Hotel and Restaurant Times April/May 2015

APRIL/MAY ‘15

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GREAT NITE INN HOTEL BRANDING FOR THE DIGI-SOCIAL ERA

LOOKING BACK PÁDRAIC ÓG GALLAGHER REFLECTS ON HIS PRESIDENCY

APPLE WATCH THE EVOLVING WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY

10 YEAR PLAN TOURISM POLICY LAUNCH www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie

Let’s Talk Coffee We are passionate about coffee from crop to cup. Our team’s expertise, passion and conscientiousness go into every pack. Our coffee is slow hand roasted in the world’s first carbon neutral Roastery, here in Dublin, Ireland by our dedicated and expert roasters.

We hand roast all of our coffee to ensure that we get the best flavour out of each and every individual coffee bean. We roast coffee every day & then air cool our beans which allows them to naturally cool and retain all of their flavour. Each of our coffee varieties is hand roasted separately and blended post roasting to ensure that our blends reach the premium standard required of all Java Republic coffee. Then, finally, we taste each and every coffee we produce to ensure that it achieves the Java Republic seal of approval before being shipped to our customers. We’d love to tell you more about our coffees & you can get in touch with us on:

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COVER: David Collins, Co-Founder/Marketing Director, Great National Hotels and Resorts

CONTENTS NEWS APPOINTMENTS MIDLANDS TOURISM PLAYGROUND GREAT NITE INN BOOKASSIST PÁDRAIC ÓG GALLAGHER FÁILTE FOCUS TOURISM IRELAND NEWS JAVA MARCO RAI NEWS TRAINING IFSA NEWS FÁILTE IRELAND NEWS BEWLEY’S BARISTAS GMIT NEWS BOYNE VALLEY FOOD HYGIENE TOURISM POLICY LAUNCH INTERIOR DESIGN EFQM IRISH HOTEL TRANSACTIONS RESPONSIBLE TOURISM AWARDS

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Hotel & Restaurant Times is circulated on subscription to Chief Executives, Directors and Proprietors of Hotels and Restaurants in Ireland along with Architects, Interior Designers and Suppliers to the Hotel and Restaurant Industry.

Managing Editor: Cyril McAree (01-6285447, cyril@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie) Business Development: Alan Doherty (01-2842909, alan@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie) Contributors: Pavel Barter, Cynthia Bifolchi, Denise Ryan, Dr. Des O'Mahony, Mary O Rawe, Dee Laffan, Susan Clarke Fáilte Ireland, IFSA, Tourism Ireland, Restaurants Association of Ireland, GMIT. Printing: W G Baird All paper used in the production of this magazine comes from certifiably sustainable forestry.

ALL CONTENTS OF THE MAGAZINE ARE COPYRIGHT OF HOTEL & RESTAURANT TIMES: H&R HOUSE, CARTON COURT, MAYNOOTH, CO. KILDARE. TEL/FAX: 01 628 5447.

E-MAIL: editorial@hotelandrestauranttimes.ie WEB: www.hotelandrestauranttimes.ie H&RT APRIL/MAY ‘15

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Better times As the first quarter results ebb into the market, the projected growth bodes well for the season ahead. All markets are showing increased activity, including North America and GB. The current currency position is no doubt a factor, as are the endeavours of those working within the wider hospitality family. All indicators point to a more robust, competitive industry: from hotel rooms to restaurants, to the multitude of carriers bringing the tourism to the island. Another key factor? Continued support from the domestic market.

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Recent Fáilte Ireland surveys bear this out. Key findings from a recent report show that over 4 million domestic trips were taken by Irish residents in 2014, representing 3% increase on 2013, resulting in over €1.5 billion in revenue. Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn said, “While increases in overseas numbers are vital for revenue and growth, a vibrant domestic market is necessary to underpin and sustain the jobs and infrastructure… On that basis, these figures are very welcome.”

Equally encouraging are the findings of the recent Fáilte Ireland Millward Brown survey, which highlights that the Irish people are one of the key constituents for tourists. From over 1500 respondents, 67% cited that people are a key factor in making an enjoyable experienced. The most common word used to describe the experience was “relaxed”.

Scenery came next at 59%. History/Culture, weather and food, were further down the scale. So is it time the industry looks at this aspect of the business in the same way it does revpar etc.? Investment in people has to be looked at in terms of continued success and growth.

Another welcome initiative is the Ancient East, which aims to build on the historical and cultural aspects of the region. The region has a myriad of attractions to whet the appetite of tourists at home and abroad. Stretching from Louth to Waterford, and zigzagging the eastern part of the country, it has much to offer, from pre-historic times to the present.

Key areas include the Boyne Valley, Glendalough, Trim Castle and Wicklow Gaol. The success of this endeavour will be in the hands of the stakeholders who operate within the region. In order to replicate the Wild Atlantic Way, and the business this continues to generate, the people of the region have to maximise the potential on offer. The spade work is done. Now it is time to tweak and make sure it works for all concerned.

As Pádraig Óg Gallagher steps down as RAI president, he took time to reflect on his presidency. Credit must go to him for all that was achieved during his time at the helm.

Interestingly, he notes that he was part of a team, and that is what crucial in any of his successes. Without a person someone focused at the steering wheel, success doesn’t happen. So take a bow, Pádraig. Now it is over to Anthony Gray to keep the ship steady.

I am dedicating this issue to the memory of my father John McAree who passed away on March 15th unexpectedly.

He was a kind and gentle person and I am so proud to have had him as my Dad. May his gentle soul rest in peace.

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Cyril McAree Editor

NEWS

NEWS IHF checks into Ireland’s top hotels

Michael Ring, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport, presents Patrick Curran, Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim, County Meath, with the IHF Quality Employer Award 2015 (large hotel section) at the IHF conference in the Slieve Russell Hotel, Cavan. Also in picture are, from left: Tony Lenehan, Stephen McNally, President, IHF and Tim Fenn, Chief Executive, IHF.

Five stars for Sea View

Select few

Select Hotels hosted a very enjoyable night for their corporate customers in Marco Pierre White Courtyard Bar & Grill in Donnybrook.

Pictured (l-r): Una Young, General Manager; Jim Maher Business Development Manager, Select Hotels of Ireland. Select Hotels of Ireland has 26 hotels throughout Ireland and was established 14 years ago as a marketing platform for independently owned hotels.

Kerry to Dublin route grows 59%

Sea View House has been awarded 5 Stars from Fáilte Ireland in the Individual Self Catering Cottage category of Ireland’s Blue Book. Sea View House is a luxury holiday home located in Co. Sligo. This peaceful and private hideaway, located on Rosses Point, offers guests views of Drumcliff Bay and Benbulben.

Sea View is nestled in 14 acres of wild meadow, cleverly hidden away in a sheltered bay with private access to a pebbled beach.

Aer Lingus Regional’s Kerry-Dublin route grew 59% in February 2015 compared to the same period last year, according to new figures released today by the airline. The airline said that it was the route’s 12th consecutive month of growth, fuelled in part by connecting traffic to North America via Dublin Airport’s transatlantic hub. In February 2015, 2,855 passengers flew on Aer Lingus Regional’s Kerry-Dublin route, an additional 1,059, or 59% more, than the same period in 2014.

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NEWS

Sweet affair in Ranelagh

Dalata delight at dinner Earlier this year, Dalata Hotel Group held its inaugural Group Awards Dinner in Ballsbridge Hotel. The event recognised outstanding achievement in a variety of categories by both individual employees and, also, hotel teams from across the Group. 250 people representing the 38 hotels within Dalata enjoyed a great night. On arrival, each Employee of the Year, from their respective hotel, was presented with an award and certificate by Dalata Chief Executive, Pat McCann. During pre-dinner drinks the teams from the four corners of Ireland and Cardiff in Wales mingled. Led by Ballsbridge Hotel’s Head Chef, Darina Brennan, and under the watchful eye of C&B Manager, John Conmee, guests were treated to a meal in the ballroom of the hotel. MC Barry Murphy of Après Match fame, kept the crowd entertained.

Monk’s Lane makes McKennas’ Guides grade Butlers Chocolates have opened their newest Chocolate Café. Since 1998, Butlers Chocolates have opened 17 Cafés in the Republic of Ireland - the arrival of Butlers Chocolates in Ranelagh, will mark their 18th.

Germans have landed More than two million Germans will soon be reading all about Donegal, following a visit by a journalist from one of Germany’s most popular tabloid newspapers, Bild. Invited here

by Tourism Ireland, journalist Oliver Abraham’s itinerary included a tour of the castle and gardens at Glenveagh, as well as a guided cliff walk at Slieve League. He also enjoyed a tour, and overnight stay, at Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan.

German journalist Oliver Abraham (right) with Trés Connaghan, Glenveagh National Park.

Monk’s Lane, in the heart of Timoleague, West Cork, has become the newest establishment in the country to make it on to the prestigious McKennas’ Guides “100 Best Restaurants in Ireland 2015” list. Opened in July 2014, Monk’s Lane is food and wine destination on the Wild Atlantic Way, run by couple Michelle O’Mahony and Gavin Moore, nephew of Christy Moore and Luka Bloom.

Bright stars Pictured at the launch of Aramark’s new Bright Star culinary inspiration series are (l-r): Derek Reilly, Culinary Director, Aramark; Catherine Fulvio, Chef Proprietor, Ballyknocken House; Mark McCarthy, Business Development Chef, Unilever Food Solutions; and Frank Gleeson, Managing Director, Aramark Food Services. The launch took place at Unilever Food Solutions’ Chefmanship Centre in Greenogue, Co Dublin.

The way forward for tourism The School of Tourism, LYIT, will host the 11th Annual Tourism and Hospitality Research in Ireland Conference (THRIC) from 11 - 12 June 2015. The conference will be held on the Letterkenny Campus and in the Radission Blu Hotel, Letterkenny.

This year’s conference theme ‘Collaborative Sustainable Development - The Way Forward for Tourism’ will feature over 30 research presentations and will be addressed by four key note speakers from Ireland, Scotland, England and Spain. Full details are available on www.lyit.ie/thric2015

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NEWS

Food heroes

Right track Olympic Champion and Aramark’s Health and Wellness Ambassador, Katie Taylor, together with Munster rugby legend, Alan Quinlan, launched Aramark’s Right Track Challenge: a campaign aimed at improving physical health and wellbeing in workplaces throughout Ireland.

Eighteen Irish food and drink companies will join the inaugural Bord Bia/Compass Group Ireland ‘Food Heroes’ Programme, aimed at providing participants with support and guidance to assist them secure, grow and maintain business with Compass Group Ireland.

