Hotel & Restaurant Times, Ireland's longest established trade publication for the hospitality industry, is circulated on subscription to Chief Executives, Directors and Proprietors of Hotels and Restaurants in Ireland, as-well-as Architects, Interior Designers and Suppliers to the Hotel and Restaurant Industry.
Managing Editor: Cyril McAree (01-6285447, cyril@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie) Contributors: Pavel Barter, Anita Cusack, Liam Campbell, Conor Power, Guestline.
FÁILTE IRELAND CEO, PAUL KELLY 'SUPPORTING THE INDUSTRY'
'START OF THE ART' STAFF ACCOMMODATION AT THE EUROPE HOTEL & RESORT
NEW
RIOJA WINE 'SUSTAINABLE & ENVIRONMENTAL'
LABS 'WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY FOR ALL'
- ULTIMATE GUIDE TO INTEGRATED PAYMENTS FOR HOTELIERS
'SHOWCASING VEGGIES' ECO-FRIENDLY DINING AT GLAS RESTAURANT
So, we have a new broom in government. With less than 10 months for the current incumbents to run their course, there were few surprises in the hiccup that represented a cabinet reshuffle.
Whilst the government rebooted itself, the economy (and hospitality in particular) continued to grapple with complexities facing the sector. Concern reigns over the ever-increasing restaurant closures and rising costs in doing business, despite continued reassurances from government of support that has yet to be seen.
Insurance is now the latest pitfall to set the alarm bells ringing. While insurance companies record eye watering profits, equally eye watering is the cost facing hotels, restaurants and guesthouses that enable them continue in business.
This adds further stress and increased costs to businesses and consumers. The industry can’t continue to absorb these increases without passing them on.
This then impacts on competitiveness and may result in a loss of business. The lack of bed stock due to the immigrant crisis has
severely impacted on the competitive aspect of the industry, along with energy and rising food costs, thus creating a near perfect storm.
The Airbnb fiasco that the government appears incapable of challenging or addressing, adds to these woes.
Complete properties are being used for short term lets without, it would appear, correct planning. At the same time, these hosts have been able to earn vast sums of money with little or no enforcement of the supposed regulations currently on the statue books.
Such properties should be registered for short term lets, and have the proper planning regulations applied, as is the case for hotels, guesthouses, etc., but this doesn’t appear to be the case for the Airbnb fraternity. Airbnb also do not contribute in funding terms to local authorities and marketing bodies who bring and support tourism in the regions they profit from.
This situation is also creating the reduced availability of rentable housing stock, which then contributes to employees in every rural town finding it difficult to secure a rented property and thus being unable able to work in the local hotels and restaurants. This exacerbates the challenge for businesses to offer value for money due to the understandable wage demands of employees trying to rent at exorbitant charges.
The government had no problem reintroducing the 13.5%, VAT rate, but seems incapable of challenging the Airbnb debacle. Other European countries have reacted more speedily and with verifiable results.
Another interesting fact was the recent Crowe report which helps demystify the inaccurate and often reported hype around hotel prices.
THE FÁILTE IRELAND REPORT SHOWS THAT IN EXCESS OF €3 BILLION IN REVENUE IS DERIVED FROM TOURISM PER YEAR IN THIS REGION ALONE. 35,000 JOBS HAVE RESULTED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY, ADDING TO A COMBINED EMPLOYMENT FIGURE IN THE REGION OF OVER 120,000 JOBS.
It shows in real terms that prices are very much in line with competitor markets and the old adage of supply and demand is the rational for the often misrepresented information and scare mongering.
The recent Fáilte Ireland report on the Wild Atlantic Way shows in stark terms the reality of
what organised and funded tourism delivers. Then you look at how our tourism minister treated the last IHF employee awards recipients and all you can do is despair. While unable to attend herself, due to the RTE Primetime debacle, no one from government was sent to present these awards.
Visit www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie for the latest news & insights.
Maybe it is time that the industry reminded TDs and MEPs that they have a vote.Cyril McAree, Editor
In celebration of International Women's Day, Compass Group Ireland has unveiled a specially designed maternity chef jacket to support female colleagues throughout pregnancy and beyond. Leanne Ryan, a pregnant chef with Compass Group, shared her
Rugby club history has been made as the Flogas-sponsored Galway Corinthians U20s became the first ever non-Leinster team to win the U20s Leinster Div 2 League - and the first non-Leinster team to receive an invitation to play in the upcoming Leinster U20s Division 1’s McCorry Cup.
Castle Leslie Estate has been officially recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in Ireland in 2024 at the 22nd annual Great Place to Work Awards. This is Castle Leslie Estate’s first
experience: “Having a jacket designed by our Compass female chefs makes a huge difference in a challenging kitchen environment. It feels like a significant step towards being heard, respected, and supported in a traditionally male-dominated industry.”
Rory Best with Jennifer Edwards, Tourism Ireland, during filming at Tracey’s Farmhouse Kitchen in Killinchy, Co Down. Tourism Ireland has teamed up with the former rugby player Rory Best, as part of its latest campaign to promote Northern Ireland in Britain.
year to be named as a top Irish workplace, which is based on direct feedback from employees (provided as part of an extensive and anonymous survey about the workplace experience).
At Tourism Ireland’s Senses of Ireland event in Ottawa, Canada, are: Luke O'Mahony, Brendan Vacations; Dermot Friel, Friels Historic Bar & Restaurant; Angela Newman, Hysterical Histories Cork; Sandra Moffatt, Tourism Ireland; Ken Nickerson and Austin
The management of the Sligo Park Hotel has paid tribute to Food and Beverage Team Lead Andrea Burke after she was named National Employee of the Year at the
Fraser, both Brendan Vacations; John Fallon, Royal Irish Tours; Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland; Ghilian Campbell, Visit Armagh; Lauren Lamonday, Tourism Ireland; Phil Ervine, Taste and Tour NI; and Fiona O’Mahony, Irish Family History Centre.
Connacht Rugby has agreed a long-term contract with Irish caterers Master Chefs, who will become the catering and bar services provider when the redeveloped Dexcom Stadium opens.
