Hotel & Restaurant Times Oct/Nov Edition by Hotel & Restaurant Times

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER ’18

€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

Paul Kelly

Sustaining Success

IHF’s Michael Lennon Talks VAT

Great Service The Art, Science and Psychology

Breaffy House Resort Investment in the Future

www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie

Find out what impact a great front of house range can have on your business at ufs.com/frontofhouse FOOD TASTES BETTER WITH HELLMANN’S * Number 1 claim based on Nielsen Retail IRE Grocery Value Sales MAT 12/08/2018

WE’RE ON THE SIDE OF FOOD

P. 12 P. 22

COVER: Paul Kelly, Fáilte Ireland

Contents

P. 38

Editorial 4 News

Appointments 10 IHF President talks VAT

Recruitment Woes

Chef Network

Bookassist

Tax Brakes 2018

Interview with Fáilte Ireland’s Paul Kelly Title for “Best young Chef in Europe”

26 28

Tourism Ireland

IFSA 32 Fáilte Industry News

Great Service

2018: A Year to Remember

Breaffy House Resort CATEX 2019

Future Proofing Hospitality Staff

P. 40

ITIC 48 IT Tallaght

Tis the Season

What Now for Tourism?

Avoiding the Rubber Chicken

DIT confers Jim Gahan and Bobby Kerr

P. 48 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, Dr Des O’Mahony, Susan Clarke, Chef Network, Tourism Ireland, Frank Corr, Conor Power, Fáilte Ireland, Conor Kenny, Leslie Williams, Sarah Gallagher, Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, Annette Sweeney, Grace Gallagher, IFSA, Marilyn Bright, Lorraine Courtney. Graphic Design: Tara Mccormack Printing: Turners of Longford

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

Time for change Once again the tourism sector was overlooked in the budget. Minister Ross appears to have behaved as if he had no interest in his brief. The death knell sounded and the VAT rate increased from 9 per cent to 13.5%. Sound bites and sources indicated he had resisted the hike, but this was taken with a grain of salt by most of the hospitality sector. His recent behaviour at the Tourism Ireland half-year briefing indicated a minister out of his depth. 4.5% is a massive increase. It may result in the closure of some hotels and restaurants around the country. €40m in extra budget funding for tourism is to be allocated to the department, in a bid to mitigate the impact of the VAT rise, but this is a drop in the ocean to what is needed. The sector has seen no increase in funding over the last series of budgets. Hoteliers alone face massive losses from pre-booked business - from weddings to inbound tourists - as they will not be able to pass on the increase. Most people in the industry accepted and understood a city bed tax... but this was never going to happen.

editorial

Those operating outside the system appear to be the only winners. John Shaw, Deloitte’s tax director, said that, “Increasing the rate impacts all VAT-registered business in the affected tourism sectors, regardless of their size, location or turnover. VAT rules do not allow for the increased VAT rate to only apply to certain businesses such as large hotels. However, the increase will have no impact on non VAT-registered businesses, including many of those in the B&B sector, which are not VAT-registered. The good news for those smaller operators is that, although they did not benefit from the introduction of the reduced VAT rate, they will not suffer any financial cost as a result of the increase.” Maybe it would have served the Minister better to include those operating outside the net and level the playing field. The sector feels let down by Minister Ross. Some are even calling for his resignation. Some hospitality individuals, working in the minister’s constituency, say they will be encouraging their workers and customers to use their vote more wisely next election. On a more positive note, Fáilte Ireland’s plans to sustain growth for the sector are encouraging. Speaking at the launch, Paul Kelly, CEO of Fáilte Ireland, said: “2018 has been an exceptional year for tourism. Our latest estimates now show that we will have welcomed over 9.6m overseas tourists and 9.8m domestic trips this year, generating €7.8bn in revenue. 260,000 people are now estimated to be employed in the sector: an increase of 20,000 since 2017. The tourism industry is vitally important for Ireland, particularly when you consider that this growth in revenue and jobs is generated in parts of the country where many other major industries do not exist.” Kelly believes we should not become complacent. “The return to the 13.5% VAT rate will be a significant commercial challenge for tourism businesses, and the resulting upward price pressure could damage our international competitiveness. Brexit and the potential wide-ranging implications it may bring pose a major challenge for 2019. However, despite these challenges, there is plenty of cause for optimism in the sector: continued long term global growth in tourism; new market opportunities; our industry’s excellent international reputation; new accommodation capacity and tourism attractions; increased government investment in the sector; and further improvements to direct air access forecast for 2019.” Let’s hope that the industry, with its innate sense of survival, will continue to grow and prosper, and that the next government will see it as a real contributor to the exchequer and give it true recognition and support... not just lip service.

Cyril McAree editor

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news

NEWS Better bank on new Dublin hotel

Dublin’s newest hotel, Clayton Hotel Charlemont, is opening its doors on the banks of Dublin’s Grand Canal. Housed within the property are: 189 bedrooms, a fitness suite, six meeting rooms, two dining outlets, and a car park with space for 20 cars. The hotel, which features scenic views of the iconic Grand Canal throughout, has created 100 jobs and marks a €40m investment in the local area

Pot of gold Writers’ Tears Copper Pot, a unique take on the old Irish Pot Still Whiskey, is taking the world by storm. International fans include Katy Perry, who shared a snap of her drinking the Irish whiskey on her Instagram story, and Marta Kauffman, co-creator of Friends, who has a bottle in her office.

Hotel Kilmore gets with the programme

Dalata is delighted with new property

Hotel Kilmore has become the first venue in Cavan to complete Fáilte Ireland’s Accredited Services Excellence Programme. The Programme is aimed at helping tourism attractions and businesses reach the highest standards in customer care.

Dalata Hotel Group, owner of the Clayton and Maldron Hotel brands, has opened a Maldon Hotel in Kevin Street, Dublin. One of the newest hotels in Dublin City Centre, Maldron Kevin Street overlooks St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The hotel has 137 bedrooms, a Grain and Grill Restaurant, as well as Dalata Hotel Group’s own coffee brand: Red Bean Roastery.

Pictured are: Paul Henry, General Manager, Hotel Kilmore; Shane Raftery Fáilte Ireland; Kate and Ross Mealiff, owners of Hotel Kilmore. H&RT OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018

news

Merging forces

Bring out the bubbly

Great National Hotels and Resorts has announced the completion of its merger with The Hotel Partnership, one of the UK’s leading independent 4-star hotel groups. The merger unites the Great National Hotels and Resorts group with 135 hotels, making it one of the largest independent hotel services companies in Europe with over 8,150 bedrooms.

In light of its recent partnership with Moet & Chandon, Breaffy House Resort has hosted its first Moet & Chandon gala dinner. The event included a 5 course gourmet menu, together with Moet & Chandon Champagne, and was attended business and media professionals. It included the official launch of the newly designed Wine Cellar, where VIP guests were treated to a glass of Dom Perignon champagne.

Pictured are: Nicola Rhone, David Byrne, Paul Abson and Len Louis, of Great National Hotels and Resorts Group Limited.

True originals Pictured at the recent autumn meeting of Original Irish Hotels in Beech Hill Country House, Derry, were (l-r): Maire O Connor, Lough Inagh Lodge; Patrick O’ Flaherty, Ballynahinch Castle; Dara O’Connor, Lough Inagh Lodge; Ronan Cahill, Abbeyglen Castle. Original Irish Hotels is a collection of 60 individually-run hotels around Ireland.

Maldron gets the snip Maldron Hotel Sandy Road, Galway, has unveiled the results of an extensive €9m refurbishment programme. The hotel, owned and operated by Dalata Hotel Group, has extended its 104 bedroom capacity by 61 bedrooms and enhanced guest amenities such as Grain & Grill Bar and Restaurant, Red Bean Coffee Roastery, and business centre.

(l-r): John Hennessy, Dalata Hotel Group Chairman; Siobhan Burke, General Manager, Maldron Hotel Sandy Road, Galway; and Niall MacNelis, Lord Mayor of Galway.

Pleased to meat you Wexford-based Irish Country Meats, received the overall award at this year’s Bord Bia National Organic Awards 2018. The National Organic Awards are conducted every second year by Bord Bia in association with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

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news

Castle retreat Lough Eske Castle, Donegal’s only 5-star hotel, has been named the #8 hotel in Ireland in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2018 Readers’ Choice Awards. The awards showcase the top destinations in the world, with 429,000 people casting their vote in various categories on the website’s travel survey. The top three properties consisted of: The Westbury, Dublin; Ballyfin, Co. Laois; and The Lodge at Ashford Castle, Co Mayo.

A rare treat The 5 Star Adare Manor, recently declared as Hotel of the Year 2018 at the Virtuoso Best of the Best Awards in Las Vegas, has collaborated with Midleton Very Rare to release an exclusive single pot still Irish whiskey.

Fresh chapter for hotel reservations Bookassist’s V10 Mobile booking engine for hotels is producing results. “From the moment we moved onto Bookassist’s V10 Mobile booking engine we noticed an uplift on our mobile conversion figures,” said Valerie Steinbeck, Group Revenue and Ecommerce Manager, Gleneagle Hotel Group. “We’ve seen a remarkable increase in the number of bookings on this new platform, compared to what we traditionally received via our mobile channel.”

China ready Limerick Strand Hotel is one of the few Irish tourism businesses to complete Fáilte Ireland’s Get China Ready programme. The China Ready Programme is aimed at educating Irish tourism businesses about the opportunities available in the Chinese tourist market. It’s part of Fáilte Ireland’s work to assist tourism businesses with market diversification, and reduce the risks posed by Brexit. Pictured is Imelda Lineen (holding cert), deputy GM, Limerick Strand Hotel, and Stephen O’Connor, General Manager, receiving their certificates from Paul Keely, Director of Commercial Development, Failte Ireland (2nd from left).

Food diplomacy Flavour of Italy Group has been conferred the special award of the Order of the Star of Italy. The ceremony took place at the Italian Embassy in Dublin and the award was given by the Italian Ambassador Paolo Serpi, on behalf of the President of the Italian Republic. The group’s culinary delights can be found at Pinocchio Restaurant in Ranelagh, and Temple Bar, Dublin, and at the Italian Cookery School.

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news

Hello to Hellmann’s Hellmann’s has launched a range of condiments to support its existing sachet offering. The range includes a Real Mayonnaise Squeezy 8x430ml, Tomato Ketchup Squeezy 8x430ml, Smokey BBQ Sauce Squeezy 8x430ml and American-Style Yellow Mustard Squeezy 8x250ml. The range is made of quality ingredients, including sustainable tomatoes, free range eggs and we are committed to using sustainable oils. To celebrate the launch, foodservice operators can redeem a premium Hellmann’s branded caddy to present the four products, front of house. To redeem the merchandise, contact a local Unilever Food Solutions sales representative to find out more.

Irish foodservice reaches €8bn

Ireland’s foodservice market is set to grow by 6.1% this year, reaching a value of €8.2billion, according to Bord Bia.

Putting Irish food and drink on top of the Menu As part of the Taste of Place programme, the National Tourism Development Authority is hosting a series of nationwide workshops, bringing together visitor centres, attractions and distilleries, to highlight how providing visitors with locally sourced food can drive revenue growth. Recent workshops took place in the Tannery Dungarvan cookery school, Waterford, Airfield Estate, Dundrum, and at the Good Things Café Cookery School in Skibbereen.

Night porter signs off after 36 years at Newpark Newpark Hotel has bid farewell to Michael Wilkins, night porter, after a 36 year tenure. To thank him for his service, Newpark Hotel hosted a special breakfast party and an evening meal. From Northern Ireland - now living in Dunnamagin, Kilkenny - Michael has been an integral part of the night team in Newpark Hotel since 1982. Prior to that, he spent time working in England as a train driver, and as a worker for the Greyhound Racing Association.

Fully engaged PREM Group, which owns and operates over 50 hotels across Ireland, the UK, Belgium and France, recently celebrated excellence in hospitality at an awards night. The awards were part of the company’s Engage programme, which encourages entrepreneurialism within the company. The programme is the brainchild of Sarah Marr, the group’s HR Manager, and it began in the early part of this year by inviting employees to submit ideas and suggestions on how business, services, products and employee wellbeing, can be improved across the group.

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news

Fit for purpose Whole world in our hands Maura Fay and Samantha Houlihan, Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience; Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin; and Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, at World Travel Market in London.

Conrad Dublin has introduced a staff-only fully onsite gym, available from 6.30am to 10pm. The facilities include: free weights area, cardio equipment, multi-purpose use pulley rack, Olympic power cage with Olympic bar and disks, gym style rubber floor automatic A/C, cold water dispenser, towels and cleaning wipes. “It is important to invest in your staff, develop their interests with the hope of increasing their wellbeing in the workplace,” said Martin Mangan, General Manager.

Patrick’s Day Patrick Shields is the new General Manager of the five star Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore, County Waterford. Cork native Patrick has returned from Canada, where he was working with Northland Properties as GM of the five star Sutton Place Hotels since summer 2017. Prior to working in Canada, Patrick worked with the Talbot Collection, as GM of the Midleton Park Hotel, from February 2014 until July 2017. Before that he held senior roles in various Cork hotels.

CMY

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appointments

Making a meal of the Montenotte

Into the Westin for chef Brennan

Cliffs of Moher gets new board

Five star chef Raising glasses at for Dublin Ashford hotel Castle

Sarah O’Donovan has become Food & Beverage Manager at the Montenotte Hotel in Cork city centre. A Hotel & Catering Management graduate from NUI Galway, with postgraduate qualifications in HR from Dublin Institute of Technology, Sarah has over six years experience in the hotel and catering management in Ireland and France.

The Westin Dublin has announced the appointment of Dermot (Mo) Brennan as its new Executive Chef. Mo joins The Westin Dublin from The Shelbourne Hotel, where he was Chef de Cuisine for six years. Dermot worked as a Sous Chef in Queensland’s leading hotels and resorts, including the Millennium Hotel & Resort, In2food and the Hilton Resort and Spa.

Gabriela Gómez Quintana has taken on the role as Executive Head Chef at Conrad Dublin. Gabriela brings with her a wealth of international experience, having most recently being involved in the pre-opening of the 5 Star Deluxe Conrad Cartagena, Colombia. Gabriela has worked in senior roles at some of the world’s leading hotels, including: 5* Deluxe Conrad Tokyo, Conrad Algarve, and Hilton Bakú. Clare County Council has announced the appointment of new members to the Board of Cliffs of Moher Centre. Pictured (l-r): Donnacha Lynch, Acting Director, Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience; Councillor Bill Slattery; Councillor Richard Nagle; Pat Dowling, Chief Executive, Clare County Council; Bobby Kerr; Lisa Walshe; Edmund O’Connor; and Leonard Cleary, Director of Rural Development, Clare County Council. Pictured inset: Geraldine Enright, Dr. Deirdre O’Loughlin and Paul Keeley.

Healthy concerns

The Montenotte Hotel in Cork has announced the appointment of Jennifer McCarthy to the role of Spa Manager at the new Bellevue Spa and Style Suite. Jennifer has worked with leading global spa and beauty brands, including Elemis, Ionithermie, Le Therapie and Dermaviduals. She has held spa management roles in 5 star properties, including Maryborough Hotel & Spa and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

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Look what’s cooking Citywest Hotel’s The Woodlock Brasserie has appointed Stephen McDonald as Head Chef. The Tallaght native joins the team from Carton House in Kildare where he was Head Chef of the Clubhouse. Prior to Carton House, Stephen worked as a Sous Chef at An Crúiscín Lán in Spiddal, Connemara; Stix and Stones in Belfast; the Dylan McGrath’s Rustic Stone, Fade Street, and Brasserie Sixty6 in Dublin’s city centre.

Pierre Marie Faure is the new Head Sommelier at Ashford Castle Hotel. Pierre joins the team of 350 staff at the estate. Pierre brings over ten years experience within 5 star hospitality to his role. Prior to this appointment, Pierre was Head Sommelier at the 5 star Lanesborough Hotel in London and Head Sommelier at the 2 Michelin star Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud. In 2017, Pierre was awarded the Advanced Sommelier Certificate from The Court of Master Sommeliers.

Jurys reaches verdict on new HR boss Julieann Brennan as its new Head of HR at Jurys Inn. Julieann begins her new role with over 20 years of senior management experience in the hospitality industry, having held various roles throughout Jurys Inn. Most recently, Julieann was Senior Regional Operations Manager where she was responsible for 12 hotels across the Jurys Inn and Leonardo Hotels UK & Ireland. Prior to this, she held the position of Head of Franchise Hotels at Amaris Hospitality, and various Regional Operations Manager roles across the UK, Ireland and Prague.

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VAT

IHF President talks VAT Michael Lennon is the 37th President of the Irish Hotels Federation, the leading representative tourism body in Ireland representing almost 1000 hotels and guesthouses, businesses employing over 60,000 people throughout the country.