Companies benefitting from the programme range from producers of sugar free chocolate and ice-cream, protein enriched yogurts and seed mixes, to GM free corn tortillas and award winning sushi. Pictured at the launch in the Aviva were Robert Bullock, Le Patissier, handmade traditional desserts, Fiacra Nagle, Managing Director, Compass Group Ireland, Aidan Cotter, CEO, Bord Bia and Rosie McLoughlin, Rosie & Jim, supplying breaded chicken products.

Pictured (l-r): Derek Reilly, Culinary Director, Aramark Ireland; Alan Quinlan; Katie Taylor and Frank Gleeson, Managing Director of Aramark Food Services.

Electric Avenue

Ten years of Taste The Taste of Dublin Food Festival will return to Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens on Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 June 2015 and is celebrating 10 Years of Taste with an unbeatable line up. The festival runs over four days, showcasing the best of Dublin’s culinary scene including top restaurants, artisan producers as well as home grown and international chefs.

The festival will be brought to life with a line-up of chef talent including Clodagh McKenna, Edward Hayden, Kevin Dundon, Mark Moriarty, Michel Roux Jr, Monica Galetti, Neven Maguire, Paul Flynn, Paul Kelly, Rachel Allen, Richard Corrigan, Ross Lewis and Sunil Ghai. Restaurants at the event include Brioche, Diep Le Shaker, East Side Tavern, Jaipur, Pichet, Rock Lobster, The Chop House, to name a few.

Nick Munier, who appeared in Masterchef Ireland, has showcased his new Dublin restaurant ‘Avenue by Nick Munier’ at Muckross Park Hotel. Over 100 guests were treated to a prosecco drinks reception and a delicious 6 Course Tasting Menu designed by Nick Munier.

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NEWS

Clybaun Hotel in Galway acquired in multi-million deal

Brakes invests in the future of food nutrition Dublin-based foodservice company, Brakes, has reinforced its commitment to developing skills within the catering industry by investing in formal training for all sales representatives.

As part of the company’s continuous professional development (CPD) strategy, Brakes Sales Director, Gareth Clements, and his team of sales representatives, attained certificates in the Principals of Nutrition in Food Production from the vocational educational body, City & Guilds.

Pictured is Brakes Sales Director Gareth Clements and Unilever Food Solutions Key Account Manager Fergus Scully.

Kinsale gears up for Vintage Rally Entrepreneur and investor Tom O’Gorman has checked into Galway’s hotel market with the purchase of the Clybaun Hotel in Knocknacarra, in a deal valued in excess of €3m. Hotel Clybaun was offered for sale on the instructions of the receivers, Patrick Dillon and Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton.

Clybaun is a modern contemporary-style hotel complex, located in Knocknacarra, a largely residential western suburb of Galway with over 4,500 dwellings and a local population of over 12,000.

Dedicated followers of fashion

One of the most exciting weekends on the Kinsale events is The Blue Haven Kinsale Vintage Rally, taking place May 8 to 11, with over 100 vintage cars on display. The mains sponsor is the Blue Haven Hotel.

BooQi wins Gold BooQi Media Solutions is the winner of the European Tophotel Star Award 2015 in the “Upselling” category.

BooQi (pronounced Bookie) have designed a hospitality tool for the hotel industry, which they call HotelBooQi: a compact credit cardsized booklet that has the functionality of a key-card holder, with the possibility to communicate all of the hotel’s facilities on one side, and a map of the hotel’s environment on the other.

Tourism Ireland welcomes Flybe flights from Cardiff to Dublin/Cork

Tourism Ireland has teamed up with ASOS, the online fashion and beauty store, highlighting Dublin and Belfast to almost 8 million fashion-loving customers of the site across Britain.

Building on a partnership with ASOS in 2014, the three-month campaign is targeting Tourism Ireland’s ‘social energiser’ audience in Britain, in a bid to highlight Ireland as a cool, vibrant and modern destination. The campaign is encouraging ASOS customers to consider a city break in Belfast or Dublin - a “weekend break with added FOMO” (fear of missing out!).

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Tourism Ireland has welcomed the announcement by Flybe of new flights from Cardiff to Dublin and Cork. Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “We look forward to working with Flybe to maximise the promotion of these new flights from Cardiff. As an island, the importance of convenient, direct, non-stop flights cannot be overstated - they are absolutely critical to achieving growth in inbound tourism. Tourism Ireland is committed to working with Flybe, Cork and Dublin Airports, as well as other tourism interests, to promote and help maintain vital routes and services to the island.”

Ringing in summer festivals Minister of State for Tourism & Sport, Michael Ring TD, has announced that funding of €564,000 has been approved by Fáilte Ireland for regional festivals and events taking place this year. With an average grant of €3,000 each, a total of 187 local events will be supported. The news follows earlier announcements of almost €2.3m for 27 large national festivals throughout Ireland in 2015.

The range of festivals, being supported by Fáilte Ireland under the Regional Programme of the Festivals and Events Initiative, includes 105 festivals to boost tourism activity along the Wild Atlantic Way: including Sligo Live, the Westport Arts Festival and Dingle Tradfest.

NEWS

Ireland tee’d up for golf tourism in Britain

Taste Of Italy

GB golf writers taking part in Tourism Ireland’s media golf day pictured at the West Sussex golf course of Goodwood, with Joseph Cruise (second row, second left), Judith Cassidy (front, left), Clair Balmer (second row, third left) and David Boyce (front, second left), all Tourism Ireland.

Galway student scoops Spain scholarship GMIT Culinary Arts student Cormac Withero has won a prestigious scholarship for the 8th International Spanish Gastronomy Training Programme, having competed against culinary students from all over the world including Ireland for one of 12 coveted places on the programme. The 25 year old from Galway city will travel to Spain in June for six months, all expenses paid, where he and 11 other aspiring chefs from countries such as the UK, Singapore and Mexico will be welcomed by top Spanish restaurants into their kitchens to develop their talents.

Acting up

Actor Brian Gleeson, star of Standby (centre), with the TIRFF team and Dana Welch, Tourism Ireland (right), at the opening night of the Toronto Irish Film Festival.

Tempting local dishes The Morrison Hotel on Dublin’s Lower Ormond Quay has announced the appointment of Sushil Kumar as new Executive Head Chef. Sushil brings a wealth of experience to his new role.

Over his 15 years in Ireland, he has worked in some of the finest restaurants and hotels, most recently as Head Chef at The Kilronan Castle Hotel in Roscommon, earning a coveted second AA Rosette. Describing his food ethos as a celebration of fresh local produce, served up with innovation, Chef Sushil is enthusiastic to apply it to his new role: “I’m excited to have the opportunity to create great food in such impressive surroundings,” he says.

A contemporary addition to the local dining scene in Cabinteely, Dublin, Café 31 specialises in modern Italian and Mediterranean fare. Open for lunch from 12pm-3pm, Monday-Saturday, guests can expect a range of Italian-inspired options, including Prawns Funghi Fettuccine in creamy Mushroom, Garlic and Basil sauce with Spinach (€13.50). Another favourite is the open Mediterranean Chorizo and Roast Chicken sandwich with Cos, Tomatoes and homemade Pesto (€9.50). For more information: www.cafe31.ie

Tierney’s Office Automation finalist in Business Excellence Award competition Andy Tierney, from Tierney’s Office Automation Ltd, based in Ennis, Co. Clare, has been named a finalist for the prestigious Business Excellence Award competition, which recognises the ‘Best of the Best in the business world.

The awards ceremony honours the achievements and accomplishments of business owners and professionals from around the world. There are currently five Business Excellence Award competitions worldwide: Andy and his company are attending the EMEA Region (Europe/Middle East & Africa), taking place in Portugal on 2324 April 2015

First resort Galgorm Resort & Spa, Northern Ireland, has announced a £10 million investment in the development of 48 luxury hotel rooms and a Spa Village, the first of its kind in the British Isles, due to open September 2015. Nestled along the banks of the River Maine, Galgorm Resort & Spa, recently listed as one of the Ultimate 100 Hotels in The Sunday Times, has become one of the preferred destination resorts in Ireland.

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NEWS

Reaching new heights

APPOINTMENTS

Dalcassian Wines & Spirits announces expansion with five new appointments Dalcassian Wines & Spirits has announced five new appointments as the company celebrates ten years in operation and the expansion of its operations in Ireland.

Brian Rigney - Company Sales Manager

The Aghadoe Heights Hotel & Spa, Killarney, has announced that hotelier Geraldine Dolan is being appointed General Manager. With over twenty years in the hospitality industry, the Leitrim native is a graduate of Hotel Management at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, Geraldine spent her formative training years in hotels in London including the 5 Star Park Lane Hilton, then moving to Abu Dhabi, spending five years at the 5 Star Abu Dhabi Hilton. She enjoyed a year in Russia as Food & Beverage Manager at 5 Star Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg. In 1999, Geraldine returned to Ireland and took-up a position as Deputy General Manager at Jurys Hotel & Towers and in 2003 she became General Manager of 5 Star The Berkeley Court Hotel. Geraldine was General Manager at The Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, and Jurys Inn. Most recently, Geraldine worked in the UK for Devere Hotels & Venues and was General Manager at The Glasshouse, Sligo.

Aramark appoint company dietitian

With over 25 years in the drinks industry, Brian started out his career in sales with Heineken Ireland in 1989, before setting up his own gastro pub in Portlaoise (the Welcome Inn) in 2001. He sold his share in the pub in a profitable partnership in late 2005 and joined Febvre & Company, later moving to Findlater Wines & Spirits company in July 2012. Brian is highly regarded within the industry with strong relationships across the country.

Hailing from Portlaoise, Brian had an illustrious rugby careF 3 th responsibility for group accounts, new business development and customer relations.

Declan Ryan, Area Sales Manager, Munster Declan joins Dalcassian Wines & Spirits from Findlater where he worked in sales for over a decade. He previously worked with Bulmers Cider, Grants of Ireland and BWG. Declan travels around Munster looking after the day to day communication with Munster-based accounts and developing new business in the sector. A GAA man, Declan won 3 Munster and 1 All-Ireland hurling titles (schools) and was Captain of both Minor and Senior club hurling winning teams.

Nigel Duffy, Area Sales Manager Dublin City Centre Nigel joins Dalcassian Wines & Spirits from Edward Dillon & Co. Ltd where he worked in business development across a range of leading international brands including Hennessy, Moët & Chandon, Bacardi and Jack Daniels for over 14 years. At Dalcassian, Nigel manages on-trade accounts in Dublin City Centre. He is a keen GAA fan, having played for Fingal Ravens, reaching The All Ireland Final intermediate championship in Croke Park in 2008.

Derek Kelly, Area Sales manager, Dublin South, Wicklow & Wexford Derek joins Dalcassian Wines & Spirits from Bulmers Ireland, where he worked as Business Development manager for the past six years, covering Dublin West and Dublin City Centre.