Irish Hotels Federation Awards. Pictured are some of the Sligo Park Hotel team at the awards (l-r): Mary Halton HR manager; Jake Hargadon; Andrea Burke; Gerard Moore, Director and General Manger Sligo Park Hotel
Susan Bolger, Tourism Ireland; Lorraine Mills, Belfast Millie Tours; Conor Carberry, Tourism NI; singer-songwriter Winnie Ama; Ruth Flynn, Visit Belfast; Diane Poole, Titanic Distillers; and Helen McGorman, Tourism Ireland, at Tourism Ireland’s event in Barcelona to highlight Belfast 2024.
Two million more visitors visited the Wild Atlantic Way in 2023 compared with 2013, according to a new report. Tourism is now worth €3billion per year on the Wild Atlantic Way, an increase of 59% on 2013, and this growth has contributed to the creation of an additional 35,000 jobs, with tourism now supporting 121,000 jobs across the region. Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin and Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with Tourism Ireland, recently marked the 10th anniversary of the Wild Atlantic Way at Meitheal, a trade event for the Irish tourism industry.
After exceeding revenue of €500m in 2022, Dalata Group has grown revenues to over €600m in 2023, according to its annual results. Dalata has a strategic focus on the UK where it currently operates 18 hotels with a current pipeline of five. In 2023, the Group made acquisitions in London, including Maldron Hotel Finsbury Park (£44.3m) and Clayton Hotel London Wall (£53.4m), as well as acquiring a development site in Edinburgh city centre (£12.5m). In 2024, the Group will open four new hotels across the UK, in key cities of London, Brighton, Liverpool, and Manchester, totalling 834 rooms across the UK. The group also recently announced a 216 room extension at the Clayton Hotel Manchester Airport.
Shea Kildea, concierge at Lough Eske Castle, has received Les Clefs d'Or (translated as The Golden Keys). Les Clefs d’Or is a professional association of hotel concierges, with approximately 4000 members working in over 80 countries and 530 destinations.
Dónal Cox, GM of Lough Eske Castle, said: “It is a great honour for all of us to have a member or our team being part of the prestigious Les Clefs d’Or, the only member in county Donegal.”
The Irish Hotels Federation has called on the government to offset the impact that government policies are having on the operating costs of hospitality businesses.
Responding to a government report examining the cost increases for businesses arising from employmentrelated measures, IHF President Michael Magner stated that tourism and hospitality is now at a crossroads with Government-controlled costs having a disproportionate impact on businesses throughout the sector.
Italian travel agents at Bantry House & Garden with Julie Shelswell-White, Bantry House & Garden (front, left); and Mary O'Connor, Tourism Ireland (front, second left).
Ballynahinch Castle has been accepted into Virtuoso’s portfolio of luxury travel partners, comprising over 2,300 preferred suppliers in 100 countries. According to Carol Hinch, Director of Sales & Marketing at Ballynahinch Castle, inclusion in Virtuoso will present new sales and marketing opportunities to the network’s more than 20,000 luxury travel advisors.
Jordan Conroy and Ciara Mageean at the launch of a new docuseries, part of the Flogas Energy Behind the Athletes campaign to amplify support for Team Ireland athletes ahead of Paris 2024.
Radisson Blu Hotel Dublin Airport has been certified by the Great Place to Work Institute Ireland. The Certification process is based on direct feedback from employees, provided as part of an extensive and anonymous survey about the workplace experience.
Catex Exhibition, Irelands culinary and hospitality event, celebrates 60 years in business with Lord Mayor Daithí de Róiste and Catex sponsors Bunzl McLaughlin and Calor. Pictured (l-r) are: Oliver Kenny, Chief Commercial Officer, Calor; Conrad Greene, IFSA Chair; Lord Mayor Daithí de Róiste; and Sean Martin, Sales Director, Bunzl McLaughlin.
The MHL Hotel Collection has signed a contract with May Street Capital to acquire the former Park Inn by Radisson Hotel in Belfast. This purchase is the Collection’s first acquisition outside the Republic of Ireland and will bring its total number of hotels on the island to fourteen. The hotel at the Clarence West building with its 145 bedrooms is within walking distance of Belfast City Hall, Ulster Hall and Victoria Square Shopping Centre.
Over National Tree Week
2,500 native Irish trees were started to be planted at Monart Destination Spa as part of the Griffin Hotel Group’s €1m sustainability programme.
Pictured at the planting are: Richard Mulcahy (100 Million Trees Founder); Mark Browne (General Manager Monart Destination Spa); Michael Griffin (CEO Griffin Hotel Group); Liam Anthony Griffin (Director Griffin Hotel Group); Igors Prokopenko (Head Grounds Keeper Monart Destination Spa).
Dromoland Castle in County Clare has appointed Gráinne O’Rourke as marketing manager. County Clare-born Gráinne has come full circle, having first experienced a taste of the hospitality industry in her very first job at the Inn at Dromoland, Dromoland Castle’s sister property, when she was just sixteen. Gráinne’s a graduate of NUI, Galway with a Bachelor of Commerce and a major in marketing. After spending seven years promoting Irish creative talent for IFTA (Irish Film & Television Academy) in Dublin, Gráinne moved back west and took on the role of Marketing & PR Manager for the Crescent Shopping Centre.
Ciaran Fitzgerald, Managing Director of The Blue Haven Collection, has been elected Chair of the Cork Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), which represents hotels and guesthouses across the City and County.
Pictured from left are: IHF Cork Branch Officer Eoghan Murphy; newly elected Chair Ciaran Fitzgerald; former Chair Joe Kennedy; and Branch Officer Dafydd Lewis.
The North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) has announced the appointment of two new Directors to the board of Tourism Ireland: Karen Sugrue Hennessy as Director and Vice Chairperson and Paul Gallagher as Director. Each will serve a five-year term.
The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has announced the election of Matt O’Connor and Colm Neville as Vice Presidents of the IHF. They join IHF President Michael Magner in representing over 900 hotels and guesthouses, employing over 65,000 people throughout the country. Both Matt and Colm are longstanding, active members of the IHF and bring extensive experience to the role of Vice President
having previously served as Chairs of their respective Midlands and South East Branches of the IHF and as members of its National Council and Management Committee. Matt is Managing Director of the Mullingar Park Hotel and has been with the hotel since its inception 21 years ago. Colm is owner of the Riverside Park Hotel, the Crown Quarter hotel in Wexford and the Midlands Park Hotel in Portlaoise.