A fifth generation hotelier with over 25 years’ experience in the hotel sector, Michael and his wife, Joanne McEniff, co-own and run the Westport Woods Hotel in Mayo, which they bought over twenty years ago. We met with Michael recently and asked him about his reaction to the increase in VAT. “I’m very disappointed. This decision represents a reckless failure to recognise the economic importance of the tourism industry and its potential, particularly to rural Ireland. It’ll be very hard. We have the challenges of Brexit still in front of us, as well as increases in water rates, insurance and utilities. 9% was the correct rate. The industry helped to create 65,000 jobs since 2011 and the VAT rate at 9% has been critical to the industry recovery and creating that amount of employment”. However, despite the challenges that the VAT increase brings, the IHF is doing its best to support its members. Michael explains, “We’ve hosted seminars around the country in recent weeks to help our members manage the practical implications of the increase. Our members are facing significant challenges. There are 26 countries in the EU now who have a lower VAT rate than us. Brexit is already here and our members are feeling it”. The hotel industry has been blamed for the VAT hike by pushing prices up over the last number of year. But does Michael believe the criticisms aimed at the hotel industry are founded? “There is a perception that hotels in some areas are being blamed but really the criticisms were aimed at Dublin. Fáilte Ireland’s report confirmed that Dublin is a mid-value area by European standards. It was ranked at number 10 last year in price but number 1 in occupancy. Dublin has a shortage of hotel stock, including budget hotel rooms and that is being addressed. In the next 2 to 3 years there will be between 6,000-7,000 more bedrooms in Dublin. I think the main point about the VAT increase is not just that it is bad for hotels, it is bad for tourism. I think people who are critical of hotels and their pricing simply don’t understand the business model for hotels and the industry”.

The IHF has developed a strategy for tackling the regionality and seasonality of the business in an effort to counter-balance the Dublin – rest of the country divide. Michael explains, “we are working with Failte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the regional tourist boards, to help airports like Shannon and Cork to bridge the East – West divide. 84% of tourists who come into the country enter via Dublin airport, supporting regional airports will spread some of the imbalance”.

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VAT “In regions like Galway, Limerick and Cork we are bringing members together to start to see if they can form local communities to broker better deals for themselves to bring costings down. We are encouraging our members to work with chambers of commerce to get the best rates available in their communities. Coming together as an industry but also as local communities is crucial now and we are supporting our members to do this, we are stronger together”. Michael continues, “The government’s 2040 strategy involves ploughing almost €120billion into connectivity, transport systems and sustainable development. I think it’s crucial for our industry that we move towards a sustainable industry. We need to be thinking about raw resources, recycling and composting”. A native of Co Carlow, Michael is a graduate of the College of Catering, Cathal Brugha Street. He began his career in Chicago before returning to Ireland, where he initially worked with the Great Southern Hotel Group before joining Brian McEniff Hotels. Given Michael’s training and experience in the industry, does he believe that hospitality is viewed as a credible career choice today? “We want the hotel industry to be perceived as an employer of choice and we are committing significant resources to repositioning our industry. There are over 40 different career choices within a hotel e.g. sales and marketing, IT. Leisure, Spa and Beauty, chefing etc. at the moment as well as opportunities at skilled, semi-skilled and entry level. “Get a Life in Tourism”, our print magazine and online platform, for example, provides young people with information and support on the many career paths available. We also attend careers events and job fairs as well as hosting our own Tourism and Hospitality Careers Showcase”. “We also have a Commis Chef apprenticeship programme which nine Educational Training Board’s are delivering around the country. We are also recognising the contribution that employees make to our sector through initiatives such as National Accommodation Appreciation Day. Our staff are the best advocates for our sector.” Michael has been an active member of the Mayo branch of the Irish Hotels Federation for over twenty years and was heavily involved in the establishment of the Destination Westport marketing group, which has led to substantial public and private partnership investment in the town. He currently serves as a member of the Federation’s National Executive Council and prior to his election was Vice-President. Finally, we asked Michael his views on the future of the industry? “The bottom line is we have insufficient economic data on the tourism industry in Ireland. What we need is a tourism satellite account within the Central Statistics Office to provide a full economic analysis. The Department of Tourism and the Department of Finance are saying they want it but we have no time frames for it. Then we would have a clear picture of the value of Tourism to the country and we could work from that”. “I am very positive. The overall competitiveness of the Irish tourism product is critical along with providing a product and service that are consistently impressive. We have great people within the tourism industry and I see great opportunities if we develop sustainable practices, overcome the regionality issue, and maintain a strong customer focus.”

“

I’m very disappointed. This decision represents a reckless failure to recognise the economic importance of the tourism industry

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Recruitment

Why You’ll Never Recruit

Really Good People By Grace Gallagher

No matter how often we make the wrong appointments, it never fails to astonish when the mistakes are repeated. Yet, how often has someone whispered to you “Do you know a really good ‘x’ person? I’m hiring”

The first mistake is “really good”. If they are really good, it’s unlikely they are available. If they are, isn’t there likely to be a reason? Isn’t that reason worth investigating? Unfortunately, many businesses recruit with little or no regard for several key factors. In no particular order, but based on long experience, here’s my view and naturally, my view is not prescriptive, it’s just that - my view; You are recruiting to fill a job, not to understand the real talent of the person in front of you. As an employer, your track record in hiring and firing is not good. An on-line world allows everyone to report and have an opinion. You expect incredible results from someone new but you don’t trust them. ‘No trust’ is not compatible with ‘incredible work’. Your track record recruits ‘ordinary’ which isn’t going to appeal to the extraordinary. You tell them their future (and all about you) rather than ask what they want. You focus on the 5% that niggles you but don’t develop the 95% that’s great. You expect unbreakable loyalty after week 1. But warn others to “Keep an eye on ...” You’ve often recruited ‘good’ but didn’t invest in ‘great’.

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You created doubt at the interview. You told them what you wanted from the role but forgot to ask them what they wanted from you. You focused on emotion without track record. You focused on track record without emotion. As a professional, you let your emotions out and we saw it even if we said nothing. You didn’t ask the important questions or take time to get under their skin and sit with them. You just ‘assumed’ You relied totally on ‘instinct’. You wrote things you shouldn’t have but they were entombed in their mind ... and in print. You talked lots but did you listen? You didn’t hear what they didn’t say. You didn’t see what they did. You thought you held all the Aces. You assumed they needed you more than the other way around. You didn’t ask meaningful questions.

Recruitment You didn’t invest in training and development and weren’t going to do it now. You couldn’t articulate a clear vision for the company let alone their job. You kept talking money. You told them “You’ll decide shortly” but you forgot they would too. You didn’t understand the importance of collaboration. You didn’t understand Generation Y and Gen Z You role played at the interview because you were out of your depth. You saw the interview as a Gladiatorial Arena and told them competitors were a threat. They were too smart for you. They threatened your well feathered nest. You simply didn’t excite them enough to see where they’d add a spark. You see, really good people want to be challenged, trusted, respected, developed, a part of something important. They want to achieve, succeed, push, climb and scale. They have no interest in ego, anger, games and more. They simply want to do good work and make a difference. Money is a measure but it’s rarely the goal. For the really good people you’re looking for, it’s far more complex. But, if you want to be average or simply good, then you don’t have to change much. Thing is, really good people are never good or, worse still, average.

“

If you think hiring professionals is expensive, try hiring amateurs - Anonymous

”

Grace Gallagher is Managing Director of Conor

Kenny & Associates, a professional development, training and direct consultancy company focused on helping you get the best from your people, strategy and business which she joined in 2007.A former award winning hotel General Manger Grace is an honours graduate of Cathal Brugha Street with a degree in Business Studies as well as Hotel Management, she began her career with the Great Southern Hotel Group before moving to the Jury’s Hotel Group and was appointed General Manager of Bewley’s Hotel Glasgow in 2000. Since returning to Ireland, Grace General Manager of the Brandon House Hotel, Health Club & Spa and prior to her appointment at Conor Kenny & Associates, Grace was the opening General Manager of The Absolute Hotel in Limerick City.

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Industry

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 will meet some of those 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 Chad Byrne, Head Chef at the Brehon Hotel, Killarney and founder of the ChefCollab.

Why did you become a Chef?

Well, like most of us I fell in to it. I wasn’t cooking dinner over the stove with mammy and grandma’s secret recipe that’s for sure! I left home and school at 15 and started working as a kitchen porter just to pay rent, a means to an end really. After that I moved into contract catering where I met an amazing chef, Clive Wallace. He told me that I needed to push myself and that’s what I did! I took a chance and decided to go for an an interview at the Merrion Hotel. I was surprised when I got a call back to be honest. The first time I walked into the Merrion Hotel kitchen was the biggest eye opener for me as a young chef. From working in a back street Chinese restaurant to going into a kitchen like the Merrion was just incredible. How they presented food, how they worked, their work ethic and the pure adrenaline of the kitchen. It was the biggest learning experience I’ve encountered to this day! Their chef was a great mentor to me, hard as nails but by Jesus he was the man that took a punt on me and shaped my career. I always look for the underdog to do well, if you take the right punt on someone it can change their life.

What was your path to where you are today?

I have worked in a number of 5-star hotels and restaurants as well as Michelin star properties in London along the way. Then, I gave it all up and went labouring on the sites, where I found that I couldn’t handle it. Working fast was frowned upon by co-workers. It was chalk and cheese to a kitchen. I did fall out of love with the kitchen for a year, maybe it was a bad career move and a bad boss. The fact that I had friends on double the money, enjoying life and weekends off, I was envious, I’m hesitant to say. So, I packed it in. It was then that I realised I was ‘kitchenised’, if that’s even a word. Very quickly I realised that I’m at

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home in a kitchen. It’s hard to explain…chefs will know what I mean. I moved to Australia and that was a game changer. I fell back in love with the game. I saw how different it was in the kitchens in Melbourne compared to Dublin at that time. There was a very friendly, sharing of ideas, there was a willingness to help, and if there was an issue it was dealt with calmly and in control. These are the values that I have maintained since my time there and what I try to implement where ever I go. I’ve been working as head chef in The Brehon Hotel for 7 years. I was head hunted by Donagh Davern, who I spent time with in The Heritage Killenard and the Killarney Park almost 18 years ago. There is a lesson in that to any young chefs reading this, never burn your bridges as the industry is very tight knit.

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

Allowing people to execute their ideas. If it doesn’t work, so what! Learn from it. We learn a lot more from our mistakes and that will only make us better. For me, I believe that you really need to give your team trust, guidance and freedom to get the best from them, but a lot depends on me and how I inspire and strive to be better also. Good work and attitude

Industry are contagious, equally so bad work and negativity needs to be dealt with swiftly in order to run a proper kitchen.

Tell us about your team

I have a team of sixteen chefs here in the Brehon and eight Kitchen stewards. I have seven chefs who have been with me over six years. Two of those are chefs who left to gain experience elsewhere and have come back, one as a sous chef and another my pastry chef, which is quite humbling. It also makes for a good reputation. People should want to work for you. Every chef can pick and choose where they want to work now, but if you are good to your team people.

Have you seen a negative side to the industry?

Lots of people have worked in places where it’s the culture to spend 13 hours a day in a kitchen, getting paid minimum wage. Man, it really gets to me that this is acceptable and rife! Yes, I get that some places are amazing and that it takes hard work, but if you can’t afford to pay the going rate its the company that needs to adapt, not employees! Take off a few dishes, reduce your tasting menu… Now, a lot of people will say it’s about the passion and I get that, but a worklife balance is healthy.

How can we create a positive culture in their kitchen and in the industry as a whole?

By the joining the ChefCollab. I’m unashamedly throwing this in. We give chefs the opportunity to showcase their skills in a friendly, fun environment, supported by a group of like-minded individuals whose sole aim is to enable our young chefs to prosper in good working environment. We bring chefs from all different grades to cook together. Mentors and aspiring chefs are paired together on the night to develop and work on a set course chosen by themselves. Prior to the night, chefs would go to the mentor’s kitchens to learn new techniques or indeed a different style of cooking, as all chefs use different techniques. It is usually five chefs cooking on the night with a

five-course menu being served. The venue varies from month to month and we sell out weeks in advance. It’s great to share this and promote local venues whose premises may be otherwise quiet on a Monday. The food we serve is at the lowest possible price. I want young kitchen porters not to be priced out of amazing food. Young chefs who have families that can’t afford a lavish night out, this is for you. Good food is accessible to all and egos are parked at the door. The mentors serve the food on the night and proteges do all the cooking. It’s a great bit of craic and just done for pure love of the kitchen and wanting young chefs to do well!

BEING A CHEF….

What I love most is… Suppliers showing me their new produce, excellent food and of course a bit of banter with the crew. The biggest challenge is… paperwork! It will get done but God knows I always leave it to the last minute. What makes me the most proud is… looking around the kitchen and seeing how a lot of these guys started out as kitchen porters and now they can run sections well, have developed proper taste and a passion for cooking. That fills me with joy, I love it! The most difficult thing I have had to face is… being wheelchair bound for 7 months and not knowing if I was going to be able to cook again. The most rewarding thing I’ve done is… knowing that I won’t stop until the job is done and done right! I have the determination to drive on, it’s not a thing I’ve done it’s the mentality and the mindset I’ve made for myself. From a young lad on the street with no clear direction, knowing how far I’ve come makes me proud. I have learned that the wheel always turns, continue on the right track and mean well. It comes back to you! My greatest mentor has been… Ed Cooney and Clive Wallace My biggest inspiration is… My 3 girls My favourite place to eat is… One Pico, still knocking it out of the park. Casual & professional service with cracking food. Ciaran McGill is killing it up there! Something I would like to learn is… I would love to work in Takashi’s in Cork. The man is a genius and I would learn so much! If your reading ahem, free stage for a pint or two?

CHEF NETWORK SKILLNET

The training arm of Chef Network, launched in February of this year, is focussed on professional development and up-skilling of chefs to tackle skills gaps and challenges, and to contribute to retention of chefs in the industry. In its first year, Chef Network Skillnet has delivered over 45 training events for 450+ chefs. Chef Network Skillnet delivers subsidised training, tailored for chefs and to the meet the needs of industry, in the areas of Culinary, Business & Leadership skills, in a range of different formats; masterclasses, workshops, seminars, and with a strong emphasis on networking and peer-learning. Chefs, Training & HR Managers, Employers – Talk to us about being part of the Chef Network Skillnet and we can help you deliver your training plans for 2019. Email info@chefnetwork.ie & sign-up at www.chefnetwork.ie to keep up to date with our training and professional development events. Chef Network Skillnet is co-funded by Skillnet Ireland and member companies. Skillnet Ireland is funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Education and Skills.

Join CHEF NETWORK free today at www.chefnetwork.ie to connect, communicate and collaborate with your chef community H&RT OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018

Bookassist

A Timely Look At Online Travel Trends For 2019 Bookassist Digital Marketing Team

As the year draws to a close, the hotel industry is setting its sights on the future in an effort to align marketing plans with new and emerging trends. So what are the hot new trends? Before we dive in, it’s worth noting that while hoteliers are always keen to know what’s coming next, some get overexcited about new trends but have not properly adopted the more universal current trends. The benefits for hotels who choose to ride the online wave of innovation will be realised in more direct, higher-margin bookings. But make sure to get your fundamentals right and optimise today’s opportunities before embarking on shiny new directions.

Millennials and Gen Z

Buying power in the market is now dominated by Millennials and Gen Z who by 2020 will make up nearly 60% of the world’s global workforce 1. Millennials are much more interested in discovering something unique and personal, spending 70% more on experiences than purchasing physical items 2. Gen Z, known as the convenience generation, has never known a world without the internet. Always connected and always on, they are used to instant results and feedback. With short attention spans, they demand quick and pain-free user experiences. The message is clear. Experience is king. Luckily, hoteliers have a huge influence over generating customer experience. Hotels need to remember that they alone own their hotel 1 2 3

rooms, they alone own the in-stay experience, and they alone choose whether or not to own the customer relationship at the time of booking. This is the hotels’ unique advantage over online sales brands.

Mobile is set to explode. Again.

With download speeds 10 to 20 times faster than currently available, 5G will have a massive impact on mobile user behaviour and expectations. Video and augmented or virtual reality will become readily accessible. This will lead to huge changes in prebooking research, with users able to visualise themselves in a room rather than just looking through photos or a 360 degree tour. A mobile-first strategy must replace the “also available on mobile” approach. Google’s mobile-first indexing will reward hotels who invest in a mobile-first strategy and heavily penalise those that are not mobile friendly. No hotel can afford to ignore mobile as again online travel agents (OTAs) will be waiting in the wings for the easy pickings served to them by hotels that fail to prioritise a mobile-first strategy. Bookassist statistics show up to 60% of hotel website traffic coming from mobile (UK & IE)3. Transactions too have seen a jump for hotels who are mobile optimised. While revenue is still very much desktop-heavy, mobile revenue is rapidly rising. It’s also important to consider that the customer journey doesn’t always start on desktop and has multiple touchpoints. Ignore mobile optimisation at your peril.

https://www.manpowergroup.com/wps/wcm/connect/660ebf65-144c-489e-975c-9f838294c237/MillennialsPaper1_2020Vision_lo.pdf https://www.meero.com/en/news/society/91/6_Ways_The_Hotel_Industry_Should_Target_Millennials_1 https://bookassist.org/blog/post/mobile-revenue-continues-to-grow-in-q3-2018-are-you-prepared/en/

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Bookassist Augmented and Virtual Reality

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) will be further enabled by 5G network rollout. While VR replaces the real-world environment with a virtual one and requires wearable technology such as a VR headset, AR adds to the real-world environment by introducing digital components into reality which users can access with a smartphone. This makes AR a more realistic goal for hoteliers4. Some hotels are already using AR to enhance their brochures which, when scanned by mobile, can jump to life. AR-enabled wall maps allow guests to explore local points of interest before venturing out. AR can even be used to augment the hotel environment itself to make it a more enjoyable experience. There is huge opportunity here for hotels to enhance both the pre-stay and in-stay experience for their guests.

hotel industry is increasingly adopting these assistants to enhance the in-stay experience. In-room voice assistants and the Internet of Things is being used to enhance the guest experience. We can now simply speak to easily adjust room features to suit personal needs such as controlling lights, heating etc. Voice commands can also be used to schedule a wake-up call, play a favourite playlist, order room service, request towels, and report faults. The implications for hyper personalisation and customer service are significant. AI-enabled robots equipped with speech recognition technology are already being used by some hotels such as Yotel to greet guests, answer basic queries and deliver room service. It’s still very early days, but expect to see lot more robots in your travels in future years.