He has worked on both sides of the drinks industry, managing bars and outdoor events before moving into drinks distribution and sales.

Ruth Dunne, Brand Manager Dalcassian Wines & Spirits Aramark has announced that Elbha Purcell has joined as their company dietitian.

Elbha’s priority will be the development of menus and training programmes to ensure the nutritional requirements within their healthcare line of business are met. Elbha will also be responsible for supporting the culinary and front line teams through nutritional analysis of menus across their Food Services division, supporting the company’s health and wellness approach - Right Track - and working closely with their supply chain team.

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Ruth Dunne has been appointed Brand Manager, Dalcassian Wines & Spirits with special responsibility for Wakefield wines and Licor 43 - the fastest-growing liqueur internationally. Prior to her appointment, Ruth completed the IBEC-run Export Orientation Programme (EOP) where working as Brand Ambassador for the (Beam) Kilbeggan Distilling Company in Pennsylvania, USA. Ruth travelled across America, managing the sales, promotion and marketing of the Beam portfolio of Irish Whiskies Kilbeggan, Greenore, Tyrconnell and Connemara. Ruth holds a Masters in International Business Development from DIT and is fluent in French.

TOURISM FOCUS

Midlands can be tourism playground for Irish and British families

Among the video clips I would regularly show my students to trace the historical development of tourism was one charting the evolution of the Butlins brand. The cheesy communal games and regimented meal-times seem a world-apart from today’s tourist requirements. Yet there are some similarities. Families have always seen the opportunity to take a holiday together as an important chance to catch-up and reconnect. Today’s time-pressed families are looking for more short-break options which offer weather-independent opportunities to engage in energetic, healthy activities together. And one company who have been perfectly attuned to this trend is Center Parcs.

The announcement of the arrival of the company to Ireland marks a significant development in Irish tourism, and particularly so for the Midlands region. With the Wild Atlantic Way project offering huge potential for the western seaboard counties, the Midlands has to find a niche that can offer a sustainable place in Ireland’s continuing tourism success story. Research has indicated an increasing trend for activity based, sustainable tourism products for families. Indoor and outdoor activities and premium self-catering accommodation are what these high-earning families demand, and Center Parcs have shown themselves to be well attuned to this segment’s requirements. The company’s brand proposition is highly differentiated, of unique scale and enjoys relatively few direct competitors. Given its central location, it’s likely that most of its customer demand will come from Irish customers - both north and south - who currently frequent domestic hotel resorts. Some demand will come from Irish families who have developed a fondness for the extensive facilities of continental campsites, and there is the potential to attract British families who are already familiar with the brand - the company claims almost universal recognition in brand awareness studies there.

While the past few years have seen significant injection of investment into the Irish hotels sector, both by domestic and international interests, the company’s arrival marks an exciting vote of confidence in the Irish tourism market generally.

While the location chosen is a clear pointer to the dependence of this project on demand from both sides of the border, the development offers the chance to attract a British family market that to date has not been a focus of promotional efforts at policy level. The recent Government Tourism Policy Statement - People, Place and Policy - Growing Tourism to 2025 market - has a clear focus on three ‘lifestyle’

segments - ‘Culturally Curious’, ‘Great Escapers’ and ‘Social Energisers’ - not ones normally associated with the core Center Parcs customer. However, the same report does reference the Tourism Recovery Taskforce (charged with reviving the GB market) and which specifically identifies a segment of customers who have a strong interest in ‘Getting Active in Nature - revitalising and energising experiences and activities in the spectacular outdoors’.

Here, the opportunity to marry this motivation with a specific focus on UK families offers interesting prospects.

Traditionally the UK family market has not been seen as that lucrative, with access costs being a perceived barrier. But the Center Parcs proposition is one of premium pricing policy and price bundling, so the access costs become less of an issue. With imaginative packaging by ferry companies, there must be reason to be optimistic that more British families can be enticed to come to Ireland. Although not a core target market for Irish tourism generally, the British family market is one that tourism interests in the Midlands now have a realistic shot at developing further.

Mary O’Rawe is a lecturer in the School of Hospitality Management & Tourism, D.I.T.

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BRANDING

Hotel branding for the digi-social era

By David Collins, Co-Founder/Marketing Director, Great National Hotels and Resorts

From a standing start in 2010, Great National is now Ireland’s largest hotel operator, comprising a portfolio of 46 3-star deluxe and 4-star hotels throughout Ireland and the UK. With offices in Ennis, Dublin and Uttoxeter, and recently approved for Enterprise Ireland grant aid assistance (December 2014), the group represents most of its properties under the ‘Great National’ brand which is a proven ‘implant’ solution for independent hotel properties in significantly accelerating revenue growth, reducing distribution costs and improving market reach. Great National has for example been nominated for various marketing excellence awards, the most recent of which is the 2015 All Ireland Marketing Awards.

In line with an underlying market trend towards a more refined hotel services model, Great National’s growth plans include the launch of ‘Great Nite Inn’, a budget-boutique brand which is owned by Great National and which will be rolled out under franchise to properties in key

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locations throughout Ireland and the UK commencing Q3 2015 for example with the rebranding of the Central Hotel in Tullamore and the Creggan Court Hotel in Athlone.

Envisaged as a ‘next generation’ hotel concept in combining new standards of product, service and technology which will redefine guests’ expectations, Great Nite Inn is essentially a ‘conversion brand’ (as opposed to ‘new build’) so as to enable accelerated roll-out; candidate properties will undergo a rigorous investment and refurbishment program to ultimately include for example superior quality bedrooms, free super-fast broadband for guests with a similar quality, value for money emphasis on food ops.

Here, David Collins discusses the marketing challenges in developing this new hotel brand post-recession whereby marketing has become less traditional and more digi-social, and brand loyalty is more difficult than ever before to gain and maintain.

“The easiest part of the programme to date has arguably been to develop an identity for ‘Great Nite Inn’, in other words the graphical representation of the brand.

Even the property conversion programme and the various brand sub-concepts from food and beverage operations to bedroom features - is relatively straightforward.”

“Relative that is in comparison to what will make the brand relevant to our target markets. Relevant as in appealing, sustainable and remarkable. This is the real challenge with Great Nite Inn and it is one which every marketer faces when developing a brand that stands out for all the right reasons. Whether it’s a B2B or a B2C brand, whether you’re selling washing machines or four-wheel drives, iPhones or insurance.”

“So why is developing a brand in today’s post-recession marketing arena, one that gathers traction from the outset, so difficult. Certainly in the recent past, you

BRANDING

could simply throw money at the problem: out-spend, out-advertise, out-distribute your competition and you were there or at least thereabouts.”

“Think about some of the biggest global hotel brands of the past 20 years.

There’s few if any that became market dominant because of anything other than consolidation, distribution and sheer scale. And whereas these are all certainly advantages in a today’s competitive landscape, how is it that some emerging brands have none of the above characteristics but are still claiming market share from a literal standing start?”

“There’s perhaps three reasons in that new upstart brands that are making waves keep it simple, personal and meaningful and these are the guiding principles we’ve adopted in developing the Great Nite Inn brand.”

“Take simplicity. Those brands which have seen exponential growth tend to use easy to remember, super simple brand names; brand names that are relevant to the product offering or brand differentiation. Take UBER or Hailo for example. These are easy to connect with, easy to relate to labels that in an increasingly noisy, distracting market place, enable easier recall for sensory-overloaded consumers.

The service offering itself is simple, intuitive and exemplary, not just surprising

consumers but delighting them and this emphasis on simplicity - in communication, in service delivery, etc. - is in turn is informing our own brand specifications for Great Nite Inn.” “Take the second reason, making it personal. The big deal about big data is how this latent information which is in every business can be used to profile and target consumers with less commoditised, more personalised brand propositions. Think about what Coke for example did recently in ‘naming’ their bottles after the common most popular names in Ireland and the UK. Not a huge amount of data work required here and simple enough to do thanks to digital printing but the desired effect was that consumers formed a different type some might argue a more meaningful and valuable type - of relationship with the brand simply through a personalised name association. Enabling our own customers and guests to participate in defining what Great Nite Inn means to them and packaging it around these likes and preferences is an immense challenge however it is a cornerstone to our brand offering and we are quite excited with the solutions we have developed to this end.”

“And then there’s making the Great Nite Inn brand meaningful. Think about the last time you heard an ad on radio promoting home insurance or a bank offering a high interest, low cost deposit account. They tend to start off with great promise, they’re empathetic and they ‘understand the everyman (and woman)’ but any kudos, believe-ability and goodwill all goes out with bathwater once they start those immortal words ‘Terms and conditions apply’.

“The point here is that being a meaningful brand to a consumer should be unconditional. It must be authentic, not faked. It must have a story and not a sound-byte… As for Great Nite Inn: We Do the Great Things You Like. Only Better.”

In conclusion Collins added “Peter Marshall, the Scottish immigrant who became Chaplain of the United States Senate, once said ‘if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything’ and the same can be said of companies that fail to adequately empathise with their customers, developing brands which lack relevance and staying power. The secret therefore is to understand that individualism is now more pluralistic than ever before and that generic, overly homogenised brand solutions simply won’t work with consumers who see themselves as increasingly integral to service definition, product delivery and the overall brand experience.”

For further details on Great Nite Inn and Great National Hotels and Resorts, please contact David Collins at djc@greatnationalhotels.com.

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ONLINE MARKETING

Apple Watch revolution time In travel?

Dr. Des O’Mahony Apple Watch has generated a considerable buzz in technology, fashion and just about every other area of life, despite the fact that it hasn’t even been released into the wild (at time of writing). Such is the marketing power of the world’s most valuable company. But what are the practical implications for wearables in the travel and hospitality space?

Apple Watch aims to liberate people from the constant need to check their smartphones.

Instead, convenient snippets of information can be accessed at a glance when and where needed, with the full smartphone only required for the heavy-lifting interactions. It is that time and location context that holds the most promise for the traveller with wearable technology.

Delivery of relevant alerts and actions will be a key convenience-driver in travel.

Is this particular device something that service suppliers should be preparing for and be ready to take advantage of?

Getting around One of the most convenient immediate uses for the traveller is for maps and directions. Using smartphone maps to find directions is commonplace, but all too often we wander down streets (or dangerously cross roads) with our noses stuck in the phone. Surely a tiny watch screen would be even less convenient to try to navigate with?

With the Watch, once your destination is set (which can of course be done verbally) you need do no more, but walk. The Watch’s “taptic engine” gently taps your wrist to tell you to go left and right at junctions. This definitely keeps your smartphone out of the way and keeps your concentration on the street and not the device.

(That tapping technology is a welcome relief for us all, since it may ultimately replace the annoyingly loud alert tones and ring tones that so many still seem to consider acceptable in public.)