Prior to becoming the Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland in 2017, Paul Kelly had cut a varied and impressive career mainly in the private sector.
“I started out in the family retail business,” says Paul.
“My father had an independent electrical shop in Wexford town. You might say that I grew up on the shop floor there, learning about things like dealing with the public and how a small family business was run.”
After obtaining a degree in Commerce from UCD, Paul joined American consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble in the UK. After a number of years there, he returned to Ireland to work with Diageo. He was with the Guinness owners for a decade, becoming their Marketing Director before moving to insurance
company Aviva. Here, he worked for over five years in a marketing and consultancy role until he secured his current position; working in the tourism sector for the very first time in his career and entering at the top. It was his strong background in marketing and strategy that got him the job, he says – something that speaks volumes of what the role of CEO of Fáilte Ireland actually involves.
From the marketing point of view, there’s no doubt that Fáilte Ireland have been punching very much above their weight in the tourism sector in recent years, scoring strong successes on a stripped-down budget.
The challenge of training people for the sector and attracting people into it has been another key component of industry. It’s one that has come in for a lot of controversy in recent decades. There is a clear lack of trainees in the sector and many point to the end of CERT and other factors as evidence that the Government effectively abdicated responsibility of ensuring adequate training for our largest indigenous industry; pushing Fáilte Ireland into a role more concerned with marketing the country, to the detriment of training people for the industry.
Paul feels that while there are certainly challenges to address, the situation is more nuanced than that. “The Government made the decision that the training side of the industry would be left to the education experts – to the ETB, for example”. A key focus for us is also on supporting employees to shape and drive their professional development and upskilling whether that’s for new starters into the sector, people wanting to progress their careers, as well as managers looking to upskill and develop. We are looking at how we work with other arms of Government to ensure that the wider skills needs of the
“It’s essentially about understanding what people are looking for and trying to work out the best way of delivering that to them and communicating it to them.”
industry are being met to ensure we’re reducing gaps and duplication in provision. We’re constantly looking down the line at emerging trends and industry needs to see what the gaps are and how we can support the sector to build the knowledge and expertise of their teams to meet evolving business challenges and to be in a really competitive and resilient position.” In terms of the loss of skill sets and staff during the Covid period, Paul says that that situation is well on its way to recovery, pointing in evidence to what he says is a “significant drop in the number of vacancies advertised at this point this year, compared with last year. We still have skills shortages and staff shortages, as every industry does, but I think that the levels are now a bit more normal.”
On the Broader Issue of the Rash of Restaurant Closures that have occurred this year and whether or not the
Government needs something of a re-focus on supporting the tourism industry, Paul is at pains to point out that Fáilte Ireland’s role is not one of dictating Government policy. “Our role, as the national tourism agency, is to gather the evidence. We don’t make policy decisions on areas like this and it’s also important to say that our legislative remit is tourism. A lot of hospitality is not tourism – it’s the likes of you and I going down to our local restaurant or pub. It’s important that these businesses are kept alive so that tourists visiting the area can visit them.
“It’s not like the training has stopped. It still goes on through the likes of the ETBs and Fáilte Ireland still focuses on upskilling and capability building in areas most critical to business performance.”
On the question of tourism sustainability, Paul says that there are two main strands of activity: there’s the Climate Action Programme where Fáilte Ireland is supporting businesses by providing advisors who work hand-in-hand with them to help them understand how to approach the process of becoming more sustainable. “The second bit is our all-island sustainability certification assurance scheme,” says Paul. “What’s really important to understand is that we’re not getting into the business of certifying businesses for sustainability – there are lots of certifiers already out there who are doing that. The issue is that the visitor and the consumer don’t understand what these different certifications mean, however, because there are lots of different ones. What we’re looking to do is map those certifiers into an overall assurance scheme and then provide a badge for visitors.”
It’s effectively a rating system that will allow visitors to get a straight opinion of the principal tourism authorities on the island of Ireland as to whether or not a product’s sustainability credentials are reasonable. The operation of the scheme will be overseen by Northern Ireland Tourism in Northern Ireland and by Fáilte Ireland in the Republic.
In terms of the number of hotels being used to accommodate asylum-seekers and refugees, Paul says that there is little that can be done in the face of the sudden invasion of the Ukraine.
“I think that a lot of people in tourism are now saying, ‘it’s two years on now and we should be looking at alternatives to accommodation other than tourist accommodation’… once again, our expertise is in the tourism sector and our job is to make people who are making those decisions aware of the impact it’s having on the tourism sector.
“I think that one of the big concerns we would have is in terms of the impact that Government policy (with regard to housing refugees and asylum seekers) would have on tourism towns around the country. If you have a town where a lot of the tourism accommodation is taken out, then the town becomes less of a tourism town. And it takes a while to get that back.”
On the question of whether or not the tourism minister’s brief is too broad to be effective, Paul is not going to be drawn:
“That’s not really a question for us. I’ve heard lots of people saying things like, ‘ Tourism should be a ministry on its own… tourism should be only with arts and culture… tourism should be with transport… tourism should be with enterprise…”
“There are pros and cons to all these permutations of combinations. Inevitably, there is a lot of negotiation that goes on post-election and we’re simply happy to support the sector and do the best for it.”
With regard to how the role of Fáilte Ireland might evolve in the future, Paul points out that the role has already dynamically evolved since he has been in it: “About two thirds of what we do now, we didn’t do about five or six years ago,” he says. “We’ve massively expanded the offering that we’ve given to businesses.”
He cites the expansion of the zonal branding exercise that began with the Wild Atlantic Way as one of the principal evolutions in the state tourism body’s role and the fact that staffing numbers at Fáilte Ireland have increased from about 320 to 450 people under his tenure.
“Five or six years ago, we didn’t have the tourism careers promotion or the employment excellence programmes. We’ve a whole new Industry Digitisation Team that we didn’t have before… We’ve brought back in the Activities & Attractions Team and this year we’re stepping up sustainability..”