Video Will Dominate

Voice Search

Hotels need to future-proof their businesses now by investing in relevant, informational and entertaining video content and video advertising. Google estimates that video will account for 80% of all media consumed online by 2021. While video, and video advertising, may be more expensive to generate, the cost of not investing in video will become plain very soon.

The shift to voice search has implications for digital marketers who need to tailor their SEO and content strategy to match with voice search. To be optimised for voice search, you first need to assess the intent of likely queries. Is the user likely to ask general questions indicating that they are not very far into the purchase path, or questions that indicate they are almost ready to book? Next, you need to see how your content might answer the various questions you anticipate. Is your content conversational and likely to provide a good and clear answer?

Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence

A well-written FAQ page is a good way to address voice search. Other areas to look at include adding schema markup to your

Millennials and Gen Z access more content by video than any other form. Information transfer from video is also significantly higher, since people today are more likely to watch than read, especially on mobile. It’s worth remembering that in terms of search volume, YouTube is now the world’s second largest search engine. And it’s not just YouTube - Facebook generates 8 billion video views on average per day and certainly can’t be ignored. The advent of 5G access will just make this an even more important medium.

The most widely implemented form of artificial intelligence (AI) in travel is in the form of chatbots. Many hotels already have a live chat on their websites but chatbots have automation at their core and can deliver rapid response times to common problems or queries, freeing hotel staff to focus on more personalised service.

Statistics around voice search are dramatic. According to Comscore, 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020. And about 30% of searches will be done without a screen by 2020 according to Mediapos. There is no doubt that there is a solid trend away from traditional text-based search.

An intelligent chatbot is further able to improve itself through machine learning based on its interactions with customers over time. At the moment most chatbots are text based, although this will change as voice queries increase. Some of the key things to look for in choosing a chatbot service are: • The ability to ‘teach’ your chatbot by adding personalised questions and answers • Multilingual options • Self-learning through machine learning so that the chatbot can improve itself • Availability on all devices • Option to connect with live chat when necessary • Option to arrange a follow up or call back when an answer is not available • Most importantly, the facility to provide information that can facilitate a booking. Chatbots can integrate with booking engine APIs so that rates and availability can be provided to customers, and Bookassist has already completed such integrations (for example with Colossal Factory’s chatbot Zoé).

Digital Voice Assistants

There has been a surge in digital voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri and Microsoft Cortana, and the

https://www.augment.com/blog/augmented-reality-applications-for-hoteliers/

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Bookassist content to help it appear in featured snippets on Google results, optimising your Google My Business page, and ensuring your site is mobile friendly and fast to load.

Visual Search

Visual Search has been around for quite a while, but it is starting to gain more traction, particularly since the launch of tools such as Pinterest Lens and Google Lens which allow users to point a smartphone at an object and access information about it. It is also possible to search by image on Google on desktop, by clicking in the camera icon in the search box. To prepare for the shift towards visual search, hotels need to examine their visual content strategy. High quality and engaging imagery, preferably quite unique, consistency across all platforms and presence on key visual platform such as Instagram and Pinterest are basic requirements. Consider your role both as a content creator and a curator of images. If you come across great images of your property on Instagram or Pinterest you should repost on your hotel’s account and also approach the owners and ask for permission to use them on your website. Opportunities to appear in visual search present themselves across the entire customer journey, so don’t limit yourself to images in and around your property. A good quality image of a local attraction added to a blog post about things to do in your area could potentially appear for a user who is researching their next trip.

Exploring new markets - China

The number of Chinese tourists to Europe surged by 65% in the first half of 2017 year on year5. The growth in the number of visas being issued for Chinese travel to Europe further underlines this growth6 with almost 2.5M visas issued in 2017, compared to 1.2M just 5 years earlier. Before deciding to target the Chinese market, consider that Independent travellers from China are rare as it is more typical for Chinese visitors to have visas and travel arranged by a tour operator. In targeting the Chinese market, look for options that don’t require a huge initial investment. An example would be a meta search platform such as Wego, which has strong visibility in China and which can be accessed for you by Bookassist Meta Search services. If you start to see good results, then it may be worthwhile investigating other platforms and making a firmer commitment to advertising on them and localising content.

Recognition Technology

Recognition technology has hit the hotel space and is increasingly being used in a bid to enhance personalisation and significantly improve customer service. Recognition technology includes biometric identifiers such as facial recognition, fingerprint recognition and retina scanning. Some hotels are already adopting this technology to create a more frictionless guest experience, for example room access via fingerprint, or seamless check in via facial recognition. In a time-poor world, friction reduction is something that guests will increasingly appreciate. The hotel of the future will adopt this technology to personalise the experience to an extent never seen before.

Blockchain

Blockchain is a highly secure digital approach to recording data

5 6

http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/23/WS5a66a168a3106e7dcc135f76.html https://www.statista.com/statistics/885942/european-schengen-visas-issued-in-china/

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changes and transactions. Think of it as a ledger but each digital block of a record is encrypted, and each subsequent block has a link to the previous block in that ledger, along with a timestamp and information on the transaction or change. These blocks of data cannot be overwritten, leaving a permanent immutable record and making the data extremely difficult to compromise. Blockchain technology is still in its infancy in terms of mass market adoption, but there are already foreseeable uses in the hotel industry. For example, the travel industry relies upon client information being passed between multiple different companies. Blockchain technology can make accessing and storing this client information much more secure, reliable and seamless, improving the travel experience and making customers feel more secure with their bookings and sharing their personal data The issue remains market adoption. Blockchain is not free, and it certainly is not fast to use in terms of transaction speeds. The technology is getting there, but it has to be widely utilised to start disrupting industries, including hospitality.

Out With The Old For Measuring Success

The traditional method of looking at return on investment (ROI) per medium in isolation is no longer relevant. it only measures the impact of one channel but ignores the overall contribution to success. We need to look at total revenue uplift and different attribution models to measure overall contribution of all paid platforms combined. There are many different attribution models available, but understanding how attribution works is essential before deciding on a multi-channel model. A simple analogy to help explain it is this: If a player scores a goal, should they get 100% of the credit for that goal, or should the defender who passed to midfield who then passed it across to the eventual scorer also receive credit for assisting? In this analogy, if you decide the goal scorer should get 100% of the credit, then you have no need for the other players. Clearly this doesn’t happen, so in an advertising scenario, it equally doesn’t make sense to remove all the platforms that assisted in your final conversion and rely simply on the campaign that got the last click. Measuring the value of each channel is not easy, but tools such as Google Analytics have improved how they report on assisted conversions and attribution, so this should be your first step.

Bottom Line

There has never been so much new technology coming down the line. Each year brings more and more opportunities for the future. But it is critical to optimise the opportunities you already have right now. Today, there is no stronger direction to take than to focus on mobile. Most of the future technologies will rely heavily on the mobile channel, so ensuring you already have an optimised presence there will allow you to build in the newer technologies as they arrive and not be playing catch-up in the future.

Bookassist (www.bookassist.com) is the multi-awardwinning technology and digital strategy partner for hotels worldwide. Bookassist is The Direct Booking Expert™ and is a Google Premium Partner.

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Wherever you are H&RT OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018

Tax Brakes

2018

Year of government Tax Brakes

2018 – another bumper year in the annals of the Irish Tourism industry. There were record numbers and impressive statistics all around. Every analysis of the situation from just about every conceivable angle produced buoyant figures and beautiful curves. This, everyone one had to conclude, was one stunning beauty of a tourism season. But even some time before this year was ended, there were already signs on the horizon that the élan of this majestic creature was about to be curtailed. There’s an old joke about an American tourist who walks into a seafood restaurant in Ireland and points out to the owner with some concern that there is no lid on the lobster tank. “Oh, that’s all right,” replies the restaurateur. “Those, you see, are Irish lobsters – as soon as one of them gets close to climbing out of the tank, the others drag him back down to the bottom.” If the objective of having a ministry concerned with tourism (or indeed of having a recognised tourism industry at all) is to nurture and develop the sector, then the very last thing you’d expect from a sitting Minister is that he would talk about putting the brakes on the progress of the industry. Yet that is precisely what Minister Shane Ross did back in September when he first made noises about stopping Dublin hotels from raising their prices. He announced that the 9% VAT rate would have to be examined again with a view to raising it. He said so in a tone of voice that seemed to indicate as inevitability the fact that that VAT rate in the tourism sector would be going up again. The least that anyone working in tourism would have expected was that he de would use his position to defend such a bad and regressive idea. Instead, he voiced his betrayal of his very role, loudly and clearly. Then, when representatives of the sector dared to question him and berate him for his lack of loyalty to the sector over which he is handsomely paid by the tax-payer to preside, he stormed away in a huff. All this Banana-republic style of mis-management of our largest indigenous industry would be comical if it weren’t so very serious. Few observers foresaw just how swiftly and completely the move would have been to raise the VAT rate once again. We now find ourselves at the highest end of the graph in terms of the percentage of VAT we charge our customers in the tourism sector. After years of survival and graft in the tourism industry, we as a nation have finally produced something of beauty. Just as this creature was about to emerge from the lobster tank, it was dragged back down in one shocking and efficient movement to keep it where it belonged. The twisted logic used by the Minister for Finance comes courtesy of a report carried out by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES). In their introduction, the authors (comprising two civil servants and one former civil servant) of the report note that “isolating the contribution of the 9% VAT rate alone” to the sectors affected was “challenging.” It certainly proved challenging for these bean-counters who regarded the VAT reduction as a “cost” estimated at €2.6 billion which produced

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“limited benefits”. If the production of 35,000 extra jobs in seven years is considered limited, then the whole argument is in the realms of some kind of mathematical fantasy. Just imagine if the likes of Google or Apple had produced such employment figures: they would be rewarded with miniscule tax rates. One of the most telling graphs from the report is that since the 9% VAT rate introduction in 2012, VAT receipts have risen every single year. Is this because the VAT rate is at the correct level? Another interesting statistic is that of the percentage of the national VAT take. While most of the VAT collected by Revenue that was charged between 2009 and 2014 has come from the 23% sector, it is the 9% sector that has grown in recent years, increasing from 12% of the overall take in 2012 to representing 14% of the total VAT haul in 2013 and 2014.The report leaves the Department of Finance to draw any conclusions it wishes in terms of policy making. The very clear conclusion to be drawn from this, however, is that not only has the tourism sector been performing above and beyond expectation, its contribution as a percentage of the overall VAT revenue has also been increasing. It is only the most narrow-minded assessment, therefore, that would conclude anything but a correct rate was being applied to the sector – on that kept our tourism industry competitive and which was clearly helping to stimulate growth. One of our disadvantages with regard to our competitor countries has been a perception that Ireland is expensive. The recalibration of the VAT rate – taken as a temporary measure in 2011 during times of desperation – has proven itself to have been an accidental master stroke in terms of making our tourism industry more competitive and helping to place us at the forefront of dynamic tourism industries in Europe.

“

It is a serious jolt to the industry. The 9% rate, we believe, was the right rate.

”

Tax Brakes German-based international hotel search website Trivago, hotel prices in Dublin actually decreased by some 14% between October 2017 and October 2018. That is a clear demonstration that the Dublin hotel sector was beginning to get to grips with the supply problem. The VAT increase wipes that particular statistic out in one move. It is, however, the more long-term effects of the increase that will really count. It is in three or four years hence that the main flock of chickens will return to roost. Whatever the effects in the capital city, it is in the rest of the country – the Leitrims, Donegals, Limericks, Roscommons and Tipperarys – that the sudden price hikes are likely to wreak the most havoc. Just as the success of culinary hotspots like County Cork (now suddenly boasting three Michelin-starred restaurants) has finally established itself, the anti-tourism Government move threatens to disestablish much of what has been gained. “I full concur with food critic Lucinda O’Sullivan that increasing the VAT has been like ‘slapping the industry in the face for a job well done’,” says Deirdre McGlone of landmark Donegal hotel Harvey’s Point. “We’re deeply disappointed that despite proactively engaging with our local government representatives via the IHF, RAI and IBEC, and directly, that our concerns were not heeded. There’s no doubt that the VAT increase represents a failure by the government to recognise the importance and economic potential of tourism, particularly in rural Ireland.” With regard to her own business on the north-western fringes of the Wild Atlantic Way and just 15km from the UK border, she describes it as “already travelling against a headwind with the uncertainty around Brexit, exchange rate fluctuations, increases in business costs such as insurance, rates, oil and wages.

Deirdre McGlone, Harvey’s Point The sudden jump back up to 13.5%, therefore, has come as a deep shock and flies in the face of any sane analysis. In the course of the same budget, it must be added, there has been no change to much less important sectors that have been deemed sacred cows of sorts by previous administrations. While the gambling industry (hardly a paragon of virtue or job creation) was hit with an increase of 1% to add to their incredibly low rate of 1%, the bloodstock industry remains one of those darling sacred cows that no government dares interfere with lest its small cohort of millionaires be disturbed. The Government have claimed that they hope to earn €466 million in 2019 by extracting money out of the tourism industry. If they had applied 13.5% on the bloodstock industry, they would have extracted €2.25 million in one weekend alone from the yearling sales in October alone (based on the circa €50 million’s worth of published sales at Goff’s).

“We want to reinvest and grow the business to make it an all-year-round one but this short-sighted strategy by the Government puts all of that in question. In rural Ireland, hotels and restaurants may be forced to move backwards, close during the off-season and halt any investment. This, in turn, will lead to reductions in head count and less working hours for staff during the winter months.” “It was a shock to us,” says Michael Lennon, current President of the Irish Hotels Federation and who owns and runs the Westport Woods Hotel with his wife Joanne McEniff. “I know that the Minister suggested that he had been reviewing it but we thought that the report that came out in July-August from

The VAT increase in the tourism sector represents a tax hike that is approximately four times the rate of inflation. The industry has taken some years to get to this point and in one fell swoop, the brakes are being applied. Nobody can accurately predict what is going to happen next. It’s all mere speculation but it doesn’t take a genius to conclude that the effects will be negative and that they will most certainly undermine the progress achieved so far. Even in what is arguably the most difficult of areas – the hotel sector in Dublin – progress has been made against the odds and this has been a clear beneficiary of the 9% VAT rate. This is a particular sector that has really struggled in recent years to keep up with the demand while supply of new hotel beds became an acute problem. According to the most recent statistics from

Michael Lennon, current President of the Irish Hotels Federation

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Tax Brakes to him to what extent a VAT rate hike will have on Ireland’s largest indigenous industry. “The Minister for Finance said that it was going to gather another €460 million on Budget Day and we believe that over €300 million of that is going to come from the regions and this is going to be hard for those businesses that are on the breadline already. I don’t know how they’re going to pay for it. There will be lost opportunities. They won’t be reinvesting in the indigenous economy and it’s going to jeopardise the growth because people won’t be able to put money into renewals as they have been over the last six or seven years.” What about businesses that, anecdotally are already reported to be hiking up their rates to compensate for the upcoming VAT hike? After all, with many hotels and restaurants having secured bookings and tied down prices for 2019, they may find themselves under pressure to make up the shortfall?