For those who prefer to hitch a ride, Uber will be providing Apple Watch integration to make transport even easier to find on-the-go. Expect other transport provider networks and taxi aggregators to follow suit quickly.

Oh, and one more thing. The Apple Watch automatically adjusts time across

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time zones too, so no more fiddling with your watch as the captain announces the local time zone details from the flight deck.

Checking in More specifically for travel and hospitality service providers, Apple Watch extends Apple’s existing iPhone Passbook technology. Passbook is Apple’s convenient single app for storing reservations for flights, hotels, restaurants etc. as well as loyalty cards and other such data (though Irish restaurants have been very slow to go the digital route with their loyalty cards in my experience). If you’ve used Passbook on iPhone, you’ll know how convenient it is.

On Apple Watch, relevant reservation information and barcodes from Passbook cards will display on the screen at the right location and the right time so you don’t have to take out your iPhone.

Waving your wrist for airline boarding, rather than rummaging for a paper boarding card or accessing a barcode on your iPhone, is definitely a convenience when burdened by bags and luggage. Many airlines are ready at launch with this feature. Coupled with instant feedback on delays and gate changes, this is sure to be considerable help for the traveller. With some Watch apps, such as that advertised by American Airlines, the Watch will even tap you to remind you it’s time to board. Easyjet and British Airways will be ready with similar services on Apple watch launch day. Once this approach catches on, looking at airport boarding screens every few minutes may become a thing of the past.

Accessing quick reservation information is very handy on-the-go. Bookassist has developed Passbook integration for hotel reservations that will automatically display booking details on iPhone and on Apple Watch when the customer is in the vicinity of the hotel on check-in day. This also provides the location directions and displays booking references for easy access at the check-in desk. Expedia and many other OTAs are ready at launch with their Watch apps to display hotel reservation details and check-in information also.

Open sesame For those hotels moving towards automated or barcode or NFC-driven check-in and check-out processes, again the convenience of Passbook on Apple Watch will be something the increasingly tech-savvy customer will prefer, especially the business customer who is pushed for time. Starwood’s upcoming SPG app on Apple Watch will even allow users to use the watch as a room key, and Starwood is expanding that feature across more hotels all the time. There are many lock suppliers now who are integrating this technology and hotels would do well to consider it in their renovation cycles.

Reviews on tap Not surprisingly, TripAdvisor will be delivering location-sensitive reviews directly to a wrist near you also. Expect to see customers generating quick-tap instant ratings of the service being received in real time. Good for customers, but an added pain perhaps for service providers who can afford even less to put a foot wrong.

Cardless payment The larger hotel chains are moving quickly in the payment space too, but there’s room here for every conceivable service provider with a till. Marriott International in the USA is set to be the first major hotel chain to take payments via Apple Pay, the secure digital wallet for credit cards that Apple launched recently on iPhone and which will soon allow a quick wave of your Apple Watch to complete cashless and cardless payments.

Apple Pay has huge potential because of the tens of millions of capable Apple iOS devices and the ongoing development of NFC payment points, though its USA-only at this point.

ONLINE MARKETING

Figure 1 - Apple’s Passbook allows users to store reservations for flights, hotels, restaurants etc. as well as loyalty cards and other data. Reservation data in Passbook can be configured to appear automatically when in the vicinity of the hotel and when near check-in time, since the iPhone (and a connected Watch) are location aware. Rich information can be delivered on the back of the card, such as contact details for the hotel, directions to the hotel, terms and conditions, pricing and detailed reservation information etc. Bookassist is currently implementing passbook services for bookings made for its client hotels.

iBeacons Being able to feed contextual information based on location is gaining ground in many service industries. iBeacons are low-powered low-cost transmitters that can notify a nearby device such as a smartphone or an Apple Watch about local contextual information. Apple already uses them in their stores to give you more detail on your phone about the product you’re currently considering and sports stadiums in the US are using them to guide people to their seats and to other services.

The potential in tourism for these devices is enormous, since they can feed very local information to alert passers by. Think alerts to people about the dish of the day as the walk past your restaurant, or last-minute offers on treatments as they stroll pass the hotel spa door. Monuments, museums, any localised features could be equipped with iBeacons to provide rich local and spatially relevant information to tourists as they pass by.

The Bottom Line The above examples only scratch the surface of where this technology is for travel.

But is this really revolution, or just evolution? All of the above examples can clearly be accomplished without a wearable device already. Smartphones do it all anyway, so what’s the big deal?

Remember that all of this could (and can) also be accomplished with paper printouts, phones, keys, credit cards etc. before smartphones came along. But smartphone use in travel and hospitality is exploding because of convenience of gathering capability into one device. Apple Watch brings that even further because the driver here is convenience, convenience, convenience - not necessity. Nobody needs an Apple Watch, just like nobody needs a smartphone, but it will certainly drive convenience and transform want to need in the travellers’ mind over time.

If smartphones have proven anything in travel, it is that you should never underestimate how convenience can alter a person’s behaviour and influence their views. Providing convenience for your customers means delivering a positive vibe

about your business, and inevitably that raises conversion. That means more business. This is why it’s important to consider how you can tap into mobile and wearables for your services at every opportunity.

While the smartphone was a category of device that quickly moved beyond convenience to a must-have connectivity tool, smart wearables like the Apple Watch may never quite elevate to that level, especially as the first generation devices are a companion to smartphones and not a replacement. But Apple’s strong emphasis on health and fitness for the device is actually a killer idea. The health focus means people will want to wear the device continuously to track their movements and vitals. That means it’s more likely to be with you and worn on you all the time, and far less likely to be forgotten like a phone or a wallet. And that means that it’s a device just begging to be tapped into by service providers.

Dr Des O’Mahony is CEO & Founder at Bookassist (http://www.bookassist.com), the multi-award-winning technology and digital strategy partner for hotels worldwide.

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INTERVIEW

Looking back As Sligo restaurateur Anthony Gray from Eala Bhán and Trá Bán restaurants takes over the Presidency of the Restaurant Association of Ireland for a two-year term, Dee Laffan speaks with outgoing president Pádraic Óg Gallagher about his tenure.

A two-year term may seem like a short amount of time in which to achieve a lot of change, but Pádraic Óg Gallagher is leaving quite long coat-tails behind him as he steps down as president of the Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI).

“I think it’s great that Anthony is carrying on the mantle of education. It was really important for me. The VAT rate and calories on menus will be major battles for him, and chef training. But another challenge is RAI membership figures. When I took over we had just over 700 members, but we now have 1,500; Anthony’s target is to reach 2,500 members and that will be tough. It is not just about gaining new members, but maintaining and keeping our current members happy - listening to them and fighting their battles. If you don’t listen and take on board your members concerns , they will leave the association..”

“My main advice to him is to remember your office and the team are there for you in your role as president. Adrian, Kim, Katie, Martina and the rest of the team are your backbone and you have to listen to them and work with them. Take it step-by-step, hone in on your few goals and try and achieve them. They are a great team so trust them and you’ll be fine.”

While Anthony Gray now takes over and looks forward to challenges ahead. I asked Pádraic Óg to look back at what he felt were the main challenges for him.

“My number one challenge was maintaining the VAT at 9%,” Pádraic Óg explained. “It was a hard fought campaign, which came down to the wire. Three weeks before budget day, we met with Minister Noonan and he practically told us to go away! He didn’t know where he was going to get that extra 360 million from; he said forget about it, it’s going back up to 13.5%.

We left that meeting with him in Limerick Adrian Cummins and Padraig Frawley accompanied me - thinking the battle was lost. The fact that we achieved it on budget day was a major milestone.”

“Allergens and calories on menus were other challenges. The calories came out of the blue to be honest. When Minister Varadkar was Minister for Tourism he didn’t see how calories on the menu would work.

But calories are only a small part of a very big picture.”

“One of things I really wanted to push during my time as president was food

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education. We just had Henry Dimbleby over to speak at our Food Symposium 2015,” Pádraic Óg informed me. Henry Dimbleby is Co-Founder of Leon Restaurants and the School Food Plan in the UK. “Henry was responsible for getting food back on the curriculum in the UK, so now children up to the age 14 have to learn how to cook in school. We really need to start somewhere in Ireland with this. Minister Varadkar was recently turned down by the Department of Education re his objective to make P.E. compulsory and to add a nutritional aspect to the programme. It’s such a shame and that these departments can’t work together. I can use an example with our industry... We have Fáilte Ireland, Bord Bia and Tourism Ireland working together through initiatives like Origin Green to make sure that we’re delivering a message about food in Ireland to people at home and abroad. The Department of Education and the Department of Health need to work together in the same way. If you invest money at an early stage in a child’s education, they will carry that on, and while it might take years to get our schools up to speed on that, we do have to start somewhere,” he stated.

Pádraic Óg is working on a new project with the Urban Farm up in Belvedere College, where they have just opened a new Home Economics department and also a Grow Lab. “They are growing micro greens and herbs for us in the school and they’re also going to be growing a 160 varieties of potato from the Langford/Carey heritage collection for us on the rooftop. It’s part of a potato-breeding programme that we are introducing there. When you are growing potatoes, you have a true seed - a pod/berry that grows from when the potato flowers, and in that you have about 200 seeds and you don’t know necessarily what kind you’re going to have, so the First Year students are going do this and name their own seeds as part of this breeding programme and, hopefully by Sixth Year, they will have success with some of the new breeds of potatoes.”

“I’m going to get David Langford to launch the breeding programme in Belvedere College, but we are also going to get a number of chefs in to chat to the students about our industry; I think hospitality and culinary arts need to pushed out there little bit more to our children growing up. I’m very lucky, I get up in the morning and I love going to work. That day might be a 10-12 hour one, but I still love it! Tourism is a huge industry in Ireland and I think we need to encourage younger generations to join it.”

While encouraging younger people to join the tourism industry is a goal, it also comes with challenges in the form of training and labour costs, as Pádraic went on to explain.

“An Taoiseach stated that by 2020 the government want to have an extra 50,000 people working in hospitality in the country. If our taxes go up that won’t be

INTERVIEW

achieved and we need training there to achieve that. In the Dublin 2 area alone in the past two years, there have been over 5,000 extra seats added to the restaurant scene. That is 50 restaurants my size and that is a lot of people; I employ 35 people in the Boxty House in Temple Bar. Running a restaurant is very basic maths, you’ve got high costs in labour costs and if labour costs go up, we have to get it from somewhere and in the end the customer will pay for it. But we need to maintain our prices and that is a challenge going forward.”