Inclusion and accessibility are buzzwords that loom large on the Irish tourism horizon, with the imminent arrival of European legislation that will compel tourism businesses to make their products more inclusive to the disabled sector.
“There’s certainly opportunity for us to do an awful lot better in this regard,” says Paul. “It’s really important from an equality and human rights point of view that we do make tourism inclusive and accessible to all, regardless of disabilities or additional needs. But also, there’s a huge market in it.”
Taking on the leadership of the organisation charged with the promotion of our national tourism sector could be compared with, say, the manager of the national football team: Everyone has their own idea of what the role should involve and the style in which the role is carried out. At the end of the day, however, you can only play what’s in front of you and play to win.
“I’m positive about the coming year,” says Paul.
“The air-access picture is tracking at about 105% ahead of this time last year, which is the best ever. So as long as we don’t end up in a situation where we can’t match that need because of caps at Dublin Airport...”
“It’s
really important that a solution is found there, and one that works.”
“For the domestic market and the European market, I think that value for money is critical…
The one area I’m a little bit concerned about is corporate travel. I think that the business conference sector
is looking healthy but it’s the day-to-day corporate travel that’s looking a bit softer. In any case, Fáilte Ireland is as committed as ever to doing everything we can to drive the tourism industry on an ongoing basis.”
Find out
more about Fáilte Ireland’s Climate Action Programme and tourism business supports at
www.failteireland.ie
The Liebherr name is synonymous with Killarney. The Swiss-German container crane manufacturer has been an enduring and rare presence of heavy engineering in the Kerry town since 1958.
Besides the manufacture of construction cranes, the 100% family-owned company also has a hospitality arm, with a chain of hotels –two in Austria, one in Germany and three in Ireland.
All three Irish hotels owned by the Liebherr Group are in Kerry, including the landmark Europe Hotel & Resort in Killarney, whose General Manager is Dubliner, Michael Brennan.
“I thought that I was coming here for just a few years and that I’d be moving back to the big city and bright lights of Dublin,” says Michael.
“23 years later,
I’m still here and as enthusiastic as I was on the first day.”
Michael’s father had the honour of opening the Burlington Hotel for legendary hotelier P V Doyle, meaning that Michael was literally steeped in Irish hospitality legend.
“Before that, my father worked in the first Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin, which opened in the early 1960s,” says Michael.
“My brother John and I spent a lot of time surrounded by hotels in Dublin – in the Burlington, the (now demolished) Berkeley Court, the Westbury… our parents included us in everything, so we were working in the hotel industry at a very early age”.
“I started off working behind the bar in the Burlington when I was barely 15… when that was legal!”
“The nine-to-five wasn’t for me,” says Michael, who knew after two weeks of life at the accountancy firm that his heart lay in hospitality. Michael’s hotel career path brought him to England, Philadelphia, Toronto, Paris, the Côte d’Azur and Switzerland, before returning home to the Doyle Hotel Group. This was the late 1980s and Michael was working on computerising the front office in the group’s Dublin hotels – a veritable revolution at the time.
“The first computer screens were black and green – they weren’t even colour,” says Michael.
“It was a great challenge, though, and I went on to do special projects for both David and Bernie Doyle, renovating the Berkeley Court and the Westbury.”
“A hotel never sleeps… it’s a 24-hour business that you can immerse yourself in fully. It’s always challenging, never boring and there’s always something to be done.”
After obtaining a degree in Hotel & Catering from Cathal Brugha Street, Michael briefly flirted with the non-hospitality world (working for an accountancy practice one summer) before coming back to the business he knew inside and out.
Back then, the high-end hotel business was in a different era, where compulsory tie-wearing was the norm and when GMs changed into evening attire at the appropriate hour. Today, customer experience is on a different level, with automated systems to both enhance the comfort of the customer and save energy. Maintaining the correct balance in a world increasingly focused on curbing emissions and reducing energy consumption.
“That’s a very difficult thing to achieve,” says Michael of the challenge.
“It’s harder to achieve when things aren’t going so well and easier when business is good. And, thankfully, we’re having a very good run of it at the moment.
“The challenge involves watching all the costs on our energy bills, our labour costs… trying to be more efficient, trying to constantly change things, putting in solar panels on the roofs of the tennis courts, individual air-conditioning controls in each room, heat recovery pumps…”
The Europe has its own cattle and sheep, keeping the carbon kilometres to an absolute minimum. Even the journey to the nearest abattoir is only a few kilometres.
“That’s farm-to-fork in the truest sense, it doesn’t even leave the area of Fossa, not to mind Kerry.”
But it’s the Liehberr group’s commitment to staff that sets it apart amongst its competitors. At the height of the season, over 400 staff are employed in the three hotels. “We’re very lucky,” says Michael. “We have three distinct groups of employees in our hotels.
About a third of them have been with us a very long time (in excess of 20 years). Another third of them have been with us 2-5 years and then we’ve about another third of the workforce that come on board with us for a year. They might be in college and on work experience. But we’ve a very strong core base of people that are here a long time.
“We probably have one of the best pension plans of any hotel group in the country. We match up to 10% of their salary in contributions.”
“We also match the Government’s maternity leave, which is something not very common within the hospitality sector, and we’ve also invested a huge amount of money providing staff accommodation.”
“We’re currently just finishing the second phase of the staff accommodation block at the Europe. Over the last five years, we will have spent €12 million on staff accommodation… without accommodation, you’ve no chance of getting anybody.”
Even though the accommodation problems have reached crisis point in the country in general, the provision of accommodation for staff has always been a feature of the Europe Hotel, going back to the 1960s. It’s just that nowadays, the ante has been upped and the shared-room accommodation of 60 years ago has given way to a veritable village with ensuite individual rooms. Employees have their own laundry room and gym.
“It’s absolutely state-of-the-art accommodation and that’s what helps us get the right people,” says Michael, adding that numerous hoteliers have made a point of coming to see the set-up at the Europe; testament to the fact that this issue occupies the minds of all hoteliers in Ireland.
“The easiest thing is to build the hotel but a hotel needs a heart and the heart comes from the customers and the staff. The staff are the key to it. (If they are looked after properly), they go the extra mile for the customer, they have genuine warmth and enthusiasm and truly want the customer to have a good time.”
