IHI HNN October 2019 Issue

October 2019

Irish Hospitality InstituteÂ

Anne's Lane, Dublin

Be Progressive - Be Entertained - Be Recognised - Be Part of Us

In this Issue

2

Note from the President

3

Welcome New Members / IHI Events

5

Industry News

27

Career Opportunities

Be Progressive - Be Entertained - Be Recognised - Be Part of Us

IHI PATRONS

Dear Member, Welcome to our October edition of HNN As I write, the rain is pouring down outside and there is no doubt that Autumn has definitely arrived and our shorts can be put away for another year!

The month of September was very busy here at the IHI – all the pre-screening, judging and final selection of our Irish Hospitality Management Award winners for 2019 has been completed.

As you know, we have 13 award categories and in total that involves commitment from 39 external Judges to the process. We estimate that each judge gives about two days of their time free to this process and we cannot thank them enough for their energy and enthusiasm.

Submittable, our new online nomination technology has won rave reviews from the judges and the IHI team IHI and we are delighted to confirm it launched without a hitch - SO well done Tina, Cynthia and Deirdre who managed this project from start to finish!

Some learnings from the process are that as always, the nomination form is a critical piece of the journey, from nominee to award winner. Continuous and current learning is also imperative, along with the interview, as the award is very much person-based award.

The standard of candidates this year was extremely high and we are delighted to report that we have had more regional candidates than in previous years. We note our judges’ feedback that competition in certain categories was extremely close (we did have judges querying whether candidates could tie!?) so we remind everyone to remember that all who were nominated were winners.

We have a super Breakfast event planned for Shannon College of Hotel Management on October 17 – thanks to Brian Bowler and the Munster District for helping to organise this.

I recommend that you sign up quickly to this we anticipate lots of demand for – "Lessons from the Top of the World" with guest speaker, John Burke, Owner and General Manager of the Armada hotel. His presentation will be followed by a panel discussion I look forward to seeing you there.

Kind regards,

Oonagh Cremins Oonagh Cremins FIHI President Irish Hospitality Institute 2

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Helen O'Leary The Innovate Room

Maura O'Donnell The House Hotel

IHI EVENTS Munster Breakfast Meeting 17th October, Shannon College of Hotel Managemet Fellows & Patrons Evening 3rd November, Dromoland Castle IHI Hospitality Management 28th November - Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road

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Mark your calendar...

The 2019 IHI Founders Banquet & Hospitality Management Awards will take place on 28th November Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road Member tickets - €155 Non-member tickets - €200 Membership & Ticket offer - €300 Retired Member - €80 Table of 10 - €1800 To book, contact the ihi office at 01 6624790 or email awards@ihi.ie

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STONEWELL CIDER Our Story...

Back in 2007 after a life in media and advertising Daniel moved back to the family homestead in Nohoval, Kinsale, Co. Cork. He was accompanied by his wife Géraldine, a French vigneron’s daughter and their 2 young daughters, Aliénor & Séraphina.

Daniel & Géraldine were keen on breaking out on their own career adventure, sure what else was there to do in 2007? From the small orchard on the farm Daniel had made apple juice as a child and when it became apparent that Ireland at the time of their return consumed more cider per capita than any other country, the germ of an idea came to form.

Daniel re-trained with the renowned Peter Mitchell and the first apple crop was harvested and pressed in 2009. Confident with the resulting cider, Stonewell was founded in 2010 and the first small batch of 2,000 litres was sold in the immediate vicinity of Kinsale. Daniel & Géraldine were keen to turn the page on the big business environment in which they’d been and focus on honest, natural products with integrity; in other words, “it did what it said on the tin”. Looking into Stonewell’s cidery, after the apple milling stage, all of the equipment within can be found in any wine producer across Europe. In essence, real cider making is the extraction of juice from a fruit and its subsequent fermentation.

Sound familiar?

As the first small scale cider producer in the modern era in Ireland, Stonewell started with an approachable medium dry cider, clear, effervescent and with great fresh apple aroma. As the year’s progressed further creations included a dry cider derived predominantly from bittersweet apple varieties; Tobairín a low alcohol cider and then excitingly seasonal flavours including apple & cucumber and rhubarb and apple.

The latter is the only alcoholic beverage to have been awarded across category Supreme Champion of the National Irish Food Awards; a highly cherished achievement.

There is no resting on laurels with these cider makers and so the projects of further alchemy to produce new flavour profiles and blends continues unabated. Aside from creating Ireland’s first small scale non-alcoholic cider and new seasonal flavours, Stonewell has started to develop more of the refined characteristics of what the humble apple can produce.

Working with both dessert and bittersweet apples, Géraldine has created a number of apple wines.

These are typically higher in alcohol ranging from 10 to 15% ABV, clear and still. There is the highly successful Tawny cider port, which has now been joined by Elstar a white apple wine and also an Apple Oak Wine. The response to these has been favourable so whilst production has been small, volumes are expected to increase gradually over the coming years.

Now that the business is knocking at the 10 year mark, it has achieved remarkable growth without compromising the way it makes its cider. Whilst overseas markets have opened up and growth across Ireland has developed at circa 400,000 litres of production, Stonewell remains small in comparison to the Irish market of 69 million litres p.a.. And that’s the way Daniel & Géraldine want it to stay, at a scale that permits them to continue to be creative and deliver a cider of consistent quality whilst enjoying the ride!