“Another challenge is training, there isn’t enough done by the government in this area. My predecessor Brian Fallon initiated a whole training programme for chefs; we got a couple of hundred trained through it during my term and it has led to the development of an apprenticeship programme, for which we worked with the Hotel Federation of Ireland. That programme is going to be a changing factor for our industry, if we can get it on a level playing field with the same type of apprenticeship you would get for other trades like plumbers or carpenters. It would then be seen as a trade, after all that’s what it is... I am a chef by trade. If we can get that up and running that would be fantastic and yes, SOLAS need to be behind us. It would be really positive for us. The submission went in last month so I would expect it to be up and running by October.”

“The government needs to get behind it too and they have been supportive of it.

They have to be as they have a set goal; if they want 50,000 people to join the hospitality industry by 2020 because those people aren’t going to come out of nowhere, they will need to be trained Irish chefs. Unless they want to go back to bringing in trained workers from overseas? Not when there is 10% unemployment in the country.”

Newer aspects of the industry that Pádraic Óg has seen introduced during his presidency are some trends that have added to the overall experience for the consumer.

“The cocktail scene is definitely a new part of our industry. Over the past 2-3 years, cocktails have really made their place on the menu. Sometimes people will have a couple of cocktails with their meal and not even order any wine or other drinks. Cocktails are part of the dining experience. The mixologists of today are like chefs. The competition is strong between them all too, which drives the industry. Our cocktail barman here in The Boxty House came third in the world in a competition in Taiwan for a cocktail that he made, which is massive.”

“Also, the explosion of craft beers on the market has been a major change. I don’t think there are many bars now that just have the regular beers any more. People want to try something different and that is where they have found their place.”

“Buying local - and “local” is the whole island of Ireland for me - is another great story. If someone comes into our restaurant, I can tell them the story of where my pork comes from - Fergus Dunne, Pigs on the Green, Athlone; he rears the Tamworth Pig, which was an Irish grazer that Lord Peel took back to England and bred and called it the Tamworth but it is actually an Irish pig. Fergus told me that story and now I tell my guest and they love those kind of stories and that’s they true power of provenance and buying local in the restaurant industry. A plate of food is not just that, it is a story on a plate and we should be able to reflect that and tell people where their food is coming from and see our passion for it, then they will share that passion and adds to their experience.”

“The standard in every part of the sector has come up. When I started the Boxty House in Temple bar, there were eight restaurants in the area and that was including Bewley’s, Fans, Nico’s, but there are very few of the original ones still here and there are 83 restaurants in Temple Bar today. You’ve got great restaurants here including The Chameleon, Elephant & Castle and Cleaver East, but also you’ve got newer ones like Nick Munier’s Avenue and The Meeting House. Plus, and Fallon & Byrne opening in Temple Bar also.”

So, what’s next for Pádraic Óg Gallagher?

“I won’t be putting my feet up anyway; I’ve a good few things on the plate! I am hoping to do a PhD; there is hopefully a doctorate in Culinary Arts starting in DIT Cathal Brugha Street soon and I have put myself forward for that. I love the whole research aspect of what we do.”

“I also want to expand my business again. I hope this upward curve is real and we can maintain it... The last seven years have been about survival, the previous 20 were about growth, and if things stay the course then I’ll be going back to look at that again and how we can grow.”

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FÁILTE FOCUS

Fáilte Ireland launches Ireland’s Ancient East

The Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD, together with Minister of State, Michael Ring TD, officially launched Ireland’s Ancient East, Fáilte Ireland’s latest tourism initiative which will build on the wealth of historical and cultural assets in the east and south of Ireland.

Crucially, Ireland’s Ancient East is geared to maximise the history and heritage in the region and bring it to greater international attention. To do this, the new initiative will offer visitors a personal experience of 5000 years of history through a relaxing journey of discovery in the beautiful landscape that attracted warring settlers for millennia and illuminated by stories from the best storytellers in the world - the local people.

Stretching from Newgrange and the Boyne Valley in the north east and ranging through the midlands all the way down via Kilkenny’s Medieval mile to Waterford’s Viking Quarter and Cork’s many cultural attractions, the new brand proposition is intended to match and complement the Wild Atlantic Way in terms of scale and ambition.

Based on comprehensive research in overseas markets, the initiative is aimed at particular market segments overseas (identified by the research) who have indicated they would be more likely to come to Ireland to explore new landscapes, history and culture or simply to take time out from their busy lives and careers to connect with local heritage and nature and their own place within.

Officially launching Ireland’s Ancient East, Minister Donohoe said: “Recent growth in visitor numbers has confirmed Ireland is a popular destination. However, the market research tells us that there is potentially a lot

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more growth out there if we pitch our best assets to those segments with the most potential. Indeed, when I recently launched our new national tourism policy, ‘People Places and Policy’, I emphasised that we would need to continue developing projects that were both big enough and attractive to help us cut through to compete in international markets.

“With the great amount of history and heritage in such a relatively compact area, ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’ will allow us to seriously build on the assets we have in the east and south – and the significant investment which has been made in tourism attractions in the region over the last few years. While appealing to a different type of a visitor, I am confident that Ireland’s Ancient East will prove as effective and popular as the Wild Atlantic Way and will deliver significant additional numbers of visitors, revenue and jobs to the region.”

Fáilte Ireland has spent the last year working in consultation with key stakeholders to develop the initiative including tourism attractions and businesses throughout the region. Following much consultation and deliberation, Ireland’s Ancient East will be crafted along four distinct thematic pillars: • Ancient Ireland - The Dawn of Civilisation (including the prehistoric attractions of the Boyne Valley in Newgrange and sites such as the Brownshill Dolmen in Carlow); • Early Christian Ireland (including sites such as Clonmacnoise, Glendalough, Mellifont abbey, Jerpoint Abbey, St.Canice’s Cathedral and Holycross Abbey); • Medieval Ireland (including Kilkenny’s Medieval Mile, the Viking Quarter in Waterford, Hook Head Lighthouse, Trim Castle and the Rock of Cashel); • Anglo Ireland (including Ireland’s Great Houses and Gardens as well as sites such as the Dunbrody Famine Ship and Wicklow Gaol).

For more information visit http://www.failteireland.ie/Ireland-s-Ancient-East.aspx

FÁILTE FOCUS

Friendliness, landscapes and culture all boosting Ireland’s appeal

The latest results from Fáilte Ireland’s Visitor Attitudes Survey 2014, conducted by Millward Brown, show overseas holidaymakers continue to rate Ireland as good value for money and almost all respondents said that Ireland matched or exceeded their expectations. When asked about their overall opinion of their Irish holiday, 55% of respondents said that their trip met all their expectations and a further 44% of visitors said their holiday exceeded all expectations.

Interestingly, when holidaymakers were asked, the most popular word used to describe their experience was “relaxed” and this was across all main markets. This was followed by “refreshed” - felt more by the French and Germans than North Americans. “Stimulated” was the word many North Americans chose and this was also mentioned by visitors from other parts of the world. The Germans also felt

“excited” and “exhausted” while the French were more likely to mention “calm” and the British “rejuvenated”.

In terms of value for money, Ireland’s satisfaction levels continue to improve with 54% of visitors saying that they found good or very good value in Ireland - up from 51% the year before. To put things into further perspective, while last year only 6% of visitors found value for money to be poor or very poor, in 2007 the equivalent figure was 41%.

Acknowledging the survey results, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe said - “The views of those who have visited Ireland last year are very encouraging, especially the value for money ratings.

Improving visitor satisfaction is a key part of our recently launched tourism policy and this data confirms that we are doing the right things - playing to our greatest strengths while remaining a competitive and attractive destination. However, it is imperative that we stay on track and maintain that winning balance of value and quality into the future.”

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19

TOURISM

New ITV series showcases Wild Atlantic Way in Britain ITV is showcasing the spectacular Wild Atlantic Way to millions of viewers - or potential holidaymakers - across Britain, in a brand new, six-part series presented by Northern Ireland-born television presenter and celebrity, Christine Bleakley. Six, thirty-minute episodes were filmed along the Wild Atlantic Way last autumn for the new series - which is called Wild Ireland. The series sees Christine Bleakley explore the west coast, from Malin Head to Mizen Head, meeting lots of fascinating characters along the way and discovering the spectacular landscape of this part of Ireland.

The Wild Atlantic Way is being promoted by Tourism Ireland around the world across a range of platforms including TV, print and online advertising; on Ireland.com and through social media channels; at major international consumer and trade fairs; through familiarisation visits for influential travel agents, tour operators, as well as travel and lifestyle journalists and bloggers from around the world; and through Tourism Ireland’s promotional material and brochures. Vanessa Markey, Tourism Ireland’s head of Britain, said: “The publicity value of a production like Wild Ireland is

Website is a big hit!

Tourism Ireland scooped the top prize for ‘best tourist board website’ at the French hospitality industry’s ‘Les Travel d’Or’ awards. Beating off stiff competition from 48 other destination websites, the Tourism Ireland site, Ireland.com, was voted joint number one (with Reunion Island Tourism) for its winning appeal and content by an impressive 146,000 internet users from around France and a panel of web and travel industry experts. This is the third time that Tourism Ireland has won a Travel d’Or award, which are considered the ‘Oscars’ of the etourism industry in France, rewarding excellence in the digital sphere (the company also won in 2011 and 2012).

Christine Bleakley, during filming for Wild Ireland at Malin Head, Co Donegal.

incalculable - it is a superb way of highlighting the Wild Atlantic Way to millions of people across Britain, inspiring them to put Ireland on their holiday ‘wish list’ for 2015.”

Ireland goes underground - to inspire millions of Paris commuters Billboard ad in the Paris metro, highlighting the Wild Atlantic Way and attractive offers for a weekend break in Ireland.

Millions of French commuters have been seeing ads for Ireland this spring, on large billboard posters as they pass through the busy metro stations of Paris. Tourism Ireland partnered with a leading French online travel agent - Go Voyages - for its largest ever joint promotional campaign in France. More than 1,000 billboard ads are prominently displayed in metro stations across the French capital, grabbing the attention of commuters with beautiful images of the Wild Atlantic Way and the Causeway Coastal Route and featuring attractive offers for a weekend break - reminding them why they should put Ireland on their holiday wish-list for 2015. The campaign also includes online advertising, dedicated Ireland pages on the Go Voyages and Opodo websites, as well as advertising in Direct Matin (a free daily newspaper).

Tourism Ireland capitalises on Masters ‘hype’ to highlight golf holidays in Ireland

Séverine Tharreau, Tourism Ireland (left), with Cyrille Barrieu, Reunion Island Tourism, joint winners of the Travel d’Or award for best tourist board website.

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As the 79th US Masters got under way in Augusta recently, Tourism Ireland launched a new golf campaign in the United States, with brand new 60-second and 30-second TV ads which aired to millions of golf enthusiasts on the hugely popular NBC Golf Channel, as well as on Golfchannel.com. On day one of the Masters, Tourism Ireland also hosted its annual ‘Meet the Irish’ media event - highlighting our world-class golf to some of the top golf journalists from around the United States.