This feeds into creating very strong customer loyalty and repeat business, Michael adds, noting that their biggest market is the domestic one, which wasn’t always the case.
There was something of a philosophy changed with the repositioning of the hotel in the marketplace when it reopened in 2008, adding a spa to their service portfolio for the first time.
“Sometimes, people don’t realise how big the Liebherr group is,” says Michael. “Their annual turnover is in excess of €12 billion and it employs almost 60,000 people around the world”.
It’s the second-largest manufacturer of domestic fridges in Europe, they make the landing gear for the A380 Airbus, they make systems for trains, mobile cranes, maritime cranes…”
Constant training is another important feature of the hotel, Michael says, with regular training modules through
Skillnet and other resources. It’s very much part of the group’s philosophy of how essential that is.
From a national point of view, Michael is at one with the vast majority of colleagues in the hotel sector in acknowledging that the Government did an excellent job of handling things in the Pandemic period, but also feels that
hospitality needs to be more strategically placed within the Cabinet.
“I think it’s a valid point that tourism is thrown in with a number of other departments at the moment and that it doesn’t get as high a profile as it should.”
He says that there was valid justification for the push to separate the food and accommodation sectors in the battle over the 9% / 13.5% VAT rates but also feels that the Irish tourism industry still manages to offer good value for money.
“I firmly believe that five-star hotels in Ireland offer the best value,” he says.
“My story on that is very simple: I like a cup of coffee in the morning.
I go to a petrol station and get my coffee and it costs me €3.50. I don’t see anybody, I just hand over my money and go. I can come here to the Europe and pay €4.50 for a coffee.
I sit down and get a complimentary copy of the Irish Times or the Irish Independent, I can catch up on my emails with complimentary WiFi, my coffee is served by a waiter in a specially-designed cup and saucer that costs €30. I’ve met a doorman on the way in and
“Reinvesting in the product and the people are never a waste of money – it’s always the right thing to do. Our owners always take a long-term view of things. They look at things not in terms of 5-10 years; they look at things generationally…”
“People don’t stay in a company for 45 or 50 years unless they’re with a very good employer”.
when I’m finished, the cup and saucer will be taken away and washed carefully by someone in the kitchen. So where is the better value in those two scenarios?”
There’s no doubt that the longterm philosophy of the Liebherr Group has served Killarney and the Irish hospitality scene very well, setting some very interesting examples in their commitment to investing in people and property. It is, perhaps, a template from which our legislators should take inspiration.
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Established in 1913, Hellmann’s has been making the best mayonnaise for over 100 years. Hellmann’s is the number 1 brand of mayo* in foodservice, providing chefs with a range of pack sizes and formulations for every scale and style of operation.
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Rioja Wine is inviting Ireland’s sommeliers and on-trade buyers to apply for a place on the very first Rioja Somm’er School – a three-day educational trip to the region. In the leadup, Liam Campbell is taking us on a journey around Rioja, exploring its 100km of Diversity. To secure a place on the trip and experience Rioja in person, please sign up here
I first discovered the wines of Spain’s most prestigious region, Rioja over forty years ago when I worked in Manchester. At a time when the wine offerings were mostly restricted to production from Western Europe, the wines of the early 1980s in general had variable quality with acidity and tannin in reds not always kind to the palate or balanced by fruit or flavour. A chance discovery in 1983 of a Rioja Reserva 1978 offered as a try-beforeyou-buy tasting in Oddbins was a pure surprise and delight. The wine delivered such a fragrance of liquorice and vanilla pod with a velvety smooth texture of dark dried fruits infused with cake spices: cinnamon and clove that I bought a case. At £1.75 a bottle it was a bargain, even on a £60 weekly salary. I converted many of my 20+ year-old friends to the joy of Rioja over the following weeks entertaining in my one-room flat.
Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa & Rioja Oriental. Diverse landscape in sustainable environment.
Following my WSET studies, over the course of thirty years tutoring and writing about wine and judging in international competitions, I continue to be impressed by how well Rioja’s wines, both red and white in particular have kept their roots in tradition with a deep respect for their environment, faithful to using local grape varieties that have adapted to the very diverse landscape within the 100km mountainous region and yet look to the future to ensure it is a sustainable one.
The region is located in the north of the country on the banks of the Ebro River.
The tributary Rio Oja inspires its name for the winelands. Protected from the Atlantic by the dramatic Sierra de Cantabria and Sierra de la Demanda rain-barrier mountain ranges, the Ebro is the only one of Spain’s rivers that flows into the Mediterranean instead of the Atlantic. Because of the diverse landscape the region is divided into three zones: most mountainous to the east (Rioja Alta) and north-east (Rioja Alavesa) with highest altitude and cooler temperatures, resulting in vineyards
producing a number of grape varieties but with a particular focus on Tempranillo and Viura fruit; and sloping to a lower altitude to the warmer west (Rioja Oriental), following the flow of the Ebro.
The river valley creates a corridor for the Mediterranean’s warming influence to access and ripen the Rioja Oriental’s Garnacha fruit the most, giving fullerbodied wines with richness and opulence. Traditionally, wines were blended from fruit grown in all three zones to give consistency and balance between tannin, alcohol, acidity and fruit.
Looking to the future, the great diversity within each zone has recently acquired even more prominence and visibility with the recent additions of wines such as “Viñedo Singular” (singular vineyards) and “Vinos de Municipio” (village wines).
While Rioja has enjoyed an ancient history of wine-making for over 2,000 years and a reputation for being a protector of tradition but also for being an imaginative innovator.
An example of this innovation I experienced at first hand at a tasting and seminar for sommeliers, trade and press in Dublin on 5th September 2023 titled “Rioja 100km of Diversity”. The room-packed seminar was hosted by the celebrated Rioja wine expert and Master of Wine, Sarah Jane Evans and author of The Wines of Northern Spain. Among the seven Rioja wines Sarah Jane introduced us to was an Orange wine, a Phinca Hapa 2020 from Bodegas Bhilar in the Rioja Alavesa zone and imported by Tindal Wines.