Sean Lally - Hotel Woodstock the Department was flawed in its measurements. It was more based on the consumer based index in Ireland rather than on the international visitor, who is worth three times as much - €6 million per year rather than €2 million. “It is a serious jolt to the industry. The 9% rate, we believe, was the right rate. There has been great growth in the industry, particularly in the rural economy and places like the Border counties, Roscommon and Mayo, where I’m based myself. We would be amongst the 65-70% of premises outside of the main tourism areas where the 9% VAT rate really helped increase employment. There have been another 65,000 people employed in tourism over the last ten years across the board…. Looking at it one way, the tourism sector is bringing in taxes of around €2 billion a year, so we’re supplying a hospital. “From a competitive point of view, we’re now going to have 26 competitors (countries) with a lower VAT rate than us. Even a few months ago, our Taoiseach was quoted as saying that our 9% VAT rate was a correct one so we’re really shocked – particularly when we have our Taoiseach who is a previous Minister for Tourism coming out with that type of commentary. “The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister of Finance are all aware that this move is coming at a time when Brexit is fast approaching – only next March. But we already have a Brexit: the Border counties have already been affected by Brexit. The drop in the value in Sterling by 20% has affected particularly the Border counties. For anywhere north of that line from Dublin to Galway, it’s damning and it just doesn’t make any sense putting another tax on top of their current difficulties.” He adds that it’s important for Dublin-based hotels and restaurants to remain competitive too. He is, perhaps, being somewhat kind in describing the Tourism Minister Shane Ross and his Junior Minister Pat O’Shea as having “put up a good fight to retain the 9% VAT rate” but disagrees with Ross’ assertion that Dublin hotels are overpriced: “I don’t believe that they are,” he says – a point backed up by the afore-mentioned Trivago statistics. “I don’t think that he has his facts right there and we’ve told him that… We’ve called on him to give us some kind of derogation to go and meet the Minister for Finance and try to make it clear

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“Some hotels I know had dropped their prices with certain companies when the VAT went down to 9% and they might be looking for that back now, but many places will just absorb it as they look at their cost structure. We, the IHF, are urging everyone to look at their cost structures. We give seminars and help out in this area quite frequently. “ Over in Ennis, Seán Lally is manager and co-owner of the 4-star familyrun Hotel Woodstock. His is a business that knows too well about the kind of disproportionately negative effect that the VAT rate hike will have, the news of which he heard with shock and disappointment: “It’s a kick in the teeth,” he says. “I believe that Minister Ross is asleep at the wheel. He’s the worst tourism minister we’ve had and we’re so unlucky to have him heading up our tourism industry. The sooner he’s replaced, the better. “It really is the wrong time to increase the VAT rate on food accommodation by 50%. It’s just absolutely terrible, particularly for regional hotels that haven’t experienced the same levels of growth as maybe some of the Dublin properties. It seems to be a case of ‘one size fits all’, it isn’t warranted and it will certainly have a serious impact on a lot of hotels, restaurants and bars around the country. I’m very disappointed in the Government. I think they seriously misjudged the situation.” Lally says that since taking over the Hotel Woodstock in Ennis two years ago, he and his wife have invested their life savings in the enterprise and he describes the VAT rate hike as a “seriously blow” “It really is worrying… We didn’t envisage it and there’s so much uncertainty out there with Brexit at the moment. UK visitors are our biggest customers and we also get a lot of American customers through Heathrow and Shannon. Now we’re facing a time when we don’t know if there are going to be tariffs facing people coming into the country. We just don’t know what to expect.” He points out that making it more awkward and expensive for people to get in and out of the country has the potential to cause huge difficulties for a business like his which is very dependent on people transiting through the area and coming into the area from abroad. He also wonders how businesses are going to cope when they are hit with a cost increase (of the minimum wage with which he fully agrees) and a VAT rate increase in the same day. “I fully agree with a minimum wage increase but when you’re hit with a 4.5% VAT increase on the same day… A lot of businesses would have pre-sold to clients at rates that didn’t include this increase and so to be told all of a sudden that you have this additional cost from the 1st of January… I really feel aggrieved at this. “We collected something like €2 billion in tax revenue this year. Had the situation remained the way it was, we were on target to deliver annual tax receipts of €2.7 billion by 2025.” Nobody in the hotel and tourism sector can make any sense of the VAT hike. From every corner of this industry, it’s seen as an illogical and counter-productive move. Which begs the question: where does such thinking come from? Perhaps it has something to do with lobsters climbing out of tanks…

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fáilte interview

Sustaining Tourism’s Success With early estimates predicting a bumper year for the Irish tourism industry with rising revenue and visitor numbers, we speak to Paul Kelly, CEO of Fáilte Ireland following the national tourism authority’s launch of their Plans for 2019, on perceptions that the industry is undervalued, rising costs, VAT increases and Brexit and how he feels that despite the challenges, there is still lots of cause for optimism in the sector with continued long term global growth, new market opportunities and increased investment and resources available. “The positives certainly outweigh the negatives,” Paul Kelly says, preferring to focus on the circa €17 million that Fáilte Ireland have been allocated out of an allowance of €35 million courtesy of the recent National Budget. It’s money that can and will be put to good use in the tourism industry. Fáilte Ireland now have money specifically earmarked to help combat the effects of Britain’s chaotic departure from the EU. “Since the British referendum took place, we have put in place our ‘Get Brexit-Ready’ programme and we’ve used an expert advisory panel of key players from industry sectors to help us shape that programme,” say Kelly. “We’ve had about 1,500 businesses across the country engage with us. We’ve been offering conferences and training and various programmes to help get businesses ready for Brexit. The areas that we’ve been trying to train people on revolve around that combination of how to retain UK business, how to continue to offer value for money as the Sterling drop has challenged our pricing and also market diversification. Up until this year, we’ve been diverting funds from other areas, now thanks to the Budget increase we’ve got, we’ll be able to invest significant extra money in this area.” Roughly half of the €17 million figure will be allocated to capital projects (49 large ones, according to Kelly, as well as circa 47 smaller projects) with the remaining €8.5 million going to current spending, the lion’s share of which (circa €4.5 million) will be diverted towards Brexit-proofing our tourism industry. All of which begs the question once more: Does our tourism industry get the attention and care that it deserves?

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“In short, no,” says Kelly. “I don’t think it does. It’s getting better, for sure, as time goes on. The really strong growth that we’ve had in tourism over the last four to five years has been rapid and recent so the reputation of the industry and the importance of the sector in public perception has yet to catch up with reality. The importance of tourism to the economy is probably even more marked now, particularly in relation to the share of employment. I don’t think that the share of employment has ever been as high as it is now. We’re saying that we’re going to end the year with about 260,000 people employed in the sector; which is a job score of about 20,000 in one year. The nature of the industry too means that it hasn’t been as organised or as powerful a lobby group as some of the other industries have been.” “There is a job for the entire sector to ensure that people appreciate how important tourism is to the economy and to society – particularly how the value that tourism can add to balanced regional development.” A lot of effort will be put into continuing to spread the tourism return geographically and chronologically, as well as bolstering the message of Ireland as a gastronomic destination. “There’s a lot of really good stuff going on with food trails and an increase in Michelin stars and local craft producers up and down the country… Each of these initiatives on their own lack enough scale to get real international impact. As part of our plans for 2019 we are developing a ‘Month of Food’ which will bring all of these efforts together into one cohesive programme that can be sold to international visitors and tour operators. What we’re seeing is that when people have been to Ireland, their rating of the Irish food offering is very good but before they come here, their pre-conception is still quite poor. One of the other great challenges that the tourism industry is facing is that of the skills shortage, particularly in relation to chefs. The roars of concern from various key players in the industry calling on the Government to address this chronic problem continue so what does the CEO of Fáilte Ireland see as a solution to this problem? “We’re currently supporting two apprenticeship programmes – commis chef and chef de partie apprenticeships that we’ve been heavily involved in getting up and running, working with the industry and the educational institutions as well as with the IHF, the RAI, SOLAS and the ETBs… “We believe this apprenticeship model will lead to more sustainable employment. It ensures real buy-in from the employer, the employee and from the educational institutions. In addition to that, we’re spearheading the establishment of a tourism careers oversight group to be chaired by Fáilte Ireland with membership made up of all relevant industry associations and educational providers. Through that, we’ll be doing various things such as promotion of careers in tourism – we’ll be looking at better ways to connect employers with potential employees as well as looking at other practical solutions to provide sustainable employment growth.

fáilte interview

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The final thing is value for money. Once again, this is a lesson from the crash – that we really need to remember and learn; we must continue to offer value for money.

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“It’s really important in this space, though, that industry take a leadership role and take steps to make their business attractive to employees and retain and develop employees. Our commitment is to maintain and support that activity, but the lead has got to be taken by the employer.” Another area that will promote collaboration across the industry is local authorities involvement at the very heart of managing initiatives within the local tourism offering, and which Paul Kelly also sees as a key component to future success. The Tourism Leadership Group – set up in 2015 – will be tapping into this important resource, he says: “The role of local authorities in developing the tourism product on the ground is absolutely massive. The CCMA (City and County Managers Association) sit on the Tourism Leadership Group. The previous Junior Minister O’Donovan was a driving force behind getting each local authority to produce a tourism strategy. Some local authorities have been in this space for a long time but there are some that haven’t really been in it at all. The other thing is that the idea of local authorities getting that economic mandate for their area is a relatively recent addition to their remit… In the last two years (of his role as CEO), I’ve seen a significant increase in the engagement of local authorities in the tourism agenda the length and breadth of the country. So what can the industry itself do to assist in the good fight being led by Fáilte Ireland? “When you take a broader view, Ireland is faring well. When you look in the round, despite the VAT increase, Irish government policy in tourism benchmarks well against international comparisons. However, there are a few things I would say: The first is to continue to do more to in the area of co-operation with one another, including those who seem to be your competitors. When the industry players collaborate and work together to promote the area and promote their destination, it becomes much easier for the likes of ourselves and Tourism Ireland to help them because what they’re bringing to the market becomes a much more powerful and cohesive offering. “The second element of importance is market diversification. Get out into international markets. There’s still too much of the tourism offering in Ireland that is reliant on the domestic market and the GB market and that means it’s prone to risk… I can’t stress strongly enough to all businesses to get out into other markets

and ensure that a good portion of your market is coming from countries like France, Italy, Spain... We’ve also have Far-Eastern markets coming on stream, so diversify and get more business from other markets. Those businesses that can diversify, can not only increase their yield but they also end up less exposed to risk. “The final thing is value for money. Once again, this is a lesson from the crash – that we really need to remember and learn; we must continue to offer value for money.” “Our value-for-money ratings are declining as a result of both domestic price increase and the currency fluctuations. Additional challenges including the VAT increase wage inflation and fuel costs are also pushing pricing in the wrong direction. I would really say to the industry – do what you can to maintain the value for money that you feel your customers are getting from your business because if that value for money rating deteriorates too much, it’s really hard over the long term to get it back.” With all of these challenges ahead, does the CEO feel that the broadlywelcomed plans in the just-published “Sustaining Success” blueprint for 2019 are achievable? “Yes they are,” he says confidently. “We’re committed to and passionate about delivering them. They’re ambitious; they’re stretching and will require a lot of help and co-operation from all of our stakeholders in order to deliver them… we have momentum in the industry: despite the challenges, we have a number of very positive elements such as the increased air access and there is still growth to be had there. Globally, tourism is pretty much an unstoppable force and although there will be humps and bumps from year to year, the long term is going to be there and the profile of that growth favours markets like Ireland; where less people are looking for the sunny holiday and for a more culturally enriching holiday and that very much suits markets like Ireland.” On the point of market diversification, is it not about time that the tourism industry adopted a firm language policy? Given the fact that some 76% of the students who pass through the secondary school system study French, that we have just joined the Francophonie (French-speaking international organisation) and that France will shortly be our nearest EU neighbouring country, should Fáilte Ireland not go all-out to tap deeper into this market of 67 million people? “France is an important market for us and one we’re keen to grow, but we do have other markets that are also important… In general, we would really like to see the language capability in Ireland improved. We invest quite a bit of money through our small grants scheme towards improving availabilities of languages including French… but I wouldn’t say that we should focus on exclusively developing the French language from a tourism point of view but we should be mindful of the positives that increasing our capabilities in languages can bring.”

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Chef News

Irish Chef Competes for Title of

“Best Young Chef in Europe”

at the 2018 European Young Chef Award Galway chef Andrew Ishmael will represent Ireland in the European Young Chef Award in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Galway on the 25th and 26th of November.

natural for the classic combination of mackerel and horseradish cream to be the inspiration for my dish. I am very proud to be representing Ireland, and the West of Ireland in particular, in the European Young Chef Award and to have the opportunity to showcase the quality produce and rich food culture we have here in Ireland. I am looking forward to introducing this to the other contestants, as well as learning about their food traditions.”

Young chefs from across Europe will gather in Ireland for the final of the European Young Chef Award 2018, which is taking place in Galway as part of Galway, West of Ireland’s designation as a 2018 European Region of Gastronomy (ERoG).

The European Young Chef Award aims to strengthen the links between European gastronomic regions, and provide young chefs with the opportunity to learn about the gastronomic heritage of different regions and establish a professional network.

The European Young Chef Award aims to promote culinary innovation using traditional cuisine and local produce, highlight sustainable food cultures and inspire future ambassadors for the Regions of Gastronomy in Europe. The event provides an opportunity to young chefs to experience different culinary cultures from across Europe and share ideas with, and learn from, other culinary talents. To celebrate the value of local food diversity and regional distinctiveness, day one will see the young chefs showcase traditional dishes and local food products from their own region. The competition will kick off on day two when the chefs are tasked with creating an innovative version of a dish which is traditional to their region. A panel comprised of leading chefs and international experts will judge the dishes based on their innovation, taste, presentation and cleanliness. Representing Ireland is Galway chef and final year student in the GMIT Culinary Arts programme, Andrew Ishmael, who is mentored by Sadie Davoren. Andrew hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow Galway chef, Aisling Rock, who took the prestigious title of European Young Chef 2017 in Barcelona last year. For Andrew’s signature dish, he will serve beetrootcured mackerel with horseradish panna cotta, pickled shallot and fennel, which is a twist on the classic combination of mackerel with horseradish cream. Andrew Ishmael said, ‘Mackerel was the first ingredient I fell in love with as a child so it felt 28

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Programme co-ordinator for ERoG, Galway, Elaine Donohue said, “We are delighted to welcome our international guests to Galway for this year’s European Young Chef Award. This marks the culmination of a year full of exciting events from our flagship programme. The past 12 months have encapsulated the quality of Galway’s food industry. The region is alive with creativity and innovation, and locals and visitors alike have experienced what our farmers, producers, restaurants and chefs have to offer. The European Young Chef Award allows for the next generation of innovative chefs to grow and flourish throughout their careers. This aptly ties into our theme of ‘From the Ground Up, Feeding Our Future’. Galway’s food culture is one that is inclusive and socially diverse, with significant contributions from people of all ages and backgrounds. This wonderful event is a fantastic opportunity for competing chefs to get a firsthand experience of the region’s rich food industry. A warm welcome awaits one and all for this momentous occasion.” The other finalists who will be competing for the European Young Chef Award are Beatriz Costa from Minho in Portugal, Eric Díaz from Barcelona in Catalonia, Andra Andriuc from Sibiu in Romania, Zok Žurman from Slovenia, Daniele Coccett from Terra di Marca in Italy, Suvi Mäki from Kuopio in Finland and Tim Bressers from Noord-Brabant in The Netherlands. The 2018 European Young Chef Award will take place on the 25th and 26th of November in Galway, and the winner will be announced at an award ceremony at 2:00pm on Monday the 26th of November at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT). The European Young Chef Award is organised by the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Art and Tourism (IGCAT) in collaboration with key partners in the Regions of Gastronomy. The European Young Chef Award is being hosted by the four key European Region of Gastronomy 2018 partners: Galway County Council, Galway City Council, GMIT and Teagasc. For more information about European Region of Gastronomy, Galway, see the official website www.galwaygastronomy.ie and follow @gastronomy2018 on social media.

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

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tourism ireland

Lights, camera, action … Tourism Ireland kicks off shoot for new global advertising campaign Tourism Ireland kicked off filming for a new global advertising campaign recently. The new campaign will comprise TV, cinema and online ads and will reach millions of potential visitors around the world. It will feature lesser-known locations and attractions, such as Sliabh Liag in Donegal, Westport House and Connemara National Park. This is Tourism Ireland’s first major campaign in seven years; its ‘Jump Into Ireland’ campaign was developed in 2011 and has played its part in delivering seven years of consecutive growth in overseas tourism. This was phase one of the shoot, which took place over eight days. Additional content will be filmed throughout 2019 and will include locations in Ireland’s Ancient East, Northern Ireland and Dublin to complement this initial campaign – to ensure coverage of lots of additional locations and activities. Pictured at Westport House are Daniel Takacs, director of photography (left), filming Jason Deasy and Sonic (his Indian eagle owl), at Westport House; also pictured is Mark Henry, Tourism Ireland.

The Italian job for Ireland! Ireland was promoted to thousands of Italian travel professionals attending TTG Incontri in Rimini, an important B2B travel exhibition which attracts almost 73,000 visitors − including influential tour operators, travel agents and leading Italian travel journalists and bloggers. Niamh Kinsella, Tourism Ireland’s Manager Italy, said: “Interest in visiting Ireland remains strong among Italian travellers and our presence at TTG Incontri provided an excellent opportunity to spread the word about the many great things to see and do right around the island of Ireland and to enthuse Italian travellers about putting Ireland on their ‘wish-list’ for 2019.” Pictured in Rimini are David Cleary, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum; Giuseppe Monteverde, Irlanda in Italiano; Elena Toniato, Galway 2020; Ilaria Bianchi, Aer Lingus; Niamh Kinsella, Tourism Ireland; Bridgette Brew, Galway 2020; and George Hook, Irish Rugby Tours.

Ireland says ‘Guten Tag’ in Germany Thirty (30) tourism companies from Ireland travelled to Offenbach, near Frankfurt – to take part in a B2B workshop and networking event with leading German tour operators. The event was organised by Tourism Ireland, to continue to grow visitor numbers from Germany, our thirdlargest tourism market, in 2019 and beyond. The delegation from Ireland – which included hotels and B&Bs, visitor attractions, ferry companies and destination management companies – met with German, Swiss and Austrian tour operators, in a bid to convince the influential travel professionals in attendance to include Ireland in their programmes for 2019. Given that travel agents and tour operators continue to be an important booking channel for German holidaymakers, a key element of Tourism Ireland’s strategy is to work closely with the travel trade – both online and offline – in Germany.