Promoting golf holidays in Ireland is a major focus for Tourism Ireland in the United States, and in other key markets around the world. As well as advertising on the Golf Channel, a digital ad campaign is running on various golf websites in the US, directing people to the golf pages on Ireland.com. Social media activity is encouraging American golfers to come and attend this year’s Irish Open and then stay on to play some of our great courses. And Tourism Ireland will have a presence at a number of other high profile golf events this year - including the PGA Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Texas, in May, and the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts, in September.

TOURISM

Ireland - always in season in Canada

Alison Deegan, Manor House Hotels & Irish Country Hotels; Mary Hartnett, Killarney Plaza Hotel & Spa; Eamon McEneaney, Waterford Museum of Treasures; Fiona Delahunty, Griffin Hotel Group; Jim Deegan, Railtours Ireland - First Class; Dana Welch, Tourism Ireland; Steve Royston; Irishtourism.com; Tanya Johnson, Royal Irish Tours; Katie Daly, Specialized Travel Services; Paul Shortall, Lough Eske Castle; and Suzanne Meade, Edward Hotels, taking part in the ‘Always in Season’ group travel organisers’ workshop in Toronto.

Tourism Ireland, together with ten Irish tourism companies, embarked on a four-city, cross-Canada sales blitz recently meeting with travel agents, tour operators, group leaders and tour planners in the major hubs of Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Victoria. The four-day blitz involved an ‘Ireland Always in Season’

ASOS promotion targets 8 million ‘social energisers’ in Britain

Tourism Ireland has teamed up with ASOS, the hugely popular online fashion and beauty store - highlighting Dublin and Belfast to almost 8 million fashion-loving customers of the site across Britain. The three-month campaign is targeting Tourism Ireland’s ‘social energiser’ audience in Britain, in a bid to highlight Ireland as a cool, vibrant and modern destination. The campaign is encouraging ASOS customers to consider a city break in Belfast or Dublin - a “weekend break with added FOMO” (fear of missing out!).

workshop in each city, where the Irish partners had the opportunity to network with, and sell to, more than 130 influential Canadian travel professionals - inspiring them about the many opportunities that Ireland offers for group travel business.

Sales blitz to boost American tourists from Atlanta, Charlotte and Tampa

Chris Barnikel, CIE Tours International; Mary Gleeson, Old Ground Hotel, Ennis; and Zac Reilly, Mann Travels (Charlotte), at Tourism Ireland’s ‘Jump into Ireland’ (JITI) event in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The second stage of Tourism Ireland’s 2015 ‘Jump into Ireland’ sales blitz across the United States took place in April - taking in the cities of Atlanta (Georgia), Charlotte (North Carolina) and Tampa (Florida). In all, Tourism Ireland’s ‘Jump into Ireland’ programme will visit 12 different cities in the US this year, targeting hundreds of influential travel agents and travel writers.

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21

BARISTAS

Bringing out your inner barista Interested in making great coffee at home but not sure where to start? Let Java Republic’s Coffee Development Manager, Vini Arruda, give you some tips on how to make the perfect brew at home Let’s start at the beginning; in order to make a really good cup of coffee you need a top quality coffee bean. Coffee beans are predominantly grown in South America & Africa and the dominant type of coffee bean is the Arabica bean. This is generally a floral, citrusy & sweet bean that produces a pleasant taste on the palette as opposed to its sister bean, Robusta, which tends to be heavy bodied & bitter.

When selecting your coffee try to buy only whole coffee beans and then grind at home as you need. It may take an extra minute or two and you’ll need a grinder but the end result is worth the extra effort. I know that once you start freshly grinding your beans you’ll never go back to preground coffee. As soon as you grind a roasted coffee bean volatile aromas are released and the ground coffee starts to react with oxygen (oxidation) & negatively impacts on the flavour of your coffee. Just 15 minutes after you grind your coffee you lose up to 60% of the aroma when compared to freshly ground coffee.

Aeropress. The Aeropress is a filter coffee maker that produces a very smooth, clean & full bodied tasting coffee. It is the perfect method for brewing at home because it is quick, easy and consistently gives a great cup of coffee.

All about that grind Freshness is key to brewing the perfect cup & this cannot be achieved if you’re using pre-ground coffee. Depending on how you are brewing your coffee you will need to set your grind accordingly. For the Aeropress your ground coffee should be coarser than powdered sugar but finer than table salt. There are a number of very good home grinders on the market from hand grinders to a top of the range automatic grinders.

The 3 Ts Once you have selected your coffee, your brew method and your grind you need to remember the 3 Ts; temperature, turbulence & time.

Temperature - it is important when brewing coffee that the temperature of the water is just below boiling point - 92 to 96 degrees.

Turbulence - Turbulence is the mixing action caused by the water as it passes through and over the coffee grounds. Turbulence causes the coffee particles to separate allowing a uniform flow of water around them for proper extraction.

Time - How long the ground beans and water are in contact to extract the brew.

Choose your brewing method So you’ve chosen your beans and now it’s time to choose how you’re going to brew them. There is a number of popular brew methods from V60 to Chemex to French Press but my method of choice is the

Remember, coffee is all about individual taste and what you like. Just because someone tells you that something is a great coffee it doesn’t mean that you have to like it. Experiment & play to find the right method for you and your taste buds.

Until next time, Vini.

Vini Arruda is Coffee Development Manager at Java Republic, is a qualified Authorised Speciality Trainer as well as Ireland’s first qualified Q Grader. He chairs the SCAE Ireland Education Committee and teaches many of the SCAE Education courses.

You will find a wide selection of home barista equipment at javarepublic.com/shop & remember to use the exclusive code #H&RTimes to avail of a 20% discount until the end of May.

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COFFEE

SP9 - Marco’s single-cup brewer We’ve all been waiting for this since “Splurty” rocked up at HOST and stole the show.

Splurty is no more. Meet SP9.

Developed as part of Marco’s range of coffee brewers this new product is fun. It’s a single serve brewer with a minimal counter-top footprint and a striking design profile.

It’s something that would look perfect in a fine cocktail bar or cutting edge café.

SP9 has been in development for over 18 months, and is housed under the umbrella of Marco’s “Über Project”, an innovation-led arm of Marco that focuses on exploration and research. It uses Marco’s “Pillar technology” to dispense water from a specially designed undercounter energy efficient boiler and is designed to work with several different existing brewing devices from Kalita right through to Chemex. Water pumps up from the specifically designed undercounter boiler into SP9’s recirculation chamber, and is then dispensed onto the coffee bed at volume and timing standards selected by the user. Incorporating pre-infusion, pulse brewing and unrivalled temperature and volume control, SP9 brews exceptional coffee by the cup, consistently.

SP9 is relatively “simple,” perhaps deceptively so, as the degree of temperature and timing control it offers are the result of complex and carefully considered engineering.

Anyone with a decent internet connection will know that one of the most complicated elements of this product development was the naming! Here with an explanation of why we’ve moved from Splurty to FAZE9 to SP9 is our commercial director, James Healy:

“As you know Marco introduced a new single cup brewer at CATEX Dublin and Internorga, Hamburg. The coffee community that had been familiar with project “Splurty” have since been pleading with us to retain the name. As Commercial Director for Marco it is my privilege to travel the world and to interact with a wide cross section of interesting people with the coffee industry.

Since the launch of FAZE9 we have seen a huge amount of excitement and goodwill from many people in anticipation of what we were doing. However it has come as a surprise how many people were attached to the prototype name “Splurty”, which was the forerunner of FAZE9. As such I feel that a nod to the hard work and dedication that went into moulding “Splurty” into such an amazing product is in order. We have listened to suggestions and agreed on a compromise whereby FAZE9 will be called SP9 from now on. We hope that will please the community and we look forward to seeing many of them at SCAA where SP9 will take its formal bow.”

You can tweet Marco: @MarcoBevSystems get in touch with them on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/MarcoBeverageSystems or e-mail them (info@marco.ie) for your chance to get to know SP9 a little better.

Keep an eye out for “Playtime” SP9’s at upcoming events for your chance to brew your coffee how you like on Marco’s new coffee brewer.

For more information contact Cathal Burke, Marco Beverage Systems Ltd. Tel: 00353 (01) 295 2674 Email: cathal.burke@marco.ie

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TRAINING

Why do we let anyone into the amazing world of hospitality More than 20 years ago, I was offered my first jobs. Away from rural Tipperary, I raced to the big smoke of London and it was there I was fortunate enough to cross paths with a very supportive recruitment consultant, Angi, she smoothed off my edges and put me in front of a nice man at Deutsche Bank and a very imposing lady at an elegant 5 star hotel just round the corner from Buckingham Palace.

Of course the sensible me should have chosen the bank, a steady German bank, with lots of potential to make money, but the glamour and intrigue of the hotel business caught my eye and there it was, the first career decision I made, based on an idea “this looks like fun”. Of course, now I would tell anyone to choose a career based on the amount of fun it gives you, not money. I’ve had jobs that paid me well, in particular I remember a very private investment bank for a middle eastern family that paid it’s employees oodles of money, had tea ladies come round the offices twice a day and views of St Paul’s Cathedral in London that no other office has come close to matching, however fun and excitement were seriously missing. The lack of hilarity, although the people were lovely, made me rue the day I had ever started, fortunately for me it was a contract, which meant there was an end date, sigh of relief! I also found a lack of fun, excitement or “buzz” as we’d call it now in a very prestigious law firm and US investment bank, so my career in the city which I had longed for was unfortunately short lived.

I found my way back via retail to the hospitality business and to one of the most exciting restaurant businesses in London at the time. In the early 1990’s London had Michelin star restaurants and pizza restaurants and very little in the middle, until of course an amazing man, Terence Conran came along. He opened cavernous, glamorous, rocking restaurants, they were affordable yet had amazing chefs and service. The teams in each of the restaurants were unique and being part of Quaglino’s, the famous matriarch of the group ticked all my fun boxes.

We were confident, not arrogant, we worked non-stop to ensure that the London crowd got everything they expected from our iconic restaurant in St James’ and they expected everything! We had the Spice Girls invade the kitchen, Fergie dine quietly tucked away under the enormous sweeping staircase, Patsy and Eddie from Ab Fab told the world they used it as their Canteen.

Our team had 60 chefs and over 100 waiting staff and as one of the people responsible for finding and hiring the great team, I learned quickly that not everyone is meant for our industry. Serving people and attending to their every whim, is just not a career of choice for a lot of people. For others, it’s the only career, the fun, electricity, variety and sheer adrenaline make it something of an addiction, these are the people who smile when they meet you, are passionate about food and service and wake up looking forward to their day, when you meet them in restaurants they are instantly identifiable. Yet we seem to have quite a lot of people in our service industry for whom it’s something to be tolerated, they appear to strongly dislike their customers, they don’t want to help and their passion is quite obviously not there.