Contact: CLASSICdrinks @ sales@classicdrinks.ie or tel 0214510066

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Microsoft has recently announced that it will officially begin the Windows 7 end of life phase on Jan. 14, 2020. and on that day, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7 on laptops and desktops. Nearly half of all PCs used in small businesses are running Windows 7 so with this date looming, what should happen next?

The biggest issue with continuing to use Windows 7 is that it won't be patched for any new viruses or security problems once it enters End of Life. This leaves users extremely vulnerable to any emerging threats, virusus, or malware and it can potentially cause serious security breaches and compliance issues for your business.

What's more, if a large number of people continue to use Windows 7 after the End of Life date, that could actually be a big incentive for malicious users to target viruses and other nasties at Windows 7.

So, while Windows 7 will continue to work after January 14 2020, Microsoft will stop releasing updates and patches for the operating system. It’s likely that it also won’t offer help and support if you encounter any problems. The Tierney’s Team are encouraging you to start planning your upgrade to Windows 10, or an alternative operating system, as soon as possible.

While each migration has its own challenges and obstacles, a move to Windows 10 will bring a variety of benefits and improvements such as speed, safety, usability and security. Any user on Windows 7 or Windows 8 will receive immediate benefits with a move to Windows 10.

Tierney’s are here to help you make the switch as comfortable and rewarding as possible, please contact us to arrange an assessment of your current assets to get the ball rolling prior to January 2020. Visit www.tierneys.ie or email sales@tierneys.ie.

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Focus Ireland's Shine a Light Night 2019 - Help Prevent Homelessness On Friday, October 18th, our colleague and Fellow Member, Charlie Sheil of the Marker Hotel, will be leaving the comfort of his own home again for one night to sleep out on the grounds of the Law Society of Ireland and "Shine a Light" on homelessness in Ireland.

Along with others, Charlie will be sleeping on cardboard in the October weather with a plastic bag, blanket and a cup of soup.

It is shocking to realise that today there are now over 10,000 people homeless in Ireland and that 1 in 3 is a child! For the seventh consecutive year, Charlie has signed up for ‘Shine a Light Night’ 2019 so that he can again play his part in helping Focus Ireland provide vital prevention services which help change people’s lives across the country.

Charlie is now asking for your help. You can help prevent homelessness in Ireland today by sponsoring him to take part in the sleep-out. Charlie has committed again this year to raise €5,000 by mid-October, please demonstrate your solidarity by sponsoring Charlie today.

To sponsor Charlie, please log onto https://shine-a-light-2019.everydayhero.com/ie/charlie-sheil or send a cheque to me made payable to ‘Focus Ireland.’ Please give as generously as you can and help to change the homeless landscape across Ireland. Your support is greatly appreciated.

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CALLING ALL HOTELIERS COME ALONG TO GUESTLINE’S DUBLIN CONNECT EVENT AND HEAR HOW YOU CAN DRIVE TOTAL REVENUE AT YOUR PROPERTY

You are invited to Guestline’s highly anticipated Connect event on Thursday 28th November (10am – 2pm) at the world class Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The theme: Maximising total revenue at your property.

Join Guestline and a select number of partners and clients for an unmissable event with expert speakers, a topical panel discussion and the opportunity to network with industry colleagues.

Clio O’Gara, Guestline’s Country Manager for Ireland says: “Driving room revenue is absolutely a priority, but hoteliers need to be maximising total revenue at their property.

This includes seats in the restaurant, bookings at the spa, players on the golf course and leveraging local events and attractions. Every guest has a maximum value they can offer your hotel and to be a savvy hotelier, you need to be capturing as much of this value as you possibly can. Our Connect event is ideal for hoteliers to hear from leading industry experts on topics that will help them to better understand how to optimise all opportunities for a more profitable bottom line.”

Compered by leading marketer, motivator, award-winning trainer and author Marc Thornton, the event will hear from experts including Guestline’s Chief Technical Officer, Andrew Metcalfe, Right Revenue will discuss forecasting and business analytics plus UpsellGuru will harness the power of upselling by showcasing its game changing technology.

Pioneers in retail technology, CBE and self-service solution leaders FutureSens will join in, alongside famed hoteliers (and clients of Guestline) from some of Ireland’s most respected properties.

The event will outline how hoteliers can drive total revenue across the business, how an end-to-end platform can help drive efficiencies and save you time plus how to enhance the guest journey and boost their overall experience. Relevant for General Managers, Distribution Managers, Sales & Marketing Managers and Execs, Duty Managers and Front Desk staff.

Guestline’s Connect event, Thursday 28th November 2019, 10am – 2pm (lunch included).

Reserve your place here.

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AS EASY AS ABC: ARAMARK HELPING CHILDREN TO LEARN HEALTHIER EATING HABITS 20th September 2019: As part of Aramark’s ongoing commitment to health and wellness, more than 50 Aramark chefs, dietitians and other employees gathered at O’Toole’s GAA club, on the north side of Dublin this week, to build a vegetable garden to help inspire local families to make healthier food, nutrition and lifestyle choices.