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Shane Clarke, Tourism Ireland; Gabi Rübel, Castle Hotel Group; Denise Quinn, Tourism Ireland; Barbara Smyth, Silver Line Cruisers; Petra Schickling, Abbey Ireland & UK; Dawn Quinn, Bord na gCon; David Wardell, Irish National Stud & Gardens; Alison Deegan, Original Irish Hotels; Ralf Michael Hubert, Irish Ferries; Finola O’Mahony, Tourism Ireland; and Ciarán McLoone, Fáilte Ireland, at the workshop and networking event in Offenbach.

tourism ireland

A taste of Ireland at ‘Flavours’ workshop in London Around 40 Irish tourism enterprises took part in Flavours of Ireland 2018, Tourism Ireland’s annual B2B workshop in London, where they met and did business with around 150 top UK inbound tour operators. Now in its 16th year, Flavours of Ireland aims to grow our share of the huge worldwide travel market. Attended by UK inbound tour operators who bring business to Ireland and the UK from all over the world (including the US, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa), this event was an excellent opportunity for the participating Irish tourism operators to highlight and sell their product to these important decision-makers and to encourage them to feature Ireland in their 2019 holiday and tour programmes.

Adela Skypalova and Rima Rodolfo, both Angela Shanley Associates Ltd; Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin; John Callely, The Dublin Liberties Distillery; and Joan O’Shaughnessy, Chairman of Tourism Ireland, at Flavours of Ireland.

‘Big drive’ to grow golf tourism at International Golf Travel Market Tourism Ireland’s drive to grow the number of golf visitors to Ireland continued at the International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Sixteen (16) golf and tourism operators from Ireland joined Tourism Ireland at this important event for the global golf travel community. IGTM, now in its 21st year, brings together more than 1,300 golf travel professionals from around the world, including about 400 golf tour operators. The Irish companies engaged in four days of one-to-one, pre-scheduled appointments and networking – which provided an excellent opportunity to negotiate and exchange vital contracts for 2019. Pictured are golf and tourism operators from Ireland with Joseph Cruise (left) and Cormac Ó Suilleabháin (right), both Tourism Ireland; Ciaran McCloone (second right) and Jenny O’Reilly (fourth right), both Fáilte Ireland; and Leanne Rice, Tourism NI (sixth right).

Hitting the road ‘Down Under’ A delegation of 11 Irish tourism companies took part in Tourism Ireland’s recent sales mission to Australia and New Zealand. The busy programme included workshops, presentations, sales calls and networking events – with the Irish companies meeting and concluding deals with around 500 tour operators and travel agents in the key cities of Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland. They also briefed local travel editors and bloggers, highlighting why Ireland is such a great choice for holidaymakers from ‘Down Under’. The island of Ireland has seen very good growth in visitors from Australia and New Zealand over the past few years, with a record 208,000 people visiting in 2017. Pictured in Sydney are Conor Shaw, The Merrion Hotel; Liz Lalor, Bord Bia; Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland; Fiona Herald, Guinness Storehouse; and Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland.

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IFSA news

Get Access to Over 11,000 Foodservice Professionals at CATEX 2019 Ireland’s largest and most influential foodservice trade event – CATEX – will return to the RDS, Dublin from 26th – 28th February 2019, providing thousands of visitors with products, services and solutions that meet today’s demands for those operating within the foodservice and hospitality sectors. The very popular CHEFS CHOICE will be returning again, where handpicked Artisan companies have the opportunity to meet buyers, Chefs, Hoteliers, Restaurateurs, Cafes, Pubs, contract caterers, large distributors and many other sectors of Irelands Foodservice sector who are always on the lookout for new innovative products. Home to expert competitions, live culinary food demos, industry expert speakers and a greater number of exhibitors than ever before, CATEX 2019 is not to be missed! Don’t miss out on… • The 2019 Irish Barista Championship • The 2019 Irish Cocktail Championship • Euro-Toques Ireland Live Stage • Chef Ireland 2019 Culinary Competitions • Panel of Chefs of Ireland Culinary Demonstrations • Chef Network Hub CATEX is THE Event to learn about innovative trends set to shape the Irish food and drink industry over the coming years. Talk to Margaret about booking your stand today at Ireland’s most influential event for the food service industry. Contact: Margaret Andreucetti T: 01 8460060 E: Maragret@eventhaus.ie or visit www.catexexhibition.com for more information.

IFSA Family Christmas Movie Screening 2018! Invite your staff, clients and their families along to this exclusive IFSA Private Screening and Christmas Event in either Dublin or Belfast. Book Now for a Private Screening of this year’s Christmas Blockbuster, WRECK IT RALPH 2. • SATURDAY, 1st DECEMBER 2018 – ODEON, POINT VILLAGE, DUBLN Last few remaining Places! • SUNDAY, 2nd DECEMBER 2018 – ODEON, POINT VILLAGE, DUBLN SOLD OUT! • SATURDAY 8th DECEMBER 2018 ODEON, VICTORIA SQUARE, BELFAST BOOK NOW! 09.30am: Warm Welcome Reception Visit Santa at his grotto, presents for all the children and other entertainment on the day. Meanwhile adults can casually enjoy some tea, coffee and mince pies. 11.00am: Private Screening of WRECK IT RALPH 2 Tickets from €10 Adult and €8 Children for IFSA Members and €15 Adult & €10 for Children for non-members. Book your tickets today at www.ifsa.eu.com/events. Places are limited at this extremely popular annual event so be sure to book early!

Chefs ask; “Will you support us in creating a better industry?” Chef Network Kitchen Culture Seminar Returns – LinkedIn Dublin, 20 November

When Chef Network was established with the backing of IFSA it had clear objectives; to professionalise the chef career, to make professional kitchens better places to work, and to attract people to enter and stay in the industry. Last July, around 100 industry professionals came together in LinkedIN Dublin for the first Chef Network Kitchen Culture seminar and heard a panel of chefs speak on the need for leadership, culture change and professional development in kitchens. Since then the chef community has stepped up to the plate, delivering over 40 training events throughout 2018 through Chef Network Skillnet. During the month of October, Chef Network Skillnet, with the support of Noel Group, delivered a series of Chefs Round Tables where chefs came together to develop a Charter for a Better Kitchen Workplace and to start a conversation on how we can more positively promote the career they love. 32

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Chef Network & IFSA now invite the wider industry to attend the 2nd Kitchen Culture seminar at LinkedIN Dublin on Tuesday 20 November to hear about the commitment made by chefs to improving kitchen culture and call on the whole industry to join together to back their efforts and to positively promote the career of the professional chef. Chefs, Employers, Managers, HRs, Education sector representatives, industry & state body representatives, suppliers as well as those involved in media & comms for the food & hospitality industry should all consider attending this important event. More info & booking on www. chefnetwork.ie

IFSA news First Choice Purchasing

Procure Wizard is the leading provider of software solutions to the Irish hospitality industry including Dalata Hotel Group, Tetrarch Hospitality and MHL Hotel Collection. We have developed Purchase to Pay technology which has revolutionised the hospitality procurement marketplace. To complement our purchase to pay, Procure Wizard also offers a diverse range of modules including food and beverage control, stock control, Laundry management, invoice management and our TNA Wizard module makes it easier to schedule employees and manage holidays. Our food and beverage control allows you to control your recipe costing, allows you to build your menus, reduce waste and gives you full transparency when it comes to nutritional data and allergen management. Our solutions are tailored to address the key issues that those in the hospitality industry face daily, and helping our customers to improve efficiency, increase profitability and significantly streamline processes. ‘One of the key benefits being the menus, dishes and recipes module that we use. The amount of information that we can get on allergens is much quicker, much easier than it can be on any other system. It streamlines the whole purchase to pay process – without that it’s a long, cumbersome process. The real-time data that we have makes procurement much easier and quicker, the information that we can now pull from the system in a matter of minutes is second to none.’ Nichola Bruce, Group Procurement Manager - BDL Hotels

Hey chef, do you want to stay ahead of the game?! Every chef has their creative challenges. Are you looking for a fresh component to complete your dish? Do you want to give one of your most popular starters a unique twist? Have you been tasked with developing a three-course vegetarian menu? Then Gastronomixs.comis here to simplify your creative culinary process!

have been working hard to deliver savings for their 850+ members to counteract the recent budget changes resulting in increased VAT and wages. FCP concentrate on providing uniquely tailored supply solutions, working closely with a variety of suppliers to provide: all food, disposables, facility services, energy and utilities, hotel supplies, furniture, vending, staffing solutions, stationary, services. We use our consolidated members’ buying power to leverage best prices on commodity items from multinationals, whilst working closely with local, family owned Irish businesses for the products you care about. The best part, it doesn’t cost members a penny. With over 850 members, 60 suppliers, 50,000+ available items we have a solution for every member that will save them money and maintain or improve their quality and service levels. Drop a line now to info@firstchoicepurchasing.com to arrange a consultation to see how we can help you reduce your costs.

MAK Group Ltd The ongoing development of the Novaltec range of steam cleaners continues to expand in Ireland through MAK Group Ltd. The response to the product has been outstanding and only recently Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cookery School has expressed confidence in the product. Ballymaloe have purchased the Pawnee R type machine and they are delighted with its effectiveness. Manor House County Hotel in Enniskillen have also seen the benefits of using Steam to Clean. Hotel owner Liam McKenna, said “We are very satisfied with the results. It’s very fast and the fact that it cleans and hoovers in the one application is ideal for a busy kitchen and indeed any part of the business”. Using Steam to Clean reduces labour cost but more importantly it can play a major part in hygiene and the production of safefood. The machine can be used on floors where it leaves them dry after cleaning, walls, Stainless kitchen surfaces, cooker hoods and much more. For more information or a free demo please contact MAK Group Sales direct on 087. 2765790.

ScanBox (UK & Ireland) Ltd. manufacture and supply food transportation trolleys (hot, cold and ambient) to the UK and Irish market.

Gastronomixs is not your average recipe website, as it provides knowledge in the form of building blocks, also called components. All the recipes on Gastronomixs. comhave been made and tested by professional chefs. Already over 23,000 (!) professional chefs are using the platform. If you are curious to discover how Gastronomixs. comcan inspire you, for just €7 per month or €70 per year you have full access to the platform. But you can always first take out a free two-week account to give the platform a decent test-drive!

From hot and cold bulk food distribution, to individually plated meal holding for banqueting, the range of ScanBox products provides the most aesthetically pleasing and ergonomically designed solutions. The robust and lightweight construction guarantees both manoeuvrability and resilience. Full colour range, corporate logo and branding are available. This innovative visual exterior allows for back of house equipment to be used in all front of house environments. We manufacture and supply to all sectors of the commercial catering market ie. hospitality and hotel groups, stadia, education, marine and healthcare. ScanBox food transport trolleys are elegant, versatile and lightweight. Ergonomically top of class in the market due to the innovative glass fibre exterior and aluminium interior construction methods. Our trolleys are extremely efficient and have the lowest power consumption requirements due to the aluminium interior design and the latest technology heating and cooling systems. (All powered by a single 13 amp plug socket). We put great effort into the design of the exterior. Our products are robust, stylish and offer you maximum payload combined with trouble-free operation. We can offer a range of visual options, from company logos to full graphic wraps. Recent projects include The Harley Street Clinic, London, The Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Loughborough University and the Hilton Hotels London Paddington and Liverpool.

Go to Gastronomixs.com and be inspired!

Additional information: www.scanboxuk.com

‘Gastronomixs provides recipes in the form of building blocks which every chef can use to create endless variations of dishes.’

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fáilte industry news

Mentoring for the Chefs of Tomorrow As part of Fáilte Ireland’s response to address the skills shortage that currently exist within the culinary industry, a series of special mentoring workshops took place to support the Chef De Partie Apprenticeship Programme. The workshops took place in the Institutes of Technology in Tralee and Cork and were held to assist industry mentors who have apprentice Chef De Parties’ in training. The Consortium Steering Group for Chef De Partie was established in 2015 and its membership consists of representatives from the Irish Hotels Federation, the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI), the Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI), Euro-toques Ireland, the Catering Management Association of Ireland (CMAI), Institutes of Technology (IOTs), the Panel of Chefs, Fáilte Ireland and SOLAS.

New Tourist Information Centre Opened in Cork The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Simon Coveney T.D. recently opened Fáilte Ireland’s new Tourist Information Centre on St. Patrick’s Street, Cork. Paul Kelly, Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland said: “Cork is one of the most visited destinations in the country welcoming 18% of our overseas visitors and 12% of domestic visitors. The opening of our new Tourism Information Centre will allow Fáilte Ireland to continue to engage positively with visitors to the city and region. Despite all the ways new technology has changed the travel industry, recent Fáilte Ireland research has found that visitors still turn to people for advice when on holidays with 50% of all international visitors visiting a Tourist Information Centre when in Ireland. Today’s opening will ensure that visitors to Cork continue to be provided with the very best in local knowledge and expertise.”

Ireland’s Attractions putting Irish Food and Drink at the TOP of the Menu Fáilte Ireland has recently organised a series of workshops to bring the finest in local culinary practices to the menu with its ‘Taste of Place’ programme. The programme brought together representatives of the hospitality sector including visitor centres, attractions and distilleries to highlight how locally sourced food can drive revenue growth and visitor satisfaction. The ‘Taste of Place’ programme aims to support catering teams to deliver an authentic and quality food and beverage experience that is rooted in place by: • Introducing more menu options that reflect the culinary traditions of a local area. • Sourcing ingredients from local Irish suppliers. • Linking elements of the food offering to the wider destination brands. Food and beverages are integral to the overall tourism experience in Ireland and Fáilte Ireland research shows that 80% of visitors believe it is an important part of their visit and has a significant impact on their overall satisfaction levels in a destination. 34

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fáilte industry news

€162 million in Major Business Conferences Secured

Over 360 conferences representing more than 117,000 international delegates worth €162m have according to the latest Q3 Business Tourism figures announced by Fáilte Ireland been secured for Ireland. A further €31 million was secured through Regional Convention Bureaux in Shannon, Cork, Kerry and Galway. Fáilte Ireland is looking to drive these numbers even higher after its Meet in Ireland team attended the recent IMEX America event in Las Vegas. IMEX is one of the largest worldwide exhibitions for incentive travel, meetings and events which is attended by over 3,200 suppliers and 5,500 meeting planners who organise international meetings, incentives, conferences and events.

Major Irish Tourism Businesses Now China Ready The latest batch of Irish tourism businesses to complete Fáilte Ireland’s Get China Ready programme have received their certificates from the national tourism development authority. Among those receiving certification were the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin’s Marker Hotel, Cork’s Castlemartyr Resort, the InterContinental Hotel in Ballsbridge and Limerick’s Strand Hotel. Also receiving accreditation were the first restaurants in Ireland to undertake the programme, Dublin’s Fire Restaurant & Lounge and Sole Seafood & Grill. The China Ready Programme is aimed at educating Irish tourism businesses about the opportunities available from the Chinese tourist market and is part of Fáilte Ireland’s work to assist tourism businesses with market diversification and reduce the risks currently posed by Brexit. The Programme is an initiative of Fáilte Ireland in cooperation with Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland.

Major Funding for Mayo National Park Announced €2.1 million in funding was announced by Fáilte Ireland for a 56km cycle track through part of the Wild Nephin Ballycroy National Park in Co. Mayo. The project when completed will see the upgrading of parts of the existing Western Way to a grade 3 cycle/walk track extending some 56km off road from the Great Western Greenway through the National Park to Ballycastle in North Mayo. The project is part of Fáilte Ireland’s strategic partnership with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to achieve the aims of further developing quality visitor experiences at Ireland’s National Parks and also conserving and protecting their natural environments for the enjoyment of future generations.

H&RT OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018

Great Service – The Art, Science and Psychology

by Conor Kenny

Service

In a boom, service suffers – “Sure aren’t we flat out anyway?” In a recession, service suffers – “We just can’t afford the right people” Neither are a strategy. Bad service is the death knell of any business.

The Generations and Learning

In my generation school and learning meant having a great memory. During term, you were given the answer and, at exam time, they wanted to know if you remembered. Today, educating means effecting change. Change in thinking, methodology and outcomes. This is what teaches. This is what matters and this is what sustains. To achieve this, try the following; Ask them a question about service that ... makes them think, makes them discuss and reason, makes them challenge the way they saw things, makes them reflect, figure it out and add to the subject. In the future memory will be useful but effecting change is how we progress and grow. If you want great service then you must rethink your training methodology. Our workforce is already being influenced by Millennials (a person reaching young adulthood in the 21st century and already the largest generation in the USA) and Generation Y are now in mid to senior management roles. They behave, respond and are motivated entirely differently to all preceding generations – Generation X, Baby Boomers and Traditionalists and if you are applying old methods of teaching, training and motivating, the chances are, you are not connecting.

Background

Millennials learn differently because of their lifelong access to technology. Service focused businesses need to consider that when designing learning methods. For example, an interactive approach to learning is a better way to get through to this generation than strict lecture-style training. Your challenge is simply to grab their attention. But first, you need to learn all about them. They learn differently and these thoughts might give you insights;

Learning Instantly

Millennials are heavily connected to their mobile devices. Search engines and social media are this generation’s primary resource for knowledge, regardless of the subject. Think “Google it”. They are constantly sharing information and insights through these platforms which allows them instant feedback. They want it now.