So why do we let these people into our businesses? It’s a question I pondered recently when a very lovely coffee shop opened in my neighbourhood, it was an exciting opportunity to provide an alternative to the other restaurant that everyone had to go to, because of a lack of choice. The current one was full of rude, bored looking, personality lacking staff, who appeared to rather be breaking rocks than serving me and my fellow customers. So with excitement and anticipation, I went along to our new shiny restaurant, the employees smiled (how sad that this is an event that one feels should be mentioned), this was a start! They were helpful and attentive, but it wasn’t consistent, as on other occasions employees didn’t smile, I keep my fingers crossed that they don’t keep the unsmiling employees.

To ensure you only let the best people into your business, remember the following: 1. Don’t panic hire - In all my years in our business this is the most common problem, in fact the panic hire is the one that doesn’t turn up and will probably end up taking you to an Employment Appeals Tribunal. If you have a gap in your roster, fill it yourself rather than grab any “pair of hands”. That pair of hands meets your customers with a surly look, turns people away and is difficult for your team to work with.

2. Passion for Hire - Only hire people who are passionate.....they can be passionate about anything, but passionate people are fun, energetic and interesting, they will bring this passion to everything they do in life, including your business.

3. Admit your Mistakes - If you make a mistake in hiring, admit it quickly. I’ve seen so many managers ignore a problem employee, because they don’t want to deal with it.

The problem won’t go away, but your customers will.

4. Learn to Spot Talent - Learn how to spot talent and interview. The most important role in your business is building your team, so learn how to do it properly, or get a professional to help. You wouldn’t re-wire your restaurant on your own, so why hire alone if you’re not sure how to do it. TalentID has supported many restaurants, hotels and other service related businesses in interviewing and training, we are very happy to help.

Job Seekers: 1. Many years ago, a wise business man told me, “find something you love doing and you’ll never do a days work in your life” I didn’t understand it at the time, but I do now, so allow me to explain, don’t spend time doing something you hate, life is too short and you won’t be as successful at it as you will be doing something you love. So go find your passion and then find a job that incorporates it!

Jane Tegerdine, TalentID HR & Learning

Owner of TalentID HR & Learning, Jane has worked in Human Resources and Training for Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Starwood Hotels. She is currently owner of TalentID HR & Learning and works with hotels and hospitality businesses across Ireland, including The Marker Hotel, BDL Ireland and O’Callaghan Hotels, Fáilte Ireland.

Director of HR at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Training Manager in the preopening team in Four Seasons Dublin and New York, pre-opening training support in Four Seasons Budapest and Cairo.

Worked in London for Conran Restaurants (now D&D Restaurants) in Bluebird, Kings Road, Quaglino’s, St James’, as well as a number of companies in the Financial Services Sector.

At TalentID, our mantra is Be better, be different, have fun! TalentID HR & Learning Consultants support business with their Human Resources and Training needs. www.talentid.ie - jane@talentid.ie - Call Jane Tegerdine on 087 246 7112.

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IFSA NEWS

Join us and strengthen your business 115 of the top suppliers in the Irish Foodservice industry can’t be wrong. Have you considered joining IFSA? IFSA is an inclusive Foodservice suppliers group attracting suppliers from every sector of our Foodservice Industry bonded with the common goal of uniting to stimulate and drive our market forward. Since it’s re-launch in April 2012 from strong roots in the long standing Catering Equipment Association (CEA), IFSA has gone from strength to strength and offers a wide range of benefits: • Unique access to end user groups and other foodservice bodies • Discounts on all IFSA events such as CATEX, FOOD & BEV LIVE and DUBLIN COFFEE & TEA FESTIVAL (discounts exclusively available to IFSA members) • Discounts on IFSA partner & affiliated events • Membership of the On-line hub with an opportunity to have your products and services listed on the IFSA website • Participation in working groups whose aims are to improve standards and highlight Foodservice excellence • Regular member profiles with our media partner publication - Hotel & Restaurant Times • Access to market research and information compiled for IFSA members • Workshops and Seminars Contact stephan.murtagh@ifsa.eu.com for more details regarding IFSA membership or see www.ifsa.eu.com.

IFSA SEMINAR - Europe & Foodservice

World of Coffee Dublin Ambassadors’ Programme

Presentations now available

WORLD OF COFFEE, Europe’s biggest and most exciting coffee event is coming to Dublin in June 2016 and will attract up to 10,000 coffee professionals from over 100 countries around the world to the city for a three-day celebration of coffee. The show, which is organised

by Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE), will include the prestigious World Barista Championship 2016 along with a 10,000sq.ft exhibition featuring the international coffee community’s top suppliers, plus conferences, seminars, educational programmes and fringe events. In preparation for the event at the RDS, Dublin on 23-25 June 2016, SCAE Ireland is launching an innovative new programme to shine a spotlight on Dublin’s best coffee providers. The new World of Coffee Ambassadors’ Club will feature the top 100 cafés, restaurants, hotels and bars serving coffee in the capital, and support them through a range of training and marketing initiatives.

Introducing Your Business to the World - The 100 businesses taking part in the programme will be promoted in a World of Coffee 2016 booklet and mobile app which will showcase the city’s best coffee locations. The booklet will be distributed to all visitors at the show and also circulated nationwide through media partners. Additional World of Coffee Ambassadors’ Club benefits include free SCAE membership, discounted SCAE Coffee Diploma System (CDS) courses and free tickets to the Nordic World of Coffee 2015 which will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden this 1618 June.

For further details about the World of Coffee Ambassadors’ Club and World of Coffee Dublin 2016 please visit www.worldofcoffee-dublin.com or contact Rebecca at Rebecca.dunwoody@eventhaus.ie

The recent IFSA Seminar focussing on EU Legislation took place on 19th March 2015 in the Kinglsey Hotel in Cork. The session will covered the following topical areas: 1. Europe - its effect on the Foodservice industry Keith Warren, Technical Committee Chairman, European Federation of Catering Equipment Manufacturers 2. Food Labelling & Menu Calorie Count Legislation Update Evelyn Hannon, Food, Nutrition and Regulatory Consultant at Hannon Nutrition Consultancy 3. Nutrition & Allergen Labelling Under EU1169 How To Turn Restrictive Legislation Into A Promotional Tool For Your Business Presentations are now available to download from www.ifsa.eu.com/resources

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IFSA NEWS Kitchen-design innovators bring top Tipperary Hotel into 21st Century Catering Innovation Agency (CIA), a Carlow-based firm specialising in energyefficient restaurant kitchen design, celebrated its seventh anniversary in style recently with a kitchen reconstruction project at the Horse & Jockey in Tipperary.

Tom Egan, owner of the Horse & Jockey, approached CIA looking for a design that would improve the workflow and efficiency of the restaurant’s kitchen. Seamus Marnane, CEO of the Catering Innovation Agency, and Enda O’Donoghue, Sales Director, masterminded a project that has helped the H&J make the transition from traditional gas cooking to cooking using energy-efficient Palux cooking system.

CIA carried out a full evaluation of the menu, cooking methods and trade volumes and used this as the basis for their design. The CIA team fitted the kitchen with energy efficient systems from Palux, a German kitchen-equipment manufacture. “The kitchen is completely tailored to their business model,” says Seamus Marnane. “Basically, the menu dictated the kitchen.”

A similar project at O’Gormans in Portlaoise has yielded annual energy saving of approx. €17,000. The induction tops and grills in the kitchen are only activated when pans or plates are placed on them, and switch off automatically when they’re removed, which drastically cuts energy bills.

The system also saves time for staff. Previously, staff had to remove each work surface, clean it and reinsert it, but now the surfaces are continuous and are completely spotless after a quick wipe down. Donal O’Gorman beliefs that this saves approx. €10,000 per annum.

Seamus Marnane says that the project gives a huge boost to CIA’s profile. “Everyone knows about the Horse & Jockey. By purchasing an energy efficient kitchen Tom Egan has locked in his future energy cost at today’s rates. We’re delighted to bring a top restaurant like this to the next level.”

For more information on CIA, visit www.ciaireland.ie, or contact Seamus Marnane on 087 7795559

Trinity Hospitality Services Trinity Hospitality Services offers specialised support to hoteliers and food service businesses across all areas of their operation.

In this piece, we will focus on 3 of our key services.

Group Purchasing Our Group Purchasing division delivers extensive cost savings. We work with over 260 clients, from hotels and pubs to nursing homes and leisure centres. The process is simple, we visit your property, conduct a FREE, confidential price review of your current suppliers and indicate where we can make immediate savings, thereby reducing your costs and improving profitability. There are no contracts, no fees and no obligations, you simply benefit from the combined purchasing power of a leading procurement company.

Websites and Digital Marketing We also specialise in building and optimising websites for hospitality businesses. Whatever your business, we can work with you to provide a cost effective website that drives more customers to your business. Why not contact us today and request a free web health check?

Hotel Loyalty Programmes Whether you’re looking to join forces with other independent hotels or work with a system just for your own property, our solutions will help you retain your existing guests and attract new customers who never knew about your hotel. We handle all the administration making it hassle free for your team.

Our additional services include hotel revenue management, groups and tours representation, hotel accounting, human resources consultancy, franchising, IT support.

For more information, please visit our website www.trinityhospitalityservices.com

Western Hygiene Supplies Ltd. Our vision is to remain Ireland’s best supplier of Hygiene and Healthcare Products now and in future. As a highly ambitious company, Western Hygiene endeavours to stand out from the crowd. We have a reputation built on having a passion for what we devote ourselves to. Since our inception our philosophy has always been to aspire to be the very best every day at what we do in the ‘Hygiene and Service’ sector.

Whether you need napkins for any occasion or strong industrial wipes; first class dishwasher and laundry detergents for a big hotel or a small nursing home; degreasers and disinfectants or heavy duty descalers; or even complete washroom hygiene solution - we can provide it along with guaranteed labour, waste and energy savings.

At Western Hygiene we source our products through internationally recognised ‘sustainable’ manufacturers including SCA Hygiene Products, Thomil Professional, Dr Weigert, Prodifa and Deb Skincare. Therefore we promote only top class branded products and dispensing systems that deliver the best ‘cost in use’ value for our customers while also delivering the very highest standards in Hygiene.

As proof, Western Hygiene is proud to be accredited with ISO 9001 Quality Standard, ISO 14001 Environmental Standard, ISO 18001 Health & Safety Standard and Waste Management Standard. Our commitment to quality service was recognised by the SFA of Ireland when we won their National Award for Achievement, Innovation & Excellence ‘Highly Commended Services’.

