis.

"We'll always have the key honey-pots but there is lots of opportunity to expand that growth into destinations that might be lesser known," she says.

ITIC is currently working on a research paper in the area of competitiveness, exploring how we can stay relevant in a global context. This is proving a problem, as the cost of doing business in Ireland (in areas such as insurance, rent, and rates) continues to grow.

In the last budget, tourism received a blow when the VAT rate was raised from 9% to 13.5%. This caused particular difficulties for ITOA members who had organised business prior to the hike being introduced and "will impact on our competiveness on an international and a domestic basis," predicts Andrews.

There has been concern about over-pricing, particularly in Dublin hotels, but this issue is intertwined with a shortage of capacity, according to the new ITIC chair. "Over the last three years the ITOA has been frustrated by not having enough capacity. When you don't have a growing level of capacity everything is at a premium."

Brexit is another looming worry, particularly since Great Britain is Irish tourism's biggest market. Fáilte Ireland has estimated that a hard Brexit could cost tourism €390m and 10,700 job losses.

"At a time where the VAT increase is going to cost us €466m, the timing is critical in terms of sustaining our growth," says the new ITIC chairperson. Brexit is also having an impact on consumer confidence in European markets such as German and France.

"The whole noise around Brexit, and Ireland's role in it, is leaving people uncomfortable about coming to Ireland," explains Andrews. "They are wondering, 'Will I need a visa to come to Ireland if I travel across the border? Will I be welcome as part of an Ireland and UK visit?' We are starting to feel the impact of this in continental and other European markets."

Despite the jubilant tourism statistics for 2018, business tourism has declined. According to CSO figures, there was a 4% decrease in business trips to Ireland last year and a 3% drop in expenditure to €744m. Andrews theorises that Brexit, and the uncertainty around Britain's departure from Europe, is playing a part.

"We have traditionally sold a lot of corporate and conference business in the UK, but that market is less confident about travelling overseas now. They are more likely to stay at home in this whole uncertain environment. There's also a question around fluctuations in sterling."

There may also be more innocent reasons for the fall in business tourism. "International conference business can be cyclical. You sometimes get a period of time - a year or couple of years - where this part of the world isn't on the radar. Perhaps we just didn't get as many of those larger world conferences into Ireland in 2018."

While 2019 business tourism is likely to remain the same as last year's figures, 2020 bookings appear more promising.

Ireland is still heavily marketed overseas. The Meet In Ireland incentive - a partnership between Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland - promotes meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) on an international stage. Tourism Ireland, as an individual organisation, is active in encouraging business travellers to come to Ireland.

However, Budget 2019's allocation for the hospitality industry returned tourism budgets to 2008 levels. That wasn't good enough, according to ITIC. "We could do more funding and support because it delivers meaningful business for Irish tourism."

There are a litany of challenges over the year ahead. But as Andrews begins her two-year term as chair, alongside the DAA’s Cormac O’Connell as deputy chair, she is optimistic about the future of the industry.

"Irish tourism is in a very good place. We are getting very strong private sector investment. I hope we will get a commitment from Irish government to realising the true potential of Irish tourism as one of the key indigenous industries in this country. We are still the biggest producers of jobs in this country. We need the government to continue to focus on Irish tourism and realise their investment will sustain our well-being for years to come."

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ITIC

So how is 2019 shaping up?

Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, CEO, Irish Tourism Industry Confederation

The monthly tourism figures from the CSO can at times sow more confusion that clarity. Are overseas visitor numbers really up 5.5% for the first quarter and this with the Easter bounce falling in March of last year? Certainly feedback on the ground from tourism and hospitality businesses is less buoyant.

Rising costs, as well as the Vat hike, are impacting on trading and many operators and owners feel that 2019 will be tougher than the official heady Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland forecasts of 6% year-on-year growth.

Hotel room occupancy figures from STR are actually down 1% for the first quarter which leads to the obvious question of where are the increased number of tourists staying? Airbnb will account for some of the visitors but this channel is also feeling the strain of increased regulations due to come into effect this summer.

Due to Easter’s timing it would seem much more sensible to wait for the first 4 months to make a call on how 2019 is really looking. It is important to note too - not that you’d know if from the self-congratulatory press releases of Minister and Department - that the monthly CSO tourism figures are arrival numbers so include day trips and transfer traffic, both of which continues to grow significantly particularly at Dublin Airport. The CSO will eventually strip out day visitors and transfer traffic to actually report on holiday tourist numbers but unfortunately we’ll have to wait another few months for this data.

In a recent media briefing on progress of its 8-year roadmap for sectoral growth - Tourism: An Industry Strategy for Growth to 2025 - ITIC’s new Chairperson, Ruth Andrews, stated that tourism growth in 2019 is likely to be only half of what has been officially forecast. This is a result of a number of factors including a tightening of air access into Ireland such as Norwegian’s problems with Boeing Max, Ryanair’s withdrawal from the Frankfurt route, Aer Lingus’s delay on its Montreal service and Wow Air going bust. Andrews though was anxious to highlight that some of our problems are self-made and pointed to a worrying sense of drift

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and indecision at Government level when it comes to tourism policy. She cited unsustainable increases in costs of business, inadequate marketing budgets, and increased taxation and labour regulations amongst other things, all of which fall at the feet of Government. She called for a redoubling of effort from Government, Minister, Department and Agencies to ensure that the environment for business is as favourable as possible as Irish tourism faces more challenging times.

The commitment and investment by tourism’s private sector in new products and experiences continues at a remarkable pace. Research carried out by CBRE, on behalf of ITIC, identified a staggering 5,205 new bedrooms currently being built across the country. Most are in Dublin but there is also significant activity in Cork and to a lesser extent Galway. These are not planned rooms or intended builds but are actually on site and will be open for trading within 30 months. Indeed, when accounting for investment in attractions, hospitality, activities, and transportation, it is estimated that the wider tourism sector is committing approximately €2.5 billion over the next three years alone. A huge investment by Ireland’s tourism industry in its own future. Now isn’t it time for the Government to up its commitment to tourism and play its part in supporting Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer?

Whatever the tourism numbers in the first few months of 2019, what we can certainly say is that the sector is at a key juncture.

With Brexit rumbling ominously in the background, external factors that always impinge on tourism are less favourable than in recent years. Have we reached a new, albeit higher, peak of tourism numbers into the country and are now set for a cyclical slump or can we steady the ship and ensure sustainable steady growth into the future? Ireland’s tourism industry is certainly up for the latter and is putting its money where its mouth is.

However, like all parts of the economy, Government, regulatory authorities, and state agencies need to ensure that there is an appropriate environment for business to continue to prosper and in this regard tourism is no different.

For the progress update on Tourism: An Industry Strategy for Growth to 2025 see www.itic.ie

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