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Little Lessons

Microlearning is becoming one of the most successful learning methods for Millennials it provides simple, quick, information which they often prefer in story and video format. Again, think ‘You Tube’. Smaller pieces of information means less overload and creates a sense of ongoing learning and empowerment. Short training sessions have much greater appeal than one way lectures.

Games

Millennials love games and research says. 57% of 18- to 34-yearolds play video games at least 3 times a week, and two-thirds of them said it was important in helping them learn how to create winning strategies, solve problems, and work successfully on a team.

Mentoring and Coaching

Millennials love to learn and are respond well to mentoring. Having inhouse trainers and managers provide their younger peers with regular feedback, their lessons and experiences are highly desirable for these emerging young future leaders

Despite That, Nothing Changes

But there’s a difference between learning and the lesson. Like a car, they change, reflect modern needs but they still get you from A to B. Great service is still great service.

Defining ‘Service’

For years, we have all been exposed to copy and paste definitions of ‘service’. Like any industry jargon, some scribes and lecturers have mastered the art of making the simple complex. Yes, service is about attitude, motivation and all of that but think again about an outdated text book definition and ask yourself ‘Is this connecting with young professionals today?’ For me, service is simple. My definition is;

“Great service is all about making the customers life easier” This covers every single situation and people will understand it instantly.

Training

I’m not sure you can train or pour great service training all over your staff, why? Because they already know what it is, yet we all have an

Service Two Final Thoughts

innate gene that often resists anything that seems to be forced on us. That’s why the first paragraph of this article (do read it again) is redirecting your thinking. In short, they must explore service, discuss it, debate it and, most importantly, come up with their own ideas and solutions. If you facilitate that, you give them ownership, you empower them and they will tell you the solutions. The role of leadership in this scenario is to inspire, allow, challenge, cut through and reach measurable, actionable consensus.

Habits

There are good and bad habits. If you want to change service in your business you need to change habits. Bad service is allowing bad habits and a lack of training and investment in your people is also a bad habit. Great service will only happen if you create good habits that they buy in to. Yes, it is that simple – breaking bad habits and creating good ones.

Conor Kenny is a specialist in sales, marketing and service, and principal of Conor Kenny & associates, a training and professional development company for service centred businesses. He is the author of 3 books: ‘It’s Who I Am’ (Irish Times Best Business Books of the Year – 2017) ‘Dancing at the Fountain’ (Irish Examiner Best Business Books of the Year 2016) and ‘Sales Tales’ (2014). He is also a regular columnist and commentator nationally and internationally. You can read more at www.conorkenny.com

8 Thoughts on Service Service is not tangible it’s a ‘feeling’ It is created by staff who are led by managers, who in turn work for the owners. All are responsible for setting the mood, tone and atmosphere that creates the atmosphere, culture and mood. Is that you?

Passion for service is imperative, not desirable. If you have not got the passion you are missing the key to success. Marry this with knowledge and experience and profit will follow. If your sole mission is profit, prepare to fail

The Interdepartmental Relationship between the customer and the kitchen is nurtured by the service staff, nobody else. Listen to what your customers want and they will come running again and again and again.

Check out your competitors and be self-critical, true and honest. How often have you asked your staff to become customers? How often have you sent your staff out to sample the competition?

Be Realistic about what you and your staff are able to achieve. Set targets that can be reached, then set the bar higher. Measure everything.

The Staff are your front line and you can’t force a smile, take care of the troops, mind them, nurture them and develop them.

In the book ‘Dancing at the Fountain – In conversation with world leading hoteliers’, I often quote from the interview with Bernard Murphy, Managing Director, Gleneagles, Scotland, who said “Are you doing something for me or are you doing something to me?” Of course, it is a subtle difference and one often driven by emotion rather than service but, ‘how you made me feel’ will last a lot longer than the words, cost or even the actions. And something simple and worth remembering; “A hospitality business is like a theatre. Every night when the lights go down the show is over another day is done. The next day, no matter what has gone before it, the show will have a new audience, often a first time audience, and today’s show must, at the very least, be better than the day before. The actors who will deliver the show are your people. If you do not invest in them in many ways you will have an average show. After all, what is the point of a beautiful comfortable cosy theatre with great sets, great seats and great lighting if the guys on stage have no idea what they are doing? The leader’s job is to keep the actors acting and the audience smiling”

Conor will be delivering a workshop ‘The Psychology of Service’ on November 15th 2018 at Irish Times Training. Full details can be found at irishtimestraining.com

Frost Couture designer jewellery

The Managers place is on the front line with the staff, not in the office. Lead from the front, not the rear. Arrogance has no place in service. As Sydney J Harris once said … “Nobody can be as amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.”

Standards are important. Set your standards and train to that standard (not your competitors!) Then, take a leaf out of Henry Ford’s book. He said “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking”

• • • • •

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37 02.09.18 18:02

Alan Place & The Sunday Business Post

Great National Hotels and Resorts

2018: A Year To Remember .. And Forget.

We sat down with industry veteran David Collins, Chief Operating Officer for Great National Hotels and Resorts for a wide-ranging lively chat about everything from Great National’s stellar rise to VAT to BREXIT including emerging challenges facing hotels. Great National was founded in January 2010 by David Byrne and I – we were subsequently joined by James Sullivan and David O’Connor – and this was against a background of rising unemployment, a collapse in consumer spending, and a sharp correction in tourism demand.

This will see our two organisations merge, providing an enhanced bundle of B2C and B2B trade supports for independent hotels throughout Ireland and the UK, including asset management, procurement, digital marketing, technology, GDS, agency and conference sales, and yield and channel management.

Around this time, we also saw consumers migrate online in huge numbers driven by value and price transparency which in turn coincided with a rise in the popularity and power of travel agent platforms such as Expedia and Booking.com. So hotels were facing enormous challenges on both the demand side and the supply side.

Of Great National’s 64 hotels, we manage 10 and co-own 7 with investors including the 4-Star Mulranny Park Resort in Co. Mayo and the 4-Star Ballykisteen Golf Resort in Co. Tipperary.

Probably not the best time to start a business. Certainly no bank would touch us so everything we did was funded organically. Our vision was to create a business that made a difference to hotel owners, and by that I mean, one that reduced costs and accelerated revenues; a business that enabled an independent hotel to compete in an increasingly online market; and a business that created certainty for asset owners and drove asset value. That was in 2010 and that’s what we’ve been doing since. And we’re still debt free.

Classic British Hotels

We were particularly delighted to recently announce our acquisition of one of the UK’s leading independent 4-star hotel groups, Classic British Hotels. The move now brings us to a combined total of 135 hotels, 64 Great National and 71 Classic British - with 8,150 bedrooms, making us one of Europe’s largest hotel services companies. 38

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With 50 staff at our HQ in Ennis, plus 25 in the UK, we also have over 900 people directly employed throughout our owned hotels making us one of Ireland’s largest employers. Classic British Hotels started in 2001 and comprises a collection of 71 mainly 4-star deluxe properties – and shortly 5-star properties throughout the UK. The new group will also continue to operate under two independent brands, ‘Great National Hotels and Resorts’ and ‘Classic British Hotels’. The senior Classic British team will be joining the Great National group board. We see this as a real opportunity in the context of the continuing business uncertainty caused by BREXIT. We anticipate continued trading challenges for independent operators and this move gives us a strong foothold in both markets. We also believe that our combined expertise, depth of knowledge, technology-led approach and range of services offered by our new group will give us a greater competitive edge and increased strength in the marketplace to offer the independent hotel sector an even more comprehensive set of revenue-driving solutions.

Great National Hotels and Resorts Enterprise Ireland

This announcement also follows, I am delighted to say, on the back of a second round of investment by Enterprise Ireland into Great National. And I must pay tribute to EI for their invaluable assistance here. This is an Innovation Grant which will co-fund our own bespoke AI-centred revenue management software designed to automate our yielding processes and ultimately reduce third party commissions paid by our client hotels. We have also just completed a second-round of equity release which follows a similar event in Q3 2017 whereby former Booking.com MD Rachel Howes invested into Great National. The funds from this second round release will also be reinvested back into the business to further strengthen both brands and to secure future growth for our clients.

BREXIT

Just on BREXIT, it’s clear that this has already had a massive impact on Irish tourism with 250k fewer visitors from the UK in 2017 alone. There’s been a 2.4% increase in UK numbers this year to July however it’s marginal at best compared to other markets: for example visitor traffic from Germany has increased by 26%. But look whether you’re for or against Brexit, we are where we are. And the current vacuum is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. In my own view, the EU are determined not to make it easy for the UK to exit; and the lack of credible opposition in the UK means that there’s less political momentum on the UK government’s part to resolve the impasse. What we in Ireland however need to remember is that the UK is our closest, biggest trading partner - 4 in 10 visitors to Ireland have traditionally come from the UK. The UK was also one of the first countries to provide financial assistance during our 2010 crash. Plus it’s in all our interests to protect the current status quo of the border. So again in my view, at this stage, our people probably need to do less of the EU’s bidding and begin to focus more on protecting Ireland’s interests whilst preserving the special relationship we have with the UK. While we still can. Of course, a more radical view given that Ireland is now a nett contributor to the EU and given that we took a massive tumble to save the Union, the ECB, European banks and bond holders (junior and senior) - which we’re still paying for - might be that Ireland leaves with the UK, that we protect and develop our mutual trade flows, that we reinstate the Punt and that we regain our sovereignty. And in return .. a referendum on a United Ireland takes place and the border is maintained - and peace is preserved - as is in the meantime.

VAT

I am astounded at the Government’s decision to increase the VAT to 13.5%. Whereas the 9% rate did not single handedly save the tourism industry, it was nevertheless a key value driver and still is. But then that’s what Governments tend to do: if it is not broken, they try to fix it. Regardless of expert industry opinion and common sense. The 9% was already generating €1bn per annum for the exchequer, up from €430m when it was first introduced in 2012 ... by the Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar. The irony is not lost on many people. Tourism is massive for Ireland, it accounts for over 4% of our GNP and directly employs nearly 250,000 people who are regionally dispersed throughout Ireland. But the industry is already suffering from weaker UK demand as result of

Claregalway Hotel, Galway the Euro/Pound exchange rate which alone has made holidaying in Ireland up to 20% more expensive. I have previously suggested that the Government would have been better advised to look at regulating AirBnB which has been hugely disruptive for the hotel industry both here in Ireland and the UK. Not to mention possibly exacerbating the current housing crisis. I understand why AirBnB is popular with the traveling public however it is not a level playing field in that aside from having to pay VAT, hotels are also faced with huge compliance and regulatory obligations which are ultimately designed to protect the traveling public.

Looking forward

2018 has been hugely challenging for hotels and tourism generally. We’ve had three major weather events – a hurricane, a snow-storm and a heat wave – all in less than 8 months which has directly impacted on cancellations and folks’ willingness to book ahead. The uncertainty over Ryanair’s flight schedules for example will undoubtedly have exacerbated this further, impacting on inbound business into both the UK and Ireland. On other fronts, GDPR and the more recent Package Travel Directive added further administrative overhead to business while the World Cup brought certainly UK traffic to a standstill for the best part of two months over the Summer. Admittedly inbound business into Ireland is up and the UK has clearly enjoyed a bumper year with folks choosing staycations over vacations. This demonstrates perhaps that despite tourism being very exposed to bumps and corrections, it is nevertheless very resilient which is a huge tribute to those working in the industry. But one might reasonably ask by how much more tourism would have grown in 2018 without these external factors. Going forward, things are certainly about to get very interesting in terms of marketing and client engagement. Customers for example are becoming more and more used to deciding not just the price they pay but the type of brand experience they want; they also expect their experience to be customized around a set of choices that they themselves make. So whereas we as an industry used to define brand strategy based on entire markets, now a more sophisticated, granular approach is needed whereby strategy is built around individual customers and for example the device they might be using. That’s a challenge for an independent hotel to get it’s head around. But it is here we see a huge opportunity for artificial intelligence: to enable this to happen both profitably, at pace and at scale. Helmets at the ready!

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Breaffy House Hotel

Breaffy House Resort Gothic mansion Breaffy House with its signature mulberry tree is open for business again and is looking forward to a very bright and luxurious future. The hotel has gained another star, overhauled its interior spaces and signed an exclusive new contract with vintage champagne brand, Moet and Chandon. Maggie Ruane,head of sales and marketing at Breaffy House Resort, says that the hotel has completely reinvented itself with a €3.5 million makeover. “The hotel has gone full circle. We’re back, we’re bigger, better and stronger and we’ve moved into the premium end of the market. The refurbishment was the catalyst that allowed this reinvention to happen and our new owners are very committed to investing in the property.” The original house was built in 1870 and was owned by the Browne family, who also had Westport House. The original estate was over 1,000 acres and the family used it for hunting and fishing. They used to employ a staff of six people to manage the game. The house first opened to the public as a hotel in 1987 and was managed by Una Lee, of the Shannon College of Hotel Management. “It was a Grade A hotel in its days,” explains general manager Wilson Bird. “Very few Irish people took holidays back then so the hotel was geared towards the American market.” “The hotel has changed hands a couple of times. It had been owned by the Lynch family but when the recession struck, it was up for

H&RT OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018

Breaffy House Resort

receivership and was bought by its current owners who are responsible for the €3.5 million upgrade.” This is the consortium, including Liam Healy of the Healy Mac’s Irish bar and restaurant chain, who bought the hotel in August 2014. Bird says that two hundred years later, it’s all about luxury at Breffny again. “The Victorian pointed façade has a Downton-esque look about it and we have always preserved that. Our wine cellar is back in place with lots of different wines, including bespoke ones and we’ve taken on Stefan Matz as our chef – he previously worked at Ashford Castle. There’s also a link between the original manager, Una Lee, and myself as we are both graduates of the Shannon College of Hotel Management.” The resort’s two hotels, Breaffy House and the recently built Breaffy Woods, offer a choice between traditional or contemporary guest accommodation. Ruane says that while they did preserve the original character, they’ve also modernised all of the interior and the outside terraces. “We added a south terrace which can accommodate 140 people for barbeques and outdoor events. We’ve hosted corporate barbeque events, after wedding events and teamed up with local businesses to host events there.” There’s also a new bar, Healy Macs, one of a chain of seven others in Malaysia, Indonesia and Spain. Bird says that it is a very traditional Irish bar with a focus on Irish food. “There is wood panelling, an oak floor, and a very traditional layout. The highlight of the bar is a sixteen foot tree trunk that was brought in from Malaysia. But the next wave of revamping is already under discussion and while the tables and chairs are segmented at the moment, we are looking at putting booths in, so that the atmosphere becomes even more intimate.”

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Breaffy House Resort

Bedrooms at the hotel include six junior suites, two executive suites, sixteen superior deluxe rooms, and ten large family rooms with double bunk beds and a double bed. Bird says this family appeal gives them an edge over their competition. The newly decorated rooms are all done up in a blend of contemporary and traditional style. “In the modern rooms there are double beds, raised off of the floor and the décor has beige and creamy colour tones. It’s a very neutral palette,” says Ruane. “All bathrooms have granite type finish in them, modern tiling, and the suites have standalone bathtubs with tiling behind them.” The other bedrooms have a modern/ contemporary design. The refurbishment was done by local builders - Seamus O’Brien and Sons and Bird says that

€2.9 million of the monies spent was kept within County Mayo. It was very important to the new owners to ensure that the local economy benefited from the work being carried out. The Mulberry restaurant is something they are very proud of at Breaffy. “It got its name from our very own Mulberry tree. It’s over 800 years old and stands on the south terrace. We have French double doors opening out from one wall of the restaurant and so you can see the tree from all angles inside the dining space. There are only five of these trees in Ireland and that is what makes our restaurant so unique,” says Bird. He says that the Mulberry Restaurant is a bit more formal than Healy Macs. “It’s elegant and formal, without being fussy. The majority of our guests

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dine here and while you wouldn’t feel out of place ordering a bottle of Moet, you could order a glass of pinot grigio here too.” “Mulberry trees are almost like a blackberry in colour and the restaurant matches that colour palette. The chair all alternate between plum and beige and the overall colour scheme is a mix of purple and beige. It’s all inspired by the tree.” The design wasn’t outsourced but was coordinated by the management team themselves says Bird. “Everyone contributed to it.” Breaffy’s focus now is to grow and grow. “We won a family hotel of the year award recently and we got our four stars in September,” says Bird. “We sell 44,000 bedrooms a year and our ballroom is full every weekend. With the addition of our new chef we are now in a prime position to cement ourselves as one of the leading four-star hotels in the west of Ireland.” “Our product offering is premium and superior enough that people are willing to pay a premium to experience what we have to offer,” he says. “We could see a shift this summer. Lots of our guest were asking for room upgrades – it was clear that people have more money to spend and they are willing to spend it on superior products.” “We also signed a deal with Moet and Chandon in June. This is part of the shift that shows we are becoming a more premium quality product. We’re selling a very popular Moet wedding package for €99 per person. We have added a new range of bespoke wine offerings, and we are building our food and wine experiences around that. We’re looking forward to another ten years of magic at Breaffy.”