Shane Flynn, Managing Director for Food Services and Facilities Management, Aramark Ireland said "Involving local children in a gardening initiative like this can do more than just cultivate green fingers. It is a great way to help young children understand where their food comes from and gain life skills in gardening and cooking at an early age - all while fostering an interest in healthy eating and reinforcing better eating habits.”

“Nutrition and gardening are a perfect marriage to promote good health.

Children are naturally curious, so it’s really just about peaking that interest.

Through the garden, children will gain an appreciation for the origin of their food. By actively participating in planting and caring for vegetables, they are learning how to grow their own food; how to prepare their own food; and how to have fun doing both.”

Darren Daly, Frank Gleeson and Luke Webster

“Our annual Aramark Building Community (ABC) Day is part of our year-round dedication to our mission of enriching and nourishing lives,” said Frank Gleeson, President Aramark Northern Europe. “This new garden really brings our mission to life and perfectly leverages our team’s skills to empower local families to lead healthier lives and succeed.”

“Aramark is dedicated to enriching and nourishing the lives of our clients, customers and communities, and ABC Day is a true demonstration of this commitment. It’s all about improving the health of local families by bringing much-needed resources and education to help them lead healthier lives.”

Gerry Corry, Chairman, O’Toole’s GAA said “We were blown away by the passion and energy of the Aramark team today. We welcomed 50 volunteers to the site today and they have each made a tangible contribution to our club that will stay with us well into the future. I am delighted with our vegetable garden and the fantastic work the team carried out across the site to support our members.”

Derek Reillu, Shane Flynn and Ann Nicholson

Aramark's ABC Day at O'Tooles GAA

“We have nearly 1,200 members and I know they will all be so excited to watch our vegetables grow in the coming months – especially our 700 younger members. Aramark have promised us they will come back in spring to give educational talks to our members on how to make the most of our vegetables!

A huge ‘well done’ goes to Frank, Shane and the team”.

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We are delighted to announce that we are now offering full 2-way integration with the evergrowing online booking platform Airbnb. With this new integration you will now beable to automatically update your rates and availability on Airbnb direct from the iHotelligence system, just like you do with Booking.com, Expedia and the multiple other OTA’s we work alongside. Once you are synced with Airbnb, any bookings you receive from them will be delivered directly into the iHotelligence system.

The booking source on the reservation will be automatically filled with Airbnb in order for you to be able to pull reports on booking source to monitor which platform is producing best for you. Finally, any booking that you get online through Airbnb and other OTA’s will be automatically assigned a bedroom, again, decreasing the administrative workload for you and your colleagues. (This is a feature that can be turned on and off depending on property requirements)

For more information please contact our sales team on sales@ihotelligence.com or call our office on 01-2811960

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Technology Experts reveal how hotel rooms will look by 2034 Expect…Glass TV’s that know your favourite films, showers that adapt to your body temperature and glass privacy walls which change from transparent to opaque.

Technology experts reveal future technology you can expect to find in hotel room Interactive asset & 3D renders visualise hotel room By 2020, 85% of relationships with businesses will not require human interaction Over half of the UK population are concerned about how a lack of human interaction being replaced with artificial intelligence will alter their hotel experience An Interactive hotel room created through the insights of six technology and hospitality experts reveals how the hotel of the future will look and function by 2034. View here: https://www.guestline.com/hotels-of-the-future/ Our highly accredited experts are from technology & AI, hotel and hospitality interior design companies, their predictions and valuable insights show us what we can expect to see over the next 15 years.

A recent study predicted that by next year 85% of relationships with businesses will not require human interaction and hotels are seeking ways to become more customised and convenient for their guests. Experts told Guestline, who commissioned the project, that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and voice control would be one of the most prominent game changers in how we experience staying at a hotel.

“In Ireland, the economy became stagnant throughout those tough recessional years. But, thankfully, the hospitality industry recouped well, and we are now witnessing a boom in new builds throughout the country. Hotels such as Aloft and The Marlin in Dublin are bringing new and trendier experiences to the customer through forward thinking technologies. Interaction can now be at the guests request, through concierge services, automated check-in kiosks and the ability to complete the entire guest journey, digitally, in the palm of their hand. As a country, we are people pleasers and Irish hotels are beginning to predict what the guest wants, before the guest even knows.” Says Clio O’Gara, Country Manager Ireland, Guestline The Digitalisation of Glass Glass is the next big thing; its minimalist allure creates a sleek concept for technology to intertwine digitalization with design. Glass Tv’s are already being prototyped by the likes of Panasonic whilst we see planes of glass acting as entire walls.

Glass walls can be attractive yet its ability to turn opaque if someone is using the bathroom makes it the perfect disguise. Being able to change the opacity and imagery on the glass makes it the ultimate personalised experienced to each individual’s taste.

Director of Strategy, Digital & Operations, Ralph Fernando from Pragma said: “Privacy glass will be incorporated within the hotel room that can be made transparent or opaque via an app on the in-room tablet, alternatively it would be possible to activate the privacy wall through voice control. If it’s not privacy you need it might be to personalise the room to your mood and these wall length glass walls will allow guests to tailor the room decoration to their preferred style and colour, be that a video of beach waves or a sunrise in Bali.”

