InterContinental Dublin ®
With such a lot of speculation about the rebrand, it was important that the staff heard any announcements through him and not the press. “We put together a communications strategy so staff were the first to know. We did five town hall meetings in one day to cover all the different staff shifts and within the same day IHG’s Chief Development Officer Robert Shepherd came over to chat to journalists. That was quite a hectic day, as you can imagine!” It’s no wonder there was such fierce competition for the hotel. The economic landscape of Dublin has changed dramatically since the economic downturn. But with the five-star hotel market in the city running at increasing occupancy, it appears the Celtic Tiger might roar once more. Robert Shepherd expands, “The visitor numbers in Dublin are up. There are some new attractions in the city which has really turned a corner. We’ve seen three years of growth and the market expects more. So it’s great that we have our luxury halo brand in Dublin which has been a key city target for us for some time.”
6
“
That demand for luxury hotels is undoubtedly strengthened by the business market, and the commercial appeal of Ireland’s corporation tax laws. “There are a lot of new companies coming to Dublin, particularly high-tech, digital companies” says Tim Shearman. He’s not wrong. Look past the European headquarters of Google and Facebook; both within touching distance of the hotel, and you’ll see the likes of LinkedIn, PayPal, Amazon and Twitter. Tim continues, “Nearly 50% of our business in this hotel is to the MICE [meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions] segment. So our decision to go with the InterContinental brand was made upon the commercial success of the brand, which is the right fit for the location of the hotel.” Tim has a long-established relationship with the brand, and the people behind it. “I have known IHG and the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand for the last 14 years. I have to say the development team presented a very compelling business case, and did a lot of in-depth work at a very early stage.”
It was a 21-day rebrand, which is really quite astounding. Tim Shearman, Chief Operating Officer - Hotels, London & Regional Properties
”