The white wine was fermented on the skins of the crushed Viura, Garnacha Blanca and Malvasia grapes in large concrete tanks. The old vines were cultivated using biodynamic practices and the vineyards ploughed by horses only.
I told Sarah Jane the Phinca Hapa 2020 was one of the best Orange wines I had ever tasted. I asked if this was typical of Rioja’s innovation as a modern, forward-thinking region rooted in tradition and championing sustainable practices to safeguard the future for the people and landscape of Rioja?
Sarah Jane MW replied:
“Yes, I agree, Phinca Hapa is an exciting example of modernity coming from tradition. David Sampedro and his wife Melanie Hickman are a blend of El Villar and Hawaii. The wine is a traditional local style revived and polished. They are biodynamic farmers. Phinca Hapa is a wine that opens doors to a new generation of young consumers, showing that there are many faces of Rioja.”
From 1999, David started learning about the biodynamic philosophy and changed how he cared for his vineyards. First, he converted to organic farming and then began following tenants to recover the harmony between man, earth, vines, and cosmos. In 2014, tractors were eliminated and horses were brought back to farm the vineyards. Using horses avoids any compacting of the soil by heavy tractor tyres.
After years of making his personal wines in wineries where he consulted, David decided to focus all of his energy on his “Phincas” wines and personal projects throughout Spain. In 2012, he started his garagiste winery close to his vineyards in Elvillar and named it after his village; Bhilar is Elvillar in the Basque language. The new minimal intervention winery finalised in 2016 is a château concept that moulds into the landscape. The sustainable design is “off the grid” utilising solar power and built partially subterranean with concrete fermentation tanks to help control the temperature in the winery.
David’s philosophy is deeply rooted in biodynamic practices.
“Our goal is to make terroir driven wines with soul, respect for the land, work only with indigenous grapes, and to share our unique wines with good people with positive energy.”
For this article, I asked Sarah Jane to nominate an icon wine. After a long pause, Sarah Jane replied: “So difficult! But a firm favourite is La Rioja Alta’s 890. I have huge respect for that winery. They specialise in Gran Reservas. They make blends, which are thought to be unfashionable given the trend for single vineyard wines. But what blends! 890 is really terrific; and remarkably the wine keeps on getting better. The attention to detail and quality makes it - and them - an icon. It’s wines like this, and from its neighbours in the Station Quarter (aka Barrio de la Estación, in Haro)and beyond, that make Rioja world class.”
Prompted by Sarah Jane’s endorsement, I researched La Rioja Alta’s tradition for making supreme Gran Reservas and why they were so special in the wine world and in the Rioja region. I discovered that their Gran Reserva 890 from the 2005 vintage was the only Spanish representative in the tasting of ‘The Ten Best Wines in the World’ (‘Top 10 Tasting’) organized by Wine Spectator in October 2019 in New York.
Gran Reserva 890 2005 ‘Selección Especial’ was ranked in fourth place. La Rioja Alta SA has been making Gran Reserva 890 since 1890.
For more information about the regions, wines and winemakers mentioned in this article, as well as more information on visiting Rioja, please contact the Rioja Wine team on: rioja@thisisphipps.com
It is the winery’s top wine. The much-awarded 2005 vintage is also one of the best to date of the 21st century. It is a wine made with Tempranillo (95%), Mazuelo (2%) and Graciano (3%).
The selected bunches were harvested manually. After fermentation, the best batches were transferred to barrels where they were aged for six years with ten traditional rackings, during which new selections were made, passing only 199 barrels into the final blend, resulting in just over 57,000 bottles. In order to preserve the aromatic components as much as possible, Gran Reserva 890 2005 was not filtered. For the dining table, this rich and complex mature wine is as comfortable with meat casseroles infused with aromatic herbs as with a dessert of chocolate.
I met Victor Charcán, a director at Bodegas Roda at a wine tasting event in Dublin on 26th February. The Roda I Blanco 2020 was an exceptional wine showing the modern face of the fresh and lively style of the iconic region’s white wines, but often eclipsed by the diversity of memorable reds. A classic blend of Viura, Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca, it is a standard bearer for the exceptionally
JUNE 24-27, 2024
promising 2021 vintage shown at Prowein in Dusseldorf in early March according to distributor, Albert Baginski, Solera Wine’s owner and a former sommelier.
Because Bodega Roda is ideally placed in the heart of the Rioja region, located in the Station District of Haro, a city bordering zones Rioja Alta with Rioja Alavesa, I asked Victor what makes Rioja wine so special?
Victor answered:
“Rioja is being redefined. While it is the most dynamic and vibrant appellation right now, yet it is at a crossroads. And the path is quality, typicity, fewer and better vineyards and higher price segments.”
The April edition will continue the story of Rioja with a focus on the complimentary synergy between Rioja’s wines and gastronomy with endorsements from globally awarded sommeliers.
To experience the region in person in June, Rioja Wine invites Ireland’s sommeliers and on-trade buyers to apply for a place at the exclusive Rioja Somm’er School.
Taking place between 24th and 27th June, the Rioja Somm’er School will be a three-day trip to the region complete with winery visits and educational tastings. Three sommeliers will have the opportunity to visit leading wineries across the region’s three zones, meet with pioneering producers and discover both traditional and newer styles of wine being produced in the region.
For more information about the regions, wines and winemakers mentioned in this article, as well as more information on visiting Rioja, please contact the Rioja Wine team on: rioja@thisisphipps.com
Supporting retailers and restaurants, Rioja Wine produces the Rioja Wine Directory, with an Ireland specific Directory which includes exclusively retailers and restaurants in Republic of Ireland: https://buyriojawineireland.com/
Northern Ireland retailers and restaurants are included in the UK Directory : https://www.buyrioja.co.uk/
To learn more about Rioja and its wines, visit the Rioja Wine Academy, a fantastic online platform offering free educational courses for trade and consumers alike. There are six courses available on the platform from introductory courses right through to the Rioja Wine Diploma, which covers everything from grape varietals to styles of wine, regulations on viticulture to gastronomy and history.