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H&RT OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018

Industry

Panel of Chefs ‘Cook Up’ New Chef Ireland Competition Menu for CATEX 2019 The Panel of Chefs of Ireland have just launched the new Chef Ireland competitions schedule for CATEX 2019 – Ireland’s premier foodservice trade event – coming to the RDS, Dublin from Tuesday 26th – Thursday 28th February 2019. Playing their role in helping the industry’s rising stars and talented professionals battle it out in the kitchen, the Panel of Chefs’ Chef Ireland competitions have always been central to CATEX and play a key role in creating the electric atmosphere at Ireland’s biggest foodservice and hospitality event. Taking place across three days, the sizzling new program is bursting with fresh concepts and challenging competitions. Open to chefs from across Ireland, The Panel of Chefs are anticipating that over 400 chefs, the highest number to date, will participate at CATEX 2019, which is supported by Bunzl and Calor. NEW at Chef Ireland this year are the Restaurant Cook Serve and Hotel Restaurant Cook Serve competitions – head-to-head team challenges involving both chefs and food service professionals. Supported by IFSA (Irish Foodservice Suppliers Alliance) the winning teams from both competitions will receive a once-in-a-lifetime gastronomy getaway to the gourmet capital of France, Lyon. Staying in the 5* Intercontinental Hotel, the teams will enjoy lunch at one of the founders of the ‘nouvelle cuisine’ movement, Paul Bocuse’s Brasserie Le Sud, relax for dinner during a cruise on the Rhone and tour the Beaujolais wine region, followed by a Michelin-starred lunch. With the heat on, day three will host the increasingly popular Contract Caterers’ Culinary Challenge. As one of the most hotly contended accolades, this year’s winning team will be awarded with an incredible culinary trip to the Basque region of San Sebastian, dining at some of the best tables in the region and getting the opportunity to visit a Basque winery. Following the launch of the new schedule, Patrick Brady, President of the Panel of Chefs of Ireland comments: “In our 60th year as an organisation, we wanted to introduce new elements to our competitions at CATEX to ensure that they’re reflective of today’s changing and vibrant hospitality sector. “Our new Chef Ireland programme promotes the development of all aspects of the Culinary Arts Profession. From student chefs and kitchen trainees to celebrated, leading chefs within the industry, we have a program for all at CATEX 2019.” Commenting on the new team challenges, Mr Brady adds: “Following the huge success of the Contract Caterers’ competition over the last few years, we’ve introduced the Restaurant Cook Serve and Hotel Restaurant Cook Serve elements for 2019. Each of these competitions will feature a number of teams going head-to-head, and with incredible team prizes up for grabs, we’re expecting these events to be some of the most hotly contended over the three days.” 44

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Derek Reilly, Culinary Director with Aramark; Patrick Brady, President of the Panel of Chefs of Ireland and Brendan O’Neill, Vice President of the Panel of Chefs

Going Head-To-Head at CATEX - Brendan O’Neill, Vice President of the Panel of Chefs of Ireland and Derek Reilly, Culinary Director with Aramark Challenging competitions will be running alongside food demonstrations including Junior Chef, Sugar Craft, Fish and Butchery Demonstrations. Brendan O’Neill, Vice President of the Panel of Chefs of Ireland states: “The future of food, drink and hospitality, and new industry trends, are the key themes which are reflected throughout Chef Ireland at CATEX and we aim to highlight these through our new program of competitions and demonstrations. “Emerging trends in the market will be addressed through new categories such as street style Asian cuisine, flatbreads of the world, vegan plates and contemporary classical cuisine.” Mr O’Neill adds: “In addition for the first time in CATEX history the chef Ireland 2019 competitions are now classed as Worldchefs Approved regional Competitions endorsed by the World Association of Chef Societies.” Supported by Bunzl and Calor, over 70% of show space is already secured, confirmed exhibitors include Lynas Foodservice, Bewleys, Hugh Jordan, Henderson Foodservice and Marco Beverage Systems. There are many new names committed to CATEX 2019 including Fixx Coffee, Middleton Foods, Blue Ice Machines and more. As one of Ireland’s longest running trade exhibitions, CATEX has established itself as a major force in the hospitality industry, it’s the ultimate diary date for anyone in the sector. By booking early, exhibitors can take advantage of securing prime positioning and being included in the promotional campaign in the run up to the show. To find out more about CATEX and to book your space, please contact EventHaus on (00353) 1 846 0020 or see www. CATEXexhibition.com To view the Panel of Chefs of Ireland’s competition programme, please see

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CATEX - Ireland’s definitive foodservice event 26th - 28th February 2019 at the RDS, Simmonscourt

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Industry

Future Proofing Hospitality Staff Imagine a world where you employ hotel staff and they arrive educated, experienced and fit for purpose? A new pilot CSR initiative by Guestline is making its presence in the industry by future proofing the talent of tomorrow…. now! Attracting, training and retaining talent in the hospitality industry is a trending ‘headache’ for many hotels across the globe. Whilst numerous graduates start out their careers educated but with a degree of certain skills shortage, how much more beneficial would it be for them to arrive trained, with practical experience, knowledge and understanding of the hotel’s property management system and have already emulated real-life hotel experiences? Guestline, who are a global leader in hotel cloud-based property management systems, distribution and digital marketing technologies, is changing the future of the hospitality talent industry with the introduction of a new and unique cloudbased teaching tool, enabling students to experience real-time hotel training at university level. Guestline have a reputation for offering award-winning solutions to hotels across the world and are industry leaders in the global hospitality technology market. With

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a very strong and successful presence in Ireland, Guestline were approached by Shannon College of Hotel Management, a College of NUI Galway that offers degrees in Hotel Management, noting that educational institutes across Ireland were in a predicament, looking for a solution, a practical tool and strategy to teach their students real-life hotel experiences. Similarly, with hotels, these institutes were also experiencing difficulties attracting talent and they wanted and ‘needed’ students to obtain the most relevant experience and training for when they graduated and began their hotel careers. Responding to this industry gap, Guestline created a unique offering to enable teachers to have access to a mock 100-bedroom property management system (PMS) to use for teaching whilst also introducing the hotelier of tomorrow to the best technology and best practice, training and experiences needed upon entry into the hospitality workplace. Bringing some of Ireland’s top technology institutes together, Guestline worked with them to provide, Rezlynx, the latest cloud-based PMS on the market by customising a tailored tech savvy, flexible, multi-functional teaching tool based on a real standard Irish hotel database with 100 bedrooms.

Industry

By integrating Rezlynx PMS as an integral part of the teaching curriculum, the students receive exposure to additional features they didn’t have access to before (i.e. Conference and Banqueting modules, revenue and rate management) and with Rezlynx PMS, there is more to explore to broaden their abilities. The students can easily make changes within the systems and adapt them to reflect ‘real-life’ situations, which helps widen their knowledge and gives them experience of multiple scenarios. Six Irish technology institutes are now benefiting immensely from Guestline’s unique cloud-based teaching tool and are engaging in Guestline’s comprehensive training dates to ensure best use of the products. These include the first to adapt the installation; Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Athlone IT and Dundalk IT, followed by Limerick IT, Tralee IT and Shannon College. Having a cloudbased teaching tool was very important to these institutions. With funding limitations, they knew hardware expenses were non-negotiable and the chosen platform needed to be easy to use for both teachers and students, and, above all, it had to be accessible (i.e. not hindered by individual licences). Plus, with Guestline, the training and support offered was comprehensive and thorough, ensuring lecturers felt confident and supported when training students on the systems. Tracy Hegarty, a lecturer at Letterkenny IT, has adopted Guestline’s PMS tool as an integral part of her overall teaching curriculum; ‘We needed a system that was widely recognised in Ireland and highly regarded so our students learnt on the most effective platform. With its exhaustive functionality, which is easily adaptable to our training demonstrations, the students have the best induction and preparation for their hotel career.’ Being workplace ready is ultimately the end goal for students graduating from such institutions. And, given Rezlynx is a widely used PMS by hotels, students will likely use this when they are on

workplace placements, immediately putting their training into practice, cementing their knowledge and giving them even more standing when starting their hotel career. Most students go abroad on placements, so it is imperative that they be trained on a system that is familiar and recognised in different market places too. At Shannon College, the students find it intuitive to use and easy to learn. In the first lesson, the pupils were making reservations and checking in guests after only 2 hours of training. Niamh Kemmy, a 2nd year student at Shannon College, said such practical experience gave her a broader understanding of the hotel workplace and put her at an advantage at recruitment stage; ‘‘Having experience using Guestline’s Rezlynx PMS was a huge advantage to me when I started a new job in Front Office as normally being trained to use the PMS takes a significant amount of time. My college classes in Rezlynx meant that I did not have to be trained as much as other applicants giving me an immediate advantage when I applied for the job and a head start in terms of responsibility. Studying Rezlynx also provided me with a broader understanding of managing reservations and offered an interesting insight into topics such as overbooking, upgrading and upselling” Combining this innovative teaching tool with comprehensive training and local hotel work experience placements, upon graduation, students are prepped to arrive into the workplace fit and ready for purpose. Plus, the rollout of such in-dept teaching practices through this unique teaching tool assists these institutions in their bids to attract the best talent available, leveraging themselves as leaders in hospitality training and education. By future proofing Ireland’s hospitality talent industry, Guestline are meeting the market’s demands for skill-full, talented, experienced, entry level staff, propelling our technology institutes to new educational heights and cementing their own position as leaders in the PMS market.

www.guestline.com H&RT OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018

ITIC

Has the Government turned its back on Irish tourism? Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, CEO, Irish Tourism Industry Confederation

So now that the dust has settled on Budget 2019 let’s pause and take stock. There seemed to be something for everyone in the audience; an extra €5 in welfare, a modest USC tax cut, more money for health and housing, a dividend for farmers. And how was all this funded? The painful answer is that the Irish tourism and hospitality industry picked up the main tab. Minister Paschal Donohoe raised an additional €700 million in new taxes on Budget day and a whopping €466 million will be borne by the tourism and hospitality industry as the Vat rate moves from 9% to 13.5%. This is scheduled to come into effect on January 1st 2019, less than 3 months before the Brexit juggernaut hits. Aside from the fact that keeping the 9% rate was a key pledge of the Programme for Government between Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance, there was a genuine hope within tourism circles that a Government that truly espoused support for indigenous industry and regional development would spare the sector. After all this is Ireland’s biggest home-grown sector and pretty much the only industry that can provide jobs throughout the country. ITIC, the IHF, the RAI, the ITOA and many other sectoral bodies were very active in lobbying and case-making for the 9% retention. Regrettably just days before the Budget the political decision was taken to hike the rate back up to 13.5% thereby making trading conditions that much harder for business in 2019. The lazy media and political argument is that the policy had “done its job” and. due to tourism’s success, was no longer needed. Little regard seems to have been made as to the impact of reversing the policy and how this is likely to jeopardise tourism’s future growth and damage the industry. The large majority of the 20,000 tourism and hospitality businesses throughout the country are small to medium sized enterprises. Operating with tight margins - many only making a profit during the high summer season - they will struggle to absorb the 50% Vat hike. There are now two unpalatable choices: pass the tax increase on to the consumer or trade partner that is understandably price-sensitive or see the tax increase hit their bottom line? If it is the latter it could well tip a restaurant, hotel or B&B into the red and will

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certainly mean less cash is available for critical other aspects of business next year such as renovations or staff training. Larger Dublin tourism businesses may be able to cope with the Vat increase but it is a very different story for tourism and hospitality businesses outside the capital. The Vat hike will undoubtedly hit rural and regional Ireland hardest. And this with Brexit around the corner with weakened sterling, potential border controls, and aviation disruption all likely to hit the sector hard. It is very understandable why the tourism and hospitality sector is sore about Budget 2019. It seems beyond belief that the Government has put tourism businesses in this bind without a lead-in or transitional phase. In his budget speech Minister Paschal Donohoe estimated that the tourism Vat increase will bring in an additional €466 million to the exchequer, a mere €35 million of which he has chosen to reallocate to tourism. On closer analysis only €15 million of this is to be committed to tourism current expenditure which is still 16% shy of what tourism current investment was way back in 2008. In ITIC’s view there is an urgent need to beef up current investment to increase overseas marketing activities and provide a properly-funded Brexit support fund for tourism businesses. And this is not just the post-budget gripe of a sector that feels hard done by. It must be noted that tourism is very much a private sector-led industry full of innovators, risk-takers, and entrepreneurs; in the next 3 years alone €2.5 billion is being committed by tourism businesses around the country in new hotels, ferries, attractions and aircraft. Regrettably one of the key enabling factors for tourism’s continued growth – the competitive Vat rate of 9% - is now no longer in place. Dalata CEO Pat McCann is not the only one who has raised concerns about the impact on investor confidence in the sector following Budget 2019. The tourism and hospitality industry has been left frustrated and disappointed by the Budget. We are understandably apprehensive of Brexit and know from previous experience that Irish tourism is uniquely vulnerable to external shocks. So feel sorry for ourselves or drive on adding huge value to Ireland’s economy? The Irish tourism sector choose the latter but there is one clear recommendation that we hope Government will take on board and that is to defer the Vat increase by 12 months. This will allow for the outcome of Brexit to become clearer and crucially will also give time for tourism businesses, many of whom have already contracted business next year, to make necessary pricing adjustments. Now that would be the action of a Government that cared about regional Ireland and indigenous industry.

IT Tallaght

Chefs Master Health and Wellness

In November, IT Tallaght celebrated the second group of graduates from its part-time MSc in Applied Culinary Nutrition. The graduates are chefs working in restaurants, hotels, food service catering, healthy quick serve, healthcare, education, food product development.

Back Left to Right: Anthony Reilly, Gavin Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor, Michael Lennon. Susan Zaidan, Susan Somerville Front Left to Right:Derval Hooper, Denise Murray, Catherine Kilmartin, Caroline Nelson (Absent from the photo: Graham Power and Aishling Minnockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;)

IT Tallaght Hosts the First Chef Network Student Industry Forum IT Tallaght was delighted to welcome Chef Network to the recent National Student Industry Forum. The forum aimed at bringing education and industry closer, to showcase career opportunities and progression paths and to activate and engage the student chef community. Students and lecturers from GMIT, IT Tralee, WIT, AIT, South West College participated with lecturers and students from IT Tallaght. Industry support was amazing with chefs from Canteen Cellbridge, Peploes, Sodexho,

Gather and Gather, Dalata group, private consultancy, Musgraves product development and Lough Erne Resort, all giving freely of their time to support and advise students. It was an inspiring morning, leaving the students buzzing with positivity on choosing the culinary profession and the importance of embracing the power to change any negativity and poor professional practices they may encounter and to utilise the support of Chef Network.

As an applied programme the chefs through their applied research project, were required to creatively apply their knowledge and skills to identify ways in which they could bring value and benefit to the Irish food industry in the area of health and wellness. Topics researched addressed the following: Chef self-care, portion control, applied nutrition for the aging population, marketing health and wellness, using nutrition in recipe modification, nutrient dense meal solutions, gut health and menu design, FODMAP app resource for the professional chef, specialised training of chefs working in care homes for the elderly, food education in primary schools and the need for practical food resources linked to nutritional psychiatry. To find out more about this research, you are welcome to attend the Applied Culinary Nutrition Research Symposium in IT Tallaght on Tuesday 27th November at 6pm. For further details on this programme contact : Annette.sweeney@it-tallaght.ie 01 4042826

Nourishing the Minds of Chef Students Some of year 1 culinary arts chefs recently visited LinkedIn to explore modern approaches to food service by Gather and Gather.

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Industry

the Season For those of us in the food and drinks trade that spend our days thinking constantly about food and drink and what matches what, I often think that Christmas is the one time of year where the rest of the country catches up with us. This is especially true these days with the plethora of new Irish drinks on the market from Strawberry wine and craft beers and ciders, to every kind of spirit from gin to rum and of course whiskey. Consumers are looking for party wines, the latest craft gin in the prettiest bottle, pre-dinner cocktails, after dinner drinks, whiskey to douse the pudding and to serve the visitors, wines to match the nut roast for the vegan in the family and others to match the turkey or the goose. Then there is the question of what matches with Christmas Pudding? Do we need port for the stilton or is that old-fashioned… and what about a wine to match the soup!? Restaurants also need to cater for the diverse (and let’s face it) increasingly fussy needs of Irish consumers. You can’t please them all but I would hope that what I suggest below will at least keep you on trend. First up is Fizz - no Christmas celebration is complete without bubbles and the magic word is still Champagne. Growers Champagne has not taken off here thanks to our ludicrously high tax on sparkling wine – double the tax on still wine. Consumers want reliability and familiarity. Bollinger (Findlaters) is always good to have on a list but these days I’m also drinking Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve (Liberty Wines), arguably the best tasting NV Champagne in the market. The demise of Prosecco has been predicted but it won’t happen as consumers love it too much and the fact that frizzante Prosecco counts as still wine makes it properly affordable. Tenuta Sant Anna imported by Robb Wines was the best Frizzante I tasted this year, retailing at around €12. For something different the coolest fizz these days is Pet-Nat – Pétillant Natural – lightly sparkling wine that is bottled before the alcoholic ferment has finished allowing a little fizz to be trapped in the bottle. These wines are often low or zero sulphur added and made from organic or bio-dynamic grapes so count as ‘natural’. Le Caveau have an excellent version called Garg’n’Go, a Vento frizzante packed with pear and apple fruits.