Artificial Intelligence and Voice Controlled Functions The future is where AI and personal service will compete but also complement each other. Ordering a bottle of water from the in-room menu will no longer require a call down to reception, but a simple “Hello” to the i-concierge built into your room.

Owner & Director of Eccelston Square Hotel, Olivia Byrne said; “Our phones will sync immediately with the in-room technology, for uninterrupted, comfortable and seamless facetiming/television/streaming and viewing. Guests will use dining apps available through the hotel property to seamlessly order exactly what they want, when they want it. Voice assistants like Siri or Alexa will lose THEIR identities, instead their universally available knowledge will be integrated into our own personalised i-personality/bitmoji. i-assistants will be a comforting extension to our own knowledge. Interfacing will be highly personalised, but less personal.”

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No more will we need to draw the blinds, call down to order room service or ask for extra towels. Soon you’ll just chat with your in-room iconcierge who can even memorise what time to flick the light switch so you can grab some shuteye.

Operations Director at City Suites, Duncan Anderson believes; “Over the next 15 years voice technology will act as the control hub, it is very personal and hotel rooms are a good opportunity to get the guest to interact with AI to build a better profile of their preferences.”

Similarly, Ralph from Pragma states: “Guests will have the ability to cast lighting levels, room temperature and music levels all through either AI or their digital pads on the wall. We already know this exists in some hotels; however the technology is quite basic and we imagine that over the foreseeable future that control for the guests will become more personalised - such as sunrise/set lighting, audio that can produce a selection of noises to help you sleep and aromas to facilitate better sleeping.”

Expect to find digital technology boards which can detect the optimal shower temperature from your body using just the heat levels from the touch of a finger.

“Technology has provided us with ability to access things with touch and fingerprint recognition, using our DNA to make payments, access rooms, start your car and sign into work. Digital showers are already on the market, however moving forward we expect to find digital technology boards which can detect the optimal shower temperature from your body using just the heat levels from the touch of a finger.” Says Sara Canatario, Product Marketing Manager at Guestline.

Everything will be Wireless Jo Littlefair, Co-founder and Director of Goddard Littlefair shares her thoughts on a ‘wireless hotel’ keeping minimalism at the forefront of designing a hotel room. Having previously designed rooms for The Principal, The Hilton, Intercontinental and Corinthia Hotels, it is essential that luxury is blended with sleek technology.

“Plugs and sockets will probably go completely. The trend will continue towards hidden or invisible technology, but with the provision that medical research on the effects of wireless connection hasn’t come up with anything negative in the interim. The interface and balance between wellbeing and technology will be key.”, Says Jo. Glass TV’s are already being prototyped by the likes of Panasonic, and with the allure of minimalism trending within interior design and personalisation becoming the demand for guests, we can expect to find all our favourite films and shows tailored to us on the screen when checking-in.

“We won’t have wiring systems everything will be Wi-Fi enabled and voice control. It should all be enabled and hooked up, things such as TV’s won’t need to have plugs in the back of them, it will be so you can install it anywhere in the room.” says Co-founder & CEO of Humanize, Duncan Anderson.

You can find more technologies on the interactive asset and also read our experts in-depth comments Technology won’t just shape our in-room experience but also the entire guest journey. Both Pragma and Guestline believe within the next couple of years the check-in process with become revolutionised by AI. “Soon there will be screens that welcome you by name when you approach them in the hotel lobby by using data from your mobile phones which already exists – registered through the hotels WIFI. Once you’re there it will be an automatic check-in process through facial recognition and your room key will be digitally downloaded to your mobile phone” says Ralph Fernando at Pragma.

Guestline recently surveyed 2,000 UK citizens about their concerns on all processes being managed through artificial intelligence rather than reception staff. The results revealed that over half (60%) and concerned about how a lack of human interaction being replaced with artificial intelligence will alter their hotel experience and requests.

Are we ready for the future?

For further information, please contact: Frankie B. Francis FBF Communications Frankie@fbfcommunications.ie Tel: 087 7725661

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Ollie wins Gold and All-Ireland

Sodexo Chef of the Year

Ollie Keenan (pictured) is Sodexo All-Ireland Chef of the Year for 2019, winning gold for his sustainable themed menu. Ollie will now compete in front of a live audience at the Sodexo UK and Ireland Grand Final at the HRC Show (formerly Hotelympia) in London in March 2020.

The theme of this year’s competition is ‘Celebrating Our Sustainable Future’ and the focus was on the creative use of sustainable ingredients that support the Future 50 Foods initiative. 75% of the global food supply comes from only 12 plant and five animal species and the initiative is to help promote the top 50 plantbased foods identified by WWF-UK and Knorr Professional, that need to be incorporated more into daily food consumption to drive positive change in the use of natural resources.

The contestants had 90 minutes to produce three dishes; a seasonal plant-based starter, the use of organic chicken and specific garnishes for the mains and a pear-based dessert. Ollie impressed the judges, including Michelin-starred TV chef Derry Clarke and Audrey Crone, executive chef with competition sponsors Unilever Ireland, with his starter of wild mushroom and wild rice Asian dumpling, followed by chicken supreme with potato puree, roast baby vegetables, wilted kale and spinach, micro watercress, smoked bacon and parmesan cream and a dessert of chocolate fondant, almond crumble, poached pear and crème Chantilly.