To register for a course, head to: riojawineacademy.com
Chris White & Kyran O'Mahony, Founders of Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (IA Labs)
While we’re all used to the idea of accessibility in its physical form, the notion of accessibility to all on websites is a phenomenon that will rarely cross the mind of those not directly affected by it.
If you’re blind and you are trying to access information on a website on your smartphone, for example, what needs to happen?
First of all, you need a reader (which all smartphones have nowadays) and secondly, you need everything on that website to be readable – something that is down to the design of the site; ensuring that all photos have ‘alt text’ so that a description of the image can be read aloud to the user with impaired vision. Then there’s the issue of contrast and a whole other range of points that will probably not ever enter the head of most people but for those with
disabilities of some kind, they are vital. Furthermore, they can be the difference between them accessing the site or not.
In a test case that went all the way to the American Supreme Court, pizza company Dominos was forced to rethink the wheel with regard to their own website. The issue was one of discrimination against someone who had visual impairment. A visually impaired customer complained to the company that he couldn’t access the offers that were on the website. While he could order a pizza by simply ringing the
nearest branch, the problem was that all the offers and savings were only available on the website and therefore, to those who could access the website. The court ruling found that Dominos was effectively discriminating against those customers out there whose disability prevented them from accessing their website.
EU Law
accessible to all Times are a-changing here in Europe and, from June 2024, it will become European Law to make your website accessible to all – whatever the product you’re selling. For the hospitality sector, those with disabilities represent a very important market segment that will become the focus of many companies and the race is now on to get market-ready ahead of time. One company that is to the forefront in all of this is IA Labs. It was set up only in 2021, growing out of the Irish Council for the Blind, of which it is a fully-owned subsidiary. Unlike that well-known charity, IA Labs is a for-profit company. Inheriting all its connections in this field from the Irish Council for the Blind (which has recently changed its name to Vision Ireland), IA Labs hit the ground running in a manner that most start-up operations don’t have the ability to do.
Last September, it was successful in securing over 170 leads and funding commitments of over €3,000,000 in support over the next three years. This was at the 2023 edition of the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) event in New York. This injection of capital will enable IA Labs to expand its operations internationally, creating job opportunities and, most importantly, providing digital accessibility to a wider population, their CEO Chris White says. And with legislation about to change the game for everyone in the hospitality business, the time is now to adapt. “There’s a big market out there,” says Chris.
“There was an article published recently on
LinkedIn which points out that accessible tourism is globally worth $55 billion.”
Getting a foothold in that market segment means setting up your hotel, restaurant or visitor attraction to cater for accessibility market. And it means making your website accessible to all. In Ireland, the level of accessibility of websites is relatively low. On IA Labs’ website, they publish a regular report – the Digital Accessibility index – to tell you how we stand in this regard.
“There’s a push and a pull at work here,” says Chris. “The push is that it will soon be legally required (to have your website accessible to all) and the pull is the market that’s out there: why wouldn’t you want to be involved in and to have part of this growing sector? As opposed to excluding 20% of it?”
Legislation to make websites accessible to all is already enshrined in law in the UK, Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, USA and a number of South American countries, Chris points out. Digital accessibility is very big trend at the moment and it will continue to be so over the coming few years.
Digital Accessibility Index
“The Digital Accessibility Index that we publish on our website shows how we are doing with getting our websites digitally accessible… the Government is getting better, estate agencies are getting
better but generally speaking, the for-profit world is largely oblivious to the needs of the disability population and how digital accessibility and digital quality impacts them.
On the web, 98% of sites are inaccessible – only 2% of sites, globally, are accessible.”
IA Labs’ success at last September’s event in New York has helped to put them on the map internationally, and will allow them to continue to develop a prototype which will enable the global scalability of their solution, providing accessibility to millions of people with disabilities and organisations at minimal infrastructure costs.
“It’s something that we had been working very hard on,” says Chris. “The pledge will allow us to go further more quickly and really make an impact for people with sight loss and disabilities generally across the whole country.”
When travellers choose a hotel, they are looking for more than just a place to stay; they want to have an exceptional experience. Their criteria range from exceptional service to personalised details, unique amenities to seamless interactions.
Though intangible, the technology that sits behind a hotel operation has a significant impact on the quality of these interactions. Today's travellers are increasingly tech-savvy and expect nothing short of seamless, personalised interactions with hotels, long before they even set foot in the lobby and well after they check out.
This reality presents both a unique set of challenges as well as exciting opportunities for hotels of all sizes, especially in this bustling and competitive marketplace.
The hospitality industry is particularly susceptible to the constant need of maintaining a modern, adaptable infrastructure to fulfil the ever-changing demands of guest, ensure operational efficiency, and remain at the forefront of technological innovations.
An integrated payments solution emerges not only as an option but as an absolute necessity in the arsenal of modern hoteliers. An integrated payment strategy entails combining several components of an hotel's infrastructure into one single system, including:
1. Property Management Systems
2. Self-service kiosks
3. Direct booking managers
4. Central hospitality management systems
5. POS systems
GuestPay was awarded the "Most Innovative Payment Solution" recognition at the Merchant Payment Ecosystem Awards in Berlin. With GuestPay, Guestline are establishing new industry benchmarks with a first-in-class, omni-channel solution for hoteliers.
By enhancing compatibility between these modules, the need for manual data entry is reduced, ensuring a superior guest experience while saving time on backend processes for accounting teams.
GuestPay, Guestline’s integrated payment solution, precisely caters to these requirements. Launched in 2020, GuestPay provides a simpler payment solution that combines the operational and payment systems into one centralised hub to ensure a streamlined flow of the booking and payment data into the hotel’s systems.
This integration, seamlessly executed via APIs, enables hoteliers to deliver a secure and frictionless payment experience for guests, while also facilitating real-time data updates and automating the payment process across various transaction scenarios:
• Room bookings & deposits
• Upgrades & add-ons
• Restaurant services & F&B charges
• Incidentals & other charges
• Conferencing & banqueting rental fees
• Auto-collection of noshows & cancellation fees
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO INTEGRATED PAYMENTS FOR HOTELIERS
Guestline are delighted to release their ultimate guide designed to help hoteliers identify operational blind spots that could impact the guest experience.