Cocktails, Gin & Vodka

The new craft gins keep appearing with bars even commissioning their own (e.g. The Ross in Killarney). Chinnery was perhaps the most intriguing gin I tasted this year which uses Osmanthus flowers and Oolong tea giving the product an exotic Asian character (Celtic Whiskey Shop) and is also in a gorgeous bottle. I also loved Ornabrak Gin made from malted barley which gives added texture and is just five botanicals is the perfect mixer gin. For something a little different I recommend Beara Seawater infused Gin from West Cork and Dúalaman from the Sliabh Liag distillery in Donegal which has a distinct salty tang thanks to its seaweed botanicals.

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Industry

One Irish gin still has a bigger impact than any other and that is Gunpowder Gin (Dalcassian) created by Pat Rigney at the Shed Distillery in lovely Leitrim. The striking blue bottle is unmistakable. Despite all the talk of Gin however Vodka is still by the biggest spirit category and in 2018 Rigney introduced a companion Vodka - Sausage Tree Vodka in an equally striking red bottle. Distilled using Irish wheat, foraged nettles and fruits from the African Kigelia ‘Sausage Tree’ which is famed for its purification powers (as are nettles of course). Aromas of pure grain distillate on the nose, remarkably smooth with red fruits and a crisp green leaf character on the mid and late palate and a mellow zesty finish. Consumers are increasingly looking for Irish gin so creating a separate ‘Irish Gin’ list is a good idea. No list is complete without a selection of tonics to match of course and besides Fever Tree and Schweppes do consider the Irish brand Poachers which has three well executed flavours – citrus, wild and classic. Organic and Natural wines entered the mainstream this year and can add extra prestige to a list. Natural wines are not for everyone and need to be hand sold as tannic skin contact orange wines and the funky unusual wines of producers like Craven and Testalonga from South Africa (both imported by Findlaters) are definitely not for everyone but can win customers if carefully sold My pick for an organic house red is Ciu Ciu Bacchus imported by Wines Direct – this fruit-driven Montepulciano-Sangiovese blend from the Marche retails at around €13 and can give decent mark-ups when sold around the €30 mark. The white in the same range Ciu Ciu Oris Falerio is equally tasty and moreish. Beaujolais is the other category that is making a comeback thanks to fruit driven food-friendly wines. Lapierre from Morgon in Beaujolais (LaRousse Foods) is an innovator in the category and at entry level this producers’ ‘Raisins Gaulois’ wine counts as natural and organic but at a fair price. Soave is also back in case you hadn’t heard thanks to wonderful producers such as Pieropan (Liberty Wines) whose textured complex wines can beat many a Burgundy at half the price. Irish Whiskey continues to grow internationally, driven by the juggernaut that is Jameson. Irish Distillers bought 8-Degrees brewing this year to ensure a regular supply of beer which they need to flavour casks for the hugely successful Jameson Cask Mates. The new whiskey brands keep coming and Teelings produced the first Dublin made whiskey this year in over fifty years. Every Dingle Whiskey release seems to trump the previous but just as we are going to press the new Red Spot single malt (companion to Green Spot and Yellow Spot) is being launched. Walsh Whiskey however gets my top pick this year – Writers Tears Copper Pot is a blend of aged Single Pot Still and Single Malt and aged in Bourbon cask and is toasty and fruity with distinct butterscotch flavours, perfect for after dinner digestifs. Port and Sherry are not the categories they were but should still not be neglected. Sherry cocktails are slowly making an impact among the discerning and the classic White Port and Tonic cocktail is as attractive as it sounds. Tawny Port is the biggest growing category and Taylors (United Wines) attractive new Reserve Tawny in a vintage litre bottle will sell itself once you show customers the bottle.

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Post Budget

What Now for Tourism? Frank Corr looks at industry post-Budget prospects

Now that the fury which followed the scrapping of 9% tourism VAT in the Budget, has abated, the industry is dusting itself down and examining the real impact of the decision.

Ending the concessionary VAT rate was hardly a surprise. It had been flagged by the Department of Finance for more than a year and its eventual enactment was a racing certainty. Shrewd hotel managers will already have factored the increase into their 2019 business plans and others ae doing so now. The adverse impact on most hotels will be minimal. Room rates in many parts of the country (not just Dublin), are at an historic high and while some hotels remain in a perilous state, these are likely to be poorly located or are dealing with a borrowing overhang. They may also include some of the ‘zombie’ hotels that the IHF wanted taken out of the market in the early post-crash years. Interestingly, bed and breakfast establishments and Air BnB renters will also be unaffected by the increase- as most operate below the threshold for VAT registration. We may well see calls for a review of this anomaly over the coming months. Hotel consumers, including tourists, are unlikely to be affected by the VAT change because room rates are predicated on supply and demand rather than costs. Room rates and profits for a majority of hotels will only fall when local supply begins to exceed demand. In the meantime, hotels enjoying current record rates, are unlikely to have difficulty in absorbing the VAT increase. Restaurants may be more vulnerable to the increase, however. Most work on tight margins and competition everywhere is intense. They are therefore unlikely to be able to hike menu prices to recover the additional VAT and consequently may have to work on even tighter margins. That said, the dine-out market is buoyant, with no shortage of entrepreneurs investing in restaurants all over the country. In the post-Budget comments from industry bodies, the Budget provision of an additional €35m. to the Department of Tourism, was totally ignored. This is a sizeable sum of money which will be invested in Greenways and the new tourism regions of Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, and Ireland’s Hidden Heartland- all of which cover less-popular tourism destinations. These investments should help drum up business for the ‘struggling’ rural hotels and restaurants.

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Like the rest of the economy, the tourism industry is uncertain and apprehensive about the impact of Brexit. Crunch negotiations are underway as I write, but a final deal remains very much in the balance. The Budget provided new funding of €110m to help industry cope with Brexit, and presumably some of this will find its way into Tourism. Once again however, the ‘We’ll All be Ruined said Hanrahan’, predictions may not be as bad as many fear. The most threatening result of Brexit from a tourism viewpoint, would be a serious, long-term decline in the value of sterling, which would push up the cost of a European (including Irish), holiday for millions of British travellers. Sterling has been in decline since the Brexit referendum, resulting in an initial fall-off of British visitors to Ireland. This decline seems to have bottomed out and recent statistics show a small but steady upward trend. It is worth remembering that weak sterling will hit British tourists wherever they travel, so Ireland will be at no disadvantage in relation to other Eurozone countries including France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Ireland will become the only English-speaking country in the EU, which should make us attractive to notoriously mono-linguistic British- and of course the huge Irish population of Britain will still want to visit the ‘ould sod’, as they did throughout the Troubles. Neither is there certainty that sterling will remain weak post-Brexit. The UK economy may recover faster than predicted and, in any event, currency values are dictated by a complex web of influences. Depending on the ‘hardness’ of Brexit which finally emerges, some new border controls are likely. These however are unlikely to deter British visitors who are well accustomed to intensive security checks at airports. Flashing a passport at Irish entry point is unlikely to faze too may. An ideal Irish post-Brexit tourism industry should be able to offer ease of access, competitive accommodation and meals plus the array of attractions which already await our 9m visitors. The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation has been calling for additional investment funds for tourism infrastructure and while the €35m provided by the Budget is a good start, more is needed. Expansion plans at Dublin airport need to be delivered on time and, now that we have a decent motorway network, there is a strong case for investing in rural roads. The ‘Value for Money’ index reported by visitors has certainly improved in recent times, but it could be a lot better. The delivery of up to 70 new hotels over the next two years is likely to dampen room rates in prime tourism areas- and this is probably welcome from a tourism viewpoint. Dining out and drinking remain high cost activities however and will become a more powerful deterrent to British visitors, should sterling decline further post-Brexit. Excise duties on alcohol (particularly wine) are out of line with our competitors in Europe, and while the Government must take into account both the revenue and health implications of alcohol tax, a sharp decrease in excise on wine and beers would certainly improve the value for money aspect of our tourism offering. ITIC has also predicted that visitor numbers into Ireland could reach 13.7m by 2025 and that as a result, the industry would create an additional 80,000 jobs. The question prompted by this scenario is of course- where could these employees be found ?. As matters stand, the country is enjoying near full employment and both the economy and the numbers at work seem set to grow, at least until the next economic downturn. The Tourism sector is therefore likely to have to compete for scarce workers in the coming years, and is not in a strong position to do so. Training of hotel and restaurant workers has declined dramatically, the much-lauded Chef Apprentice Scheme has been underwhelming and neither Failte Ireland nor Solas seem to be doing very much in training for future growth. A new Failte Ireland Development Plan is keenly awaited by those concerned with training and recruitment. Training of (primarily) kitchen staff however, is not enough. If hospitality is to recruit the staff it will need, it will have to match the multi-nationals and progressive Irish companies in other sectors, in terms of pay, conditions, career paths and work-life balance. To their credit, some Irish hotel and even restaurant groups, have made progress in these areas in recent years, but too many hospitality employees remain on the Minimum Wage, while working hours, rosters, living conditions and health benefits in many hospitality employments, remain uncompetitive. Tourism would also benefit from a dynamic Minister, who would be recognised as a champion of the industry and would have the time and resources to interact with industry players on a regular basis. The industry also deserves a Minister whose influence at the Cabinet table is commensurate with the economic significance of Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and its 254,000 employees. Surely the time has come for a standalone Department of Tourism, or at the very least, its incorporation into one of the prime economic Departments.

Dining

Avoiding the Rubber Chicken The traditional dread of politicians was termed the “rubber chicken circuit” as electioneering season started with its round of dinners courting party stalwarts and constituents around the country. Similar dining hazards are still experienced by seasoned attenders of award ceremonies, trade association dinners and conferences. Catering for numbers at functions is cratered with pitfalls. From the guests’ side, tales abound of flat warm champagne poured hours earlier, cold soup and tired main courses welded to plates with gravy. From the kitchen’s point of view, the suppliers may have been late, staff decimated by flu, ovens failed or power cuts. Tom X serves on several trade boards and reckons he has to brush up the d.j. and attend an awards ceremony/ charity event/product launch at least once a month. “Tickets for black tie events are generally well over the three figure mark and frankly, menus are more often style over substance.” He cites a recent up-market “do” for 400 where two of the seven courses were served as the currently trendy sharing platters. The weighty platters were placed in the centre of round tables for ten, forcing diners to stand and lean over the table to help themselves. Result: twp overturned wine glasses and one elegant lady’s ruffled sleeve dipped into the sauce boat. At Lough Erne Resort, executive chef Noel McMeel is an accomplished veteran of innumerable high profile events, heading a brigade of 38 over kitchens catering for an average of three weddings a week as well as four or five functions for numbers up to 350. “We don’t do silver service,” Noel explains. “Everything goes out plated. That way the plate arrives in front of the guest in the best possible presentation. It’s also faster in terms of service and less risk of cold plates.” Years of experience has also taught Noel that guests prefer not to have to serve themselves, particularly at black tie events. “Ladies especially will have on their best jewellery and fresh manicures and don’t want to be fiddling with the likes of vegetables whether held by servers or being passed. Service has to be easy for guests.” When it comes to fine dining for numbers, no one can challenge Pat O’Sullivan, managing director of Masterchefs. His Limerick based organisation famously catered the McManus wedding for 1600 seated guests over three days,

in palatial chandelier-lit marquees replete with pools and fountains. In an era where many kitchens have deskilled and opted for technology, Pat is committed to traditional methods, not compromising on skillful staff and quality of produce. “Reheating product and boil-in-the-bag is not in the equation. We do our own reductions and sauces, breads, scones, pastries and mise en place is ready to go immediately at the off of any event. Everything goes out as soon as it’s cooked, which is the only way to ensure top quality.” There’s no need to compromise, even with large numbers, Pat insists. Masterchefs has a national network of chefs - often well known names - they can call on for major events. Kitchens are built on-site and with military precision brigades work in teams under a head chef, each totally responsible for 200 - 300 diners. That way staff aren’t overwhelmed and focus is kept on quality and delivery.

Some recent trends are proving to be more dreaded than the cold soup and rubber chicken of yore. Understaffed and deskilled kitchens resort to water-bathing premium cuts like fillet steak and rack of lamb. This slow-cook boil-in-the-bag method allows meat to keep its pink colour and can be held, perhaps for days, to be briefly seared on the hob and sent to table completely devoid of eating quality. Noel McMeel, like Pat O’Sullivan, has never moved from traditional methods, pointing out that the slow-cook technology was developed to deal with tough less-thanpremium cuts. “It’s a total waste of a top class product like fillet steak, retaining colour but losing flavour, texture and total eating quality in the process.” Happily, there are indications that infatuation with water bath cookery is on the wane among top line international chefs. At California’s trend-setting French Laundry, where kitchens once sported ten water baths, star chef Thomas Keller has banished all but three mainly used for vegetables and infusions. Perhaps banquet diners can hope that the days of the rubber chicken and boiled steak are numbered.

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DIT

DIT Confers

Jim Gahan and Bobby Kerr with Honorary Doctorate Visionary planner Jim Gahan and hospitality entrepreneur turned broadcaster Bobby Kerr were conferred with Honorary Doctorates by Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) at a ceremony in St. Patrick’s Cathedral recently. Each year DIT confers the Award of Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy on a small number of exceptional individuals in recognition of their service to society through their contribution to business and the professions, arts and sport, or outstanding public and community service. In citations read at the ceremony, Jim Gahan and Bobby Kerr were identified as DIT graduates themselves, but also as role models for the class of 2018 who were conferred at the same ceremony.

Jim Gahan

was honoured by the Institute in recognition of his long and prolific career during which he was involved in several major landmark development projects, including revitalising Heuston Station, planning and developing the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and commercial developments such asthe ILAC Shopping Centre and Sandyford Industrial Estate. Throughout his life, Jim has promoted professional standards and ethical practice, and he is a strong advocate of educational and professional development. Since 2001 he has served first as a member and then as Chair of the Board of the DIT Foundation which seeks to raise philanthropy for the transformative development of the Grangegorman campus and other resources for DIT students.

Bobby Kerr, one of Ireland’s most successful Entrepreneurs,

was honoured for his remarkable contribution to the business world. A graduate of DIT Cathal Brugha Street, Bobby has worked with some of the most celebrated names in Food and Hospitality, including Bewleys and Jury’s Hotel, before establishing his own businesses. While CEO and Chairman of Insomnia, the company grew from 17 outlets in the early 2000s to over 150 standalone coffee shops and 500 retail presencestoday. Now equally well known as a Broadcaster with a no-nonsense but affable style – from Dragon’s Den to his maritime documentary ‘Along our Shores’ on television to his weekend radio shows on Newstalk. Also a key member of the DIT Foundation Board, he is passionate about supporting educational opportunity and the development of resources for future generations of DIT students. Speaking at the Conferring Ceremony in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, President of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Professor Brian Norton, said: “It is fitting that we invite two great friends of DIT – Bobby Kerr and Jim Gahan – to accept an Honorary Doctorate today as we host our final DIT graduation ceremonies before becoming Ireland’s first Technological University - TU Dublin - in January 2019. Bobby and Jim are visionaries that have made a remarkable contribution in their respective fields and to Irish society as a whole. Throughout their stellar careers, they have continued to support DIT as members of the DIT Foundation board where they raise philanthropy for the development of campus facilities, and most importantly, create scholarships that encourage students of all backgrounds to reach their full potential. While today is a significant milestone in the long history of DIT, we are now preparing for the next new and exciting phase as TU Dublin, with our colleagues in IT Blanchardstown and ITTallaght. We hope our many graduates, including Dr. Gahan and Dr. Kerr, will continue to be proud of their alma mater.” DIT recently hosted four conferring ceremonies which saw 1200 students of the College of Business receive their awards.

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TU Dublin – Ireland’s first Technological University Dublin Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Blanchardstown and Institute of Technology Tallaght are set to become Ireland’s first Technological University – TU Dublin – in January 2019. With approximately 28,500 students TU Dublin will be the place where the arts, business, science, engineering and technology converge. Practice-based and research-informed, TU Dublin will create an inclusive and open learning experience offering pathways to graduation, from Apprenticeship to PhD, to a diverse range of students. The emphasis of the TU Dublin student experience is on practice, with a range of opportunities in the curriculum applying theory to real-world challenges through problem-based learning, active citizenship, work-placement opportunities, project work, active learning, community-based learning, research, and engagement with contemporary practitioners. With establishment confirmed for January 2019, the first graduates of TU Dublin will receive awards from the new University in 2019.

INFO@DALCASSIANWINES.COM WWW.DALCASSIANWINES.COM TEL: +353 (0) 1 2937977

Get access Only CATEX can give you access to foodservice professionals with real purchasing power and from every sector of the Industry. In 2017, 83% of the 11,756 visitors placed an order as a result of CATEX, which lead to a 98% overall exhibitor satisfaction. To learn more contact Margaret Andreucetti: T: +353 (0) 1 846 0020 M: +353 (0) 86 055 4181 E: margaret@eventhaus.ie 56

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26 - 28 February 2019 RDS, Dublin catexexhibition.com