Commenting on his win, Ollie, who comes from Ballinode in Co. Monaghan, said, “I was surprised but very happy as it’s my first time to enter a competition like this. I leaned towards an Asian style dish for my starter because of the diverse range of spices and flavours and kept my main simple. For the dessert, I opted for the classic flavour combination of pears, chocolate and nuts, always a crowd pleaser! I’ll be getting a lot of support and mentoring from the chef development team in preparation for the final, I am looking forward to the challenge and proud to represent Ireland at it.”

Ollie was presented with gift vouchers from Unilever and will attend plating masterclasses with Derry Clarke and Audrey Crone. He will also attend a mentoring day in the UK in November 2019 to focus and refine his dishes in advance of the Grand Final.

Julianne Forrestal, executive development chef for Sodexo Ireland, said “Congratulations to Ollie on what was an exceptional effort for his first time competing, andespecially under the time pressures of these competitions. His starter was beautifully executed and tapped into the current high street trend for Pan-Asian cuisine. A nostalgic, nicely seasoned main and for his dessert, he managed to execute the perfect fondant, a difficult feat for even the most seasoned competitor and which greatly impressed the judges. He’s now on the journey towards curating what hopefully will be the perfect menu for the Grand Final.”

Sodexo, part of the global Sodexo Group the world’s largest services company, delivers services that improve the quality of life to clients in business and industry, education, financial, pharma and healthcare in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Those services range from catering, cleaning, security, reception to asset management, laboratory and grounds maintenance services, enabling clients to focus on their core business. It also includes homecare provision following the acquisition of Comfort Keepers Ireland in 2015. Sodexo employs approximately 3,700 people in over 230 locations in Ireland and Northern Ireland, with a combined turnover of €141 million in 2018.

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Small Rooms, Driverless Cars and Robots- Hotels for Millennials City hotels small rooms, staffed by robots are already a reality, John Brennan, chairman of Amaris Hospitality told senior hospitality managers at the inaugural ‘Firm Talk’ organised and hosted by hospitality industry recruitment consultants The Firm.

A Japanese company, he said, opened its first hotel staffed by robots in 2015 and plans to open 100 more. ‘The trend appears to be towards smaller rooms, less human service and comfortable lobbies at the lower end of the hotel market and increasingly around amazing locations, style and, critically, a sense of destination and authentic personalised service experience at the luxury end’, he said Hotel companies are extending their operations into hostels, home-stay, extended stay and micro hotels in response to a need to intensify activity on expensive land, to reduce operating costs and by a focus on a life-style product for younger travellers.

‘The Digital World is also impacting hospitality with services such as mobile marketing, ‘smart’ appliances, personalisation via Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots, Virtual Reality, Beacon Technology, which sends messages to smart phones in specific locations, Big Data Predictive Analytics, Facial Recognition to speed up check-in and Driverless Technology in resorts. Hotels will embrace these technologies in an environment of slower revenue growth, rising costs of labour, insurance, distribution and energy (including carbon taxes). ‘Making back-office functions more efficient and improving labour productivity are the keys’ he said. ‘We will see more self-service in F and B. Already in the US, room service has disappeared in mid and upper mid-scale hotels’, ‘The hotel and restaurant environment is increasingly competitive and pressure to have the right talent and, critically, the right leadership team that has the agility to lead in the dynamic environment ahead, will be critical and will separate winners from losers’.

Welcoming John Brennan, Micheline Corr, director of The Firm, said he headed a company which controls 30 hotels with 4,870 rooms and 2,300 employees. ‘John is also the founder and managing director of Cloudbrook Partners, a boutique advisory firm that provides advice to Hotel investors around acquisitions, performance improvement, strategy and disposals’, she said.

Revealing results of research conducted by The Firm, Micheline Corr, a director of the company, said that the impact of Brexit is a prime source of concern among industry leaders, together with rising costs and the search for and retention of talent. She said that hoteliers want to see an end to rising prices, a balancing of hotel stock with demand, over-reliance on the UK market and ‘complaining about Brexit’.

Picking up on the importance of recruiting and retaining talent, John Brennan said that the nature and type of hotel work is likely to change, with technology reducing the number of operative and administrative jobs. Labour costs will however rise due to government policies, but hospitality will continue to employ more people by ratio than most other industries. ‘We have to focus on attracting, retaining and developing employees at all levels, but critically at the leadership level’, he said ‘First and foremost we must commit to a strategy that puts respect and dignity for all employees at its core’. While the world is ‘relatively stable’, he said, a rise in populism and protectionism is impacting both trade and immigration. Most countries have implemented protourism policies but ‘fragmented political dynamics’ in Western countries are leading to political indecision and short term thinking particularly in relation to major infrastructural projects. Anti-business sentiment is evident ‘in places’, he said, and growth is slowing in some key markets, such as China, the UK, France and Germany. Positive trends however include the continuing growth of air travel and risings level of education across the world which will lead to more discerning travellers in the future. A middle class is also expanding adding c150m per annum particularly in Asia as are active retirees. Europe, with its rich cultural heritage will continue to be an attractive destination. Europe however can be the an expensive destination, he said and prime tourism areas can be very busy in peak seasons. Ireland has shared in the success of Europe with the successful marketing of the Wild Atlantic Way and a growth in corporate travel. Travel and tourism continue to grow, he said with six decades of unbroken growth and probably 1.8bn people travelling by 2030. ‘New money’ has fuelled some of this growth together with low interest rates. Current economic uncertainty is postponing some investment, land and build costs are on the rise, supply exceeds demand in some markets, and hoteliers are facing rising operating costs.