In recent times there has been a significant rise in the number of ‘foodies’ who are actively seeking to live a more sustainable life; to consume sustainably sourced food and reduce their intake of animal meats and processed foods.
As often witnessed, the customers themselves drive the market and there is now more than ever a growing demand for locally produced seasonal and organic foods. The Glas restaurant on Chapman St. in Dublin City Centre is a vegan and vegetarian restaurant with a Michelin star listing which offers a unique and eco-friendly sustainable dining experience.
The menu includes an array of creatively crafted dishes using high quality plant based and vegetarian foods. Feedback from diners complement the tasty flavorsome dishes and melody of ingredients which appeal to all the senses.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Malte Half, Head Chef at ‘Glas’ restaurant since 2020. He shared his personal journey towards sustainable living and how working in a sustainable focused working environment can be
challenging but equally rewarding. From the outset, it is clear that Malte is very passionate about his work which requires innovative thinking and a creative mindset. Malte undertook classical
chef training in Germany, learning the fundamentals of French and European cooking. This training was delivered via an apprenticeship model. Malte believed this training model, which primarily focuses on learning through practice as opposed to theory centered learning proved very beneficial throughout his culinary career.
“Practice is very different from theory and the Irish system appears to be more theory based".
I don’t think this works well in reality. You can learn how to be a chef, but you are not faced with reality from the get-go. And sometimes, when you are in the job, it is not what you imagined because you don’t have a real understanding of how hard and tough a job it is. Practical engagement with chefs in kitchen is more beneficial, in my opinion. If you have a good mentor, you can learn through your practice”.
Malte moved to Ireland over 20 years ago. Germany, at that time had a harsh taxing system and he believed he could further his career prospects abroad. Since his arrival, he has worked in various hotels and restaurants throughout the city. These workplaces include the Four Seasons hotel, now known as “The Intercontinental”, “The Shelbourne” and more recently “The Marker Hotel”, so it is fair to say that Malte has gained a wealth of professional experience at these properties.
During his time working at the Marker hotel, he became interested in sustainability and conducted his own research, acquiring knowledge through reading about climate change, vegetarianism, and environmental issues.
“I thought of it as a personal challenge. I grew in it so the speak and with that a better understanding of it evolved, it became more about what we are doing to the planet, what it means to be sustainable, and the notion that every living being has a right to exist”.
Malte career naturally progressed towards his current position as head chef at the ‘Glas Restaurant’. This role gave him the opportunity to combine his creative culinary experience and his passion for sustainable practices and eco conscious values. He outlines the challenges such as designing menus with organic, vegan dishes and procuring locally grown and organic foods how they can be overcome.
When designing menus, Malte shares that an understanding of different foods and ingredients and how they work in harmony is key, as is the creative imaginative element, the ability to think outside the box, and to trust your expertise and your creative instinct.
I would use a flavour wheel and choose ingredients, make them work together and consider what I could do to combine these ingredients and make them more interesting and satisfying.
”
"Levelling things out, taking certain ingredients which complement each other for their saltiness, sweetness, acidity etc. It is scientific, I’m not actively using a scientific model, but it all makes sense”. “My aim is to make it more engaging instead of just eating mashed broccoli, how can I elevate through texture, how can I make broccoli softer, more mushy, crispy or chew for example”.
Malte believes that’s seasonality and sustainability are interconnected, they go hand in hand. Sourcing and consuming plant-based food when they are at the ‘peak of their ripeness’ is a sustainable practice with many benefits such as lowering environmental costs and reducing food waste. Also, fruit and vegetables which are in season are more flavoursome and nutritious. Seasonality of food is of paramount
importance when designing vegetarian and vegan dishes. The changing nature of the seasons inspires many of the dishes created by Malte at ‘Glas’. He makes use of a seasonal calendar which indicates potential fresh ingredients which he can work with, and his menus will change in line with the four seasons.
“People are wanting to consume organic fruits and vegetables because they want to live better. If organic food is massed produced it will become cheaper. Locally grown, organic food should be more accessible, and available, and carrots for example should taste like carrots.”
SOURCING ORGANIC, LOCALLY GROWN FRUIT & VEGETABLES
The sourcing of locally grown organic foods is a major challenge and we have seen evidence of this throughout the hospitality industry. Inevitably, this issue is then magnified if you are offering a sustainable dining experience. Malte acknowledges this is indeed a challenge due to rising costs and the increasing small number of local growers and believes that the individual, communities, and businesses should be encouraged and supported in growing their own fruit and vegetables. Malte manages to acquire most of his organic foods locally.
He mentions ‘McNally Family Farms’ in North County Dubin and a new crop grown called ‘Oca’ which is a small, winter, potato like vegetable. McNally are the only grower of this vegetable in the country, Other organic providers Malte work with include Garryhinch, Artizan Food and Riverside organic farms.
Food waste is another issue for all businesses in the industry and Malte tells us that despite efforts to minimise, there will always be some waste even when working with vegetables and plant-based foods. At Glas they use trimmings to make stock, powders, roast vegetable pesto. When it comes to food waste and sustainability, Malte is hugely inspired by Silo restaurant in London, the world’s first zero waste restaurant, which he describes as being ‘next level sustainable.
Malte believes that when working with vegetables and fruit, you must be adventurous and be open to exploring innovative ways of creating something different. It is at this point of our conversation that Malte introduces the concept of creating deserts from vegetables. I was intrigued and most definitely wanted to hear how this concept could be creatively executed! The vegetables he would use would not be broccoli or
cabbage but sweet tasting vegetables, which naturally contain sugar. Vegetables such as butternut squash, pumpkin, beetroot, carrot, or artichoke are the examples given.
“It sounds wacky, but it makes sense. It’s wacky because it is new and it hasn’t really been done before, it is creative now because nobody is really doing it. In summer I plan to make a dessert with cucumber and tomato because they are not even vegetables, they are a fruit”.
Moving forward, we can expect to see more of Maltes cleverly crafted vegetable-based dishes and interesting seasonal treats. He plans to use ‘the usual seasonal suspects’; spring onions, mushrooms, green and white asparagus and for the desert lovers ‘pea ice-cream’! Maltes passion, excitement and creativity will without doubt be expressed in the future with the dishes he creates.