Hospitality competes with other sectors for capital and has benefited from the demise of retailing, but faces strong ompetition from new industries , particularly IT’, John Brennan told his audience. Brands, he said continue to grow in influence but the European hotel market still lags behind the US in terms of brand penetration. Ireland is among the lower penetration markets, although many new Dublin hotels are now branded. ‘Big brands keep getting bigger’, he said, with the top four hotel groups in the world sharing more that 100 brands. Small brands which connect with customers are also growing, however. They include Jurys Inn, Clayton, Maldron and the Doyle Collection in Ireland, Premier Inn in Germany and Travelodge in the UK. ‘For me, the answer to branding is to choose the right brand for the right location- and if opting for a big brand, then the bigger, the better’. Recent research has shown that it is critical for hotels to personalise and tailor services to the needs and preferences of travellers, he said. ‘This requires us to think about who our guests are, what design, product and service delivery is most relevant and, critically, how do we connect with those guestsand others like them.’ He concluded by saying that that Sustainability ‘is now a real priority for consumers’ Further information from Frank Corr at 086 8274710/ fcorr100@gmail.com 18

Limerick’s Copia Green Celebrates First Birthday With The Launch Of Its Brand New Dinner Menu

On Friday 27th September, Copi Green - Limerick’s award-winning sustainable eatery - celebrated its first year in business. And, to mark the occasion the restaurant has launched its very first dinner menu, which in now available on Friday and Saturday nights (6pm to 9.30pm).

The dinner menu, like the restaurant’s daytime menus, has been specially designed to cater for all dietary requirements. It consists of a series of small and large plates that support and champion local Irish food producers such as Euro-toques National Craft Award winner 2019, New Leaf Urban Farmers, from Ballyneety in Co. Limerick - who provide the restaurant with 100% chemical free seasonal salads and vegetables - and Velvet Cloud natural sheep’s milk yoghurt (a healthier alternative to cow’s milk yoghurt), handmade by the Flanagan family on their farm in Co. Mayo.

The small plates include dishes like Vietnamese rice paper rolls with Hakurei turnip, Chinese cabbage, pickled pink onions and fresh herbs, served with a sesame dipping sauce, a Roast carrot and fennel salad with harissa, lentils, and Velvet Cloud sheep’s milk yoghurt, Fresh crab on toast with herby yoghurt and pickled cucumber, a Grilled duck breast salad with pomegranate, orange, rocket and toasted almonds with a lime & mirin dressing, and Coconut & white wine steamed mussels.

Diners will be able to choose from large plates including Lamb loin with Velvet Cloud sheep’s milk yoghurt, roast baby beetroot, blackberry sauce and dukkah, Sous vide chicken with chickpea pureé, braised leeks, roast carrots and paprika oil, a Whole roast cauliflower for two with tahini and zhoug (a Yemeni spicy herb sauce), Soft Polenta with baby turnips, fresh peas, and Cáis Na Tíre cheese, and Copia Green’s signature Asian-spiced slow roasted Irish lamb burger and Ultimate vegan burger from their popular daytime menu.

For those wanting to finish their meal with something sweet and healthy, desserts include the likes of a Raw espresso coffee cheezecake, Stone fruit pie and Vanilla & almond panna cotta - all of which are vegan friendly, gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free.

As with Copia Green’s current daytime offering, all of the new dinner dishes have been created using Irish, organic, seasonal or sustainable produce - the eatery aims to use 75% organic and Irish produce throughout the year. Their meat is sourced from organic Irish farmers, their fish is sustainably caught and they only use organic Irish eggs and dairy. There is no use of refined oils/sugars/flours, hydrogenated fats, additives or preservatives in any of their dishes and they don’t cook with butter.

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“The best is yet to be!” Robert Browning We are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted for Agency of the Year (Large) for the 2019 National Recruitment Federation Awards! NRF Gala Awards will take place on Friday 29th November in the Shelbourne Hotel. We believe we are Ireland’s best large Agency because we genuinely have extraordinary people doing extraordinary things every day to deliver an extraordinary commitment to each other, our candidates, our Clients and the beneficiaries of all those efforts. We love what we do which is to remove a barrier, enable success and achieve exceptional results. We are privileged to do this in an environment where each person is celebrated and developed. We are the people you call when the stakes are high and anything other than the achievement of excellence is not an option. We are Noel Recruitment and we love what we do.

"The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority." Ken Blanchard.

It has been busy September for our impressive Director, Siobhan Kinsella. We were delighted to see our Director welcoming guests to the Chambers Ireland Corporate Social Responsibility Awards! The Chambers Ireland Corporate Social Responsibility Awards is a unique competition that offers the business community a chance to promote their efforts in CSR and gain recognition for best practice.

Siobhan also took a part at Graphite HRM Annual Conference. She delivered an informative talk on the practical steps for employers to take when navigating the educational ecosystem in Ireland.

“Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently” Marie Forleo At Noel Group, we love interacting with people. That’s way, we always take part in different events and job fairs.

It has been busy September for Noel Recruitment team.

We were at Docklands Careers Fair in the Central Bank of Ireland, Careers Fair at Tallaght ETB Training Centre, Migrant Expo 2019 and more. Our Noel Group employees are truly passionate about recruiting great talent!

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” –Benjamin Franklin We had a fantastic training day with Orla Conneely from High Achievers! Building Lego was fun, but what's the most important - we've learned about our unique strengths and talents and how we can support each other every day as a team. Developing relationships in the workplace is essential to develop team confidence. What else? There is no right or wrong way to be creative. At Noel Group, we believe in the idea of continuous learning for our team. Our philosophy is simple, we remove barriers and enable success through our people and our candidates, giving them the tools, skills and support to deliver a truly world-class service to our Clients. We provide a learning culture underpinned by consistent accredited learning opportunities to ensure that we are always learning, always succeeding and always delivering.

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Get Ready For The Festive Season!

The kids are back to school and summer has well and truly left us. Autumn has arrived with Christmas & New Year just around the corner! Update your offers, images, and packages and get ready for the busy season ahead. All the significant dates you need to keep in mind are in the article.

Read Article Bookassist’s Availability Calendar Enhances Direct Booking Experience

As part of Bookassist’s continued commitment to being a Mobile First company it has just released an update to its Availability Calendar. This update significantly enhances the direct booking experience on calendar by simplifying the decision making process and altogether improving booker engagement.

Learn More

Bookassist Exhibiting at the 2019 NiHF Hospitality Exchange

Bookassist will be exhibiting at the 2019 NIHF Hospitality Exchange in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Belfast on the 15-16th October 2019!

Meet Us There 21

How do you choose the perfect booking engine?

Did you know that nearly one-half of hotel booking revenues will be made online by 2022? This just shows you how crucial a decent booking engine is to your book direct strategy!

The first ingredient in a well balanced book direct strategy is the right booking engine.

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to the perfect booking engine!

Integration with your Channel Manager As important as your website is, it’s only one of your digital channels. To prevent unavailable rooms being booked by soon-to-be grumpy guests, it’s crucial that your booking engine integrates with your channel manager! This means your room inventory across all of your online channels is automatically updated and everyone’s on the same page!

Compatibility with mobile & social media platforms According to our latest device trends report, 62% of people browse on mobile and 45% book on mobile. Mobile will continue to grow rapidly as a booking platform, so there’s really no other option other than to ensure your booking engine works seamlessly on mobile! Bookings will be lost if it doesn’t.

Flexibility in relation to your hotel’s needs Your hotel has needs. Is your booking engine meeting them?

To figure this out, ask yourself a few questions like: Does your booking engine display the languages your guests speak and the currency they pay with?

Do you see success with voucher sales?

If so, does your booking engine provide online voucher redemption?

If weddings or corporate bookings make up a large number of your guests, does your booking engine offer wedding and corporate booking modules?

Data collection Your booking engine should provide you with transparent, in-depth insights into your hotel’s performance. These insights should include direct conversion rates, bookings via desktop and mobile, average length of stay (ALOS), and revenue from packages and promotions.

Features to help you build guest relationships The more your guests get to know you, the more likely they are to stay with you again!

Building strong, personal relationships is a necessity for you to drive direct bookings, and your booking engine should enable and empower you to create these through email.

For more, take a look at our infographic that has everything you need to know!

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Excel Recruitment delighted to be crowned Ireland’s Innovative Supplier

The Hotel and Catering Review’s Gold Medal Awards was extra special this year for Excel Recruitment as we were crowned Ireland's Innovative Supplier! Not only is this award the first of its kind, it is particularly meaningful to us as it voted for by our clients directly.

Thank you so much to each and every one of our clients who voted for us.

Director Shane Mclave says “We are absolutely delighted to win Ireland’s Innovative Supplier. It is it is especially humbling to see how many of our clients took the time to vote for us, we’re verygrateful. The other two finalists are incredible businesses so to be named alongside them is a fantastic achievement in itself and makes winning an even higher honour.”

The Gold Medal Awards celebrate the best and the brightest of Ireland’s hotel and catering industry and this year the standard was higher than ever. Excel Recruitment have been proud supporters of the Gold for many years and this year were delighted to present the award for Site Contract Cater of the Year to Sodexo in PayPal. Congratulations to Sodexo and all the outstanding winners and nominees, each thoroughly well deserved. If you would like to discuss your recruitment needs or learn more about Excel Recruitment’s permanent and temporary staffing solutions, please contact Shane Mclave on shane@excelrecruitment.com or call 018717676.

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IHI Group Membership Investing In Your Team is Imperative At a time when attracting and keeping good staff is essential, it is imperative that as mangers you invest in your team's professional development. By sponsoring their membership you are recognising your commitment to them as well as their commitment to their career and to the highest standards of our industry.

As members of the IHI, your team will benefit from our educational breakfast seminars, which cover current and relevant topics facing our industry today. They will have the opportunity to meet other professionals in the industry through our networking and social events and they will also have the opportunity to recognise the hard work, dedication and passion of their colleagues through our annual IHI Hospitality Management Awards.

For more information about Group membership, please contact the Cynthia O'Neill at 01 662 4790 or email cynthia.oneill@ihi.ie

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Career Opportunities Role Description: Membership Development Executive – Growth & Retention Role Title: Membership Development Executive (Part-time) Reports to: National Executive Officer, Irish Hospitality Institute Job Overview: The Membership Development Executive will be responsible for identifying, promoting and selling IHI Membership to Tourism and Hospitality Professionals nationally. He/she will be responsible for maximising membership recruitment through all relevant channels, including leveraging social media, IHI Members, Group organisations, HR Managers and interactions with individual prospective members. The ideal candidate should have an established and proven sales track record of success ideally within the Hospitality Industry. He/She will be comfortable utilising professional sales and marketing skills (both digital and traditional) to perform sales calls, generate qualified leads, execute marketing campaigns, and actively develop and participate in outbound sales activities and networking events to create top-of-mind brand awareness on behalf of the IHI. Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities: Responsible for the research development and execution of IHI membership development strategy aligned to the overall business strategy of the Institute.

Works closely with the NEO and Membership committee in supporting all process, programs and procedures relating to membership retention, prospective membership applications and new member on boarding.

Conduct competitive marketing analysis for development and refinement of strategies for attracting new members to IHI. Meeting and reporting on the revenue and membership targets as set.

Prepare proposals and secure business group membership accounts.

Proactive sales calls to potential new members and Human Resource Managers.

Maximise revenue opportunities within all current IHI member organisations.

Conduct membership presentations as required.

Develop a database of Human Resources Managers (Hotel) General Managers (Hotel) and new hotels within GDPR compliant framework.

Follow up, measure, and execute all leads on CRM and submit weekly sales activity report NEO. Attend networking inside and outside the IHI to obtain leads and build relationships with potential members and existing Members.

Implement and support all company initiatives and programs as requested by NEO and Membership committee.

Interwork closely with the IHI Executive and Board to ensure that Membership recruitment is at top of everyone’s mind.

Qualifications: Educated to college/university level preferable with at least 3-5 year’s previous experience in hotel or tourism sector/sales experience/ corporate sales.

Required Skills & Knowledge Demonstratable track record of success within a sales role within the hospitality industry.

Strong commercial acumen.

Strong organisational, time management and administration capabilities.

Report and presentation writing at senior level.

Excellent understanding of the tourism and hospitality sector in Ireland.

Ability to work independently or as a team player.

Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

Excellent interpersonal skills with an ability to build effective relationships and proven track record in sales planning and delivering sales targets.

Self-motivated,energetic positive can-do attitude.

Monitoring and reviewing performance, membership retention.

Financial awareness.

Stay close to finance on debtor’s control.

Precision and attention to detail Proficiency with computer skills, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel.

Working Conditions: The Membership Development Executive represents the Members of the Irish Hospitality Institute. A positive image projected by this key staff member is essential. A neat and professional appearance must be maintained at all times, along with a respectful, open-minded demeanour to reflect the ethos of the IHI to Members, prospects Members and Business partners. Must have the ability to work evenings as required to attend networking events.

Full clean driver’s licence with your own transport is essential. This role is offer on a part time basis - 3 days per week or equivalent hours in the week (22. hours) across the 5 days initially on a six-month contract basis.

Office hours 9.00 to 17.00 Salary Pro Rata.

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Career Opportunities

Guinness Storehouse Team Leader Guinness Storehouse is Ireland’s No. 1 visitor attraction and we have maintained this position for the last 10 years.

We exist to welcome visitors on an unforgettable journey to the heart of Guinness and we are looking for an experienced operations & people manager to join our team.

Our Team Leaders play a key role in managing a team of people in the delivery of an engaging and entertaining Guinness Experience in a very faced paced customer environment. To succeed you must have a ‘finger on the pulse’ attitude and be visionary and creative in your approach to managing our amazing employees and to ensure every visitor has an unforgettable experience at the homes of Guinness.

On any given day you will be managing a team of between 50 – 80 people to deliver smooth running of the operations as we welcome thousands of visitors through the door every single day. We pride ourselves on excelling at customer service so this should be one of your superpowers! We also love people who are constantly pushing the envelope and proactively suggesting changes and improvements, we know we are good, but we can always we better! Developing our staff is a core function of all our people management roles and you are going to be responsible for that as well as energising this team to deliver first class standards and service every day.

You must be comfortable managing a busy operations, seven floor experience, staying calm when being very busy should be second nature and you should always lead from the front.

We would like to hear from you if you have; At least 1-3 years’ experience in managing teams within a busy customer facing environment e.g. tourism, retail or hospitality.

People management experience is essential.

Excellent people skills and high professional standards.

Must be interested in drinks and food industry Enthusiasm and energy in the delivery of excellent customer experiences.

Apply via: https://diageo.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Diageo_Careers/job/Dublin-Republic-of-Ireland/VisitorExperience-Team-Leader_JR1026512 or get in touch with our Talent Engagement Manager Cara Murphy – cara.murphy@diageo.com to learn more.

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You feedback is vital to the work we do at the IHI. Please contact us at 01 6624790 or email us at info@ihi.ie to share your input, comments, suggestions and opinions.