Food Safety Testing Services at Complete Laboratory Solutions Complete Laboratory Solutions (CLS) is an INAB 17025 accredited microbiology and environmental testing laboratory. The company is based in Galway and was set up in 1994 to support the food and water industry nationwide. CLS works with a leading Retailers, Caterers, Manufacturers, Fast Food Companies and various Meat, Dairy and Fish Industries to verify their food safety management systems and comply with EC 2073 with tailored Food Safety Programmes . Along with routine microbiological analysis, CLS provides Shelf Life validation, Foreign Body Identification and Food Poisoning investigations on a nationwide basis. In the Environmental department, CLS provides an extensive range of analysis such as compliance monitoring of drinking, ground, surface and waste waters along with IPPC licence monitoring, landfill and waste facility monitoring nationwide.

CLS provides: • Nationwide sampling and refrigerated collection service • Accredited analysis (ISO17025) at our own Irish based laboratory • Complete chain of custody from sampling through to Certificate of Analysis • Competitive prices • 365 day response • Technical Support including interpretation of results and corrective actions • All members of the CLS team are highly qualified, experienced analysts who provide qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Key services provided are: Food Safety Programme in compliance with EC 2073 | Shelf life studies | Nutritional analysis | Pathogen testing | Surface Hygiene | Air quality | Personnel Hygiene | Water analysis | Food poisoning Investigation | Foreign body ID If you have any questions please contact: Food Safety Manager: Jackie Gibney B.Sc. jgibney@cls.ie 091-574355 www.cls.ie Ros Muc, Co. Galway

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FÁILTE IRELAND NEWS

Golf growth to the fore as Ireland welcomes top tour operators Fáilte Ireland arranged a forum for key overseas golf operators to meet directly with over 50 Irish golf industry members from all around Ireland and to learn at first hand all about the world class golf, fantastic experience and world class value, Ireland has to offer to the overseas golfer.

Prior to the event itself, which took place on the 25th and 26th of March in Druids Glen, Co. Wicklow, Fáilte Ireland in conjunction with IAGTO and the Dublin East Coast Golf Alliance hosted a major five-day ‘familiarization trip’ for these top overseas operators, showcasing Irish golf.

Speaking about the event Paul Keeley, Director of Business Development for Fáilte Ireland said: “Golf plays a big part in Irish tourism. There are more than 400 golf courses throughout Ireland, many providing a great showcase for our spectacular scenic landscapes. Indeed, Ireland is famous for having a third of the world’s links courses and our parkland

Soren Steen Johansen, Krone Golf, Denmark, Edward Stephenson, Druid’s Glen, Breffini Costello, Castlemartyr Resort, Dick Corpeleijn, Holland, Paul Keeley, Fáilte Ireland and John McLaughlin, North and West Coast Links

courses have hosted some of the world’s biggest golfing events.”

Golf is one of Ireland’s most significant tourist activities with over 200,000 overseas visitors taking part in golf during their visit to Ireland every year, contributing almost €220 million to the economy. Fáilte Ireland is working to grow these numbers by targeting those markets with greatest potential.

Dublin bids Willkommen to top German business events buyers Fáilte Ireland welcomed eight German Corporate Meetings and Incentive Travel buyers on a three day visit to familiarise themselves with what is on offer in Dublin city and county in March. The trip intended to grow MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) business from the German market and overall the MICE sector is worth €576m to the Irish economy per year.

Fáilte Ireland gave the buyers a “snapshot” look at Dublin’s meeting and incentive product in a three-day whirlwind tour which is intended to give them a genuine feel for the country’s strengths and the vast array of excellent meeting and incentive products available in Ireland so they can recommend it to their clients as a must do destination. The trip included a visit to the Convention Centre Dublin as well as a number of leisure and cultural activities including a Gaelic games lesson and a tour of Trinity College, Dublin.

Speaking about the visit, Ciara Gallagher, Business Tourism Officer with Fáilte Ireland, said: “With its great ability to cater for work, rest and play, Ireland has a lot to offer the business traveller and really punches above its weight as a business destination. Trips such as this gives us an opportunity to meet with influential buyers and open their eyes - and their itineraries - to the potential of Ireland as the perfect spot for any conference or meeting.”

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FÁILTE IRELAND NEWS

Ireland welcomes overseas tour operators to Meitheal 2015 Meitheal, Ireland’s largest travel trade workshop, took place in the RDS, Dublin on Tuesday 14th and 15th of April. Now in its 40th year, this year’s event welcomed 277 of the world’s top travel and tourism buyers - the highest number in many years - to engage directly with 500 Irish tourism businesses. Approximately 12,000 face to face pitching and business ‘speed-dates’ were scheduled by Fáilte Ireland over the two days of the event to allow both international and Irish operators to agree business for the 2016 season.

Speaking at Meitheal, Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn emphasised - “Tourism is in robust health and we expect growth to continue this year. However, we are not complacent and the face to face meetings at Meitheal, along with the other Fáilte Ireland trade events scheduled throughout the year, are a crucial part of our strategy for growth in 2016. Significantly, thanks to increased targeting of those international prospects with the most potential, this year we have a strong increase in numbers, including many new overseas buyers who have either not programmed Ireland previously or have not programmed Ireland as a destination in recent years.

“There is plenty of business to win and, at Meitheal, we were aggressively selling our biggest stand-out attractions including the Wild Atlantic Way, the lively and varied destination that is Dublin and a new compelling proposition, based on our history and culture, in the east and south of the country.”

In addition to this trade fair, Fáilte Ireland organised a number of fact-finding tours all around Ireland for overseas operators taking part in Meitheal this year, providing them with a direct experience of what an Irish holiday can offer their customers.

Meitheal, a central date in the tourism industry calendar, allows the Irish tourism industry to actively grow its business in countries from all around the world including Ireland’s top four markets the US, UK, Germany and France. Delegates will also be arriving from as far afield as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

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COFFEE

What happens when barista’s jam?

The belief at Bewley’s is that the difference between a good cup of coffee and a great cup is repeat business. If you want your establishment to earn a reputation as having the best coffee your baristas need to have the skills to produce a consistent cup of coffee even in the busiest periods.

Bewley’s are committed to training and educating baristas so that they feel inspired to create amazing coffees for your customers all of the time.

participants and to give tips and encouragement. During the event, baristas were given the opportunity to gain hands-on experience of the competitive scene by participating in a barista competition. This allowed baristas to consider how they would prepare themselves for national competition level in nurturing and positive atmosphere.

Companies and baristas that took part: Company Dukes Coffee Company

County Cork

Considered Cafe Keogh’s Cafe Kilkenny Design Cafe

Dublin Dublin Nassau St, Dublin

Ann’s Bakery Nosh & Coffee

Dublin Ballincollig, Cork

Johnstown Garden Centre

Kildare

Kilkenny Design Café Hook & Ladder Bean & Leaf

Kilkenny Limerick Cork

Barista Moyses Wietholter Laura Peyton Daniel Hobart Maria Petric Elizbieta Walendziak Juliano Kapllani Luka Przemyslaw Tatiana Buzasova Katarzyna Cranitch Louise Donnelly Jane Gobbett Chris Doyle Emer Abastius Johanna Plewa Patrycia Palicka Monika Kowalska

The main event, the barista competition took place on day two following a gruelling day of coffee workshops and training sessions. The standards from all baristas were tremendously high and on the day of the competition, the following lucky baristas received recognition for their efforts:

• Star Barista - Maria from Keoghs Café On March 11th, Bewley’s held a two day Barista Jam in their training facility in Dublin. The aim of the event was to identify and coach individuals who, like the companies they represent, are passionate and driven about coffee. When describing the main reason for the event, Maria Cassidy, Bewley’s Training & Quality Manager stated, “We host a number of Barista Jams annually in our facility in Dublin. They are a great way to bring likeminded coffee lovers together to learn from each other and motivate one another to push the boundaries with regard to coffee and how it is prepared. Over the course of this event, we hope to identify and develop baristas and encourage them to enter the national stages of competitions.”

Over the course of two days Bewley’s ran practical workshops to expose the baristas to various levels of coffee making and brewing techniques. Bewley’s barista trainers were on hand to mentor

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• Winning Team and Best Cappuccino - Dukes Coffee • Barista Championship Winner - Chris from Kilkenny Café • Latte Art Winner - Elizabeth from Kilkenny Café • Cupping Winner - Johanna from Bean and Leaf Commenting on his win Chris Doyle, Barista Championship Winner from the Design Café Kilkenny was delighted with his new title but it was the whole experience at the Barista Jam that he enjoyed the most. “I just picked up so many tips from other baristas coming from different cafes, things that they were doing and I didn’t know about,” he revealed. Cupping winner Johanna Plewa from Bean and Leaf noted that the Barista Jam was also a great chance to perfect and learn about the skill of coffee making.

It would seem that baristas, café owners and coffee roasters alike are starting to gear up for the staging of the World of Coffee exhibition in Dublin by SCAE in 2016 Dublin. Barista Jam’s like the one hosted by Bewley’s recently present an opportunity for baristas working in all areas of hospitality in Ireland to come together to pull shots, learn new tricks and build confidence in their individual coffee making abilities. Speaking about the group of baristas that took part, Maria Cassidy stated, “The baristas that participated in our Barista Jam were a really

COFFEE

great group. They all knitted very well together. The fun and team work displayed on the day helped to shape one of the most positive atmospheres I’ve ever experienced at any kind of coffee competition. The skill of these baristas is a testament to the passion for coffee that obviously comes from the operations that

they work in on a daily basis. We have lots of potential winners for the national competitions so bring on World of Coffee 2016 in Dublin!”

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GMIT NEWS

Culinary Arts Student Cormac Withero wins place on prestigious program One of Ireland’s finest student chefs is celebrating after being awarded a place on the prestigious Spanish Gastronomy Programme.

Cormac Withero from GMIT, fended off the challenge from hundreds of other aspiring chefs from across the world to take one of the 12 finalist spots on the programme.

The third-year culinary arts management student will travel to Spain later this year for a six-week course in the Spanish language and gastronomy, before pitting his talents against hopefuls from the UK, Singapore and Mexico in the 7th International Tapas Competition in November.

He’ll also partake in a 13-week internship at a top Valladolid restaurant before embarking on a cross-country tour in order to “gain a deeper insight into Spanish gastronomy, products and culture.”

Cormac becomes the second Irish student to claim a place on the programme in the last two years. He follows in the footsteps of DIT’s Ciarán Doyle, who qualified for the experience, worth about €12,000, in 2014.

Having already completed a placement at a Michelin star hotel in Barcelona last year following some invaluable guidance from lecturer Anne O’Leary, Cormac is delighted with the opportunity to return to one of the world’s undisputed food capitals.

“I am looking to expand my learning and get a good knowledge of gastronomy.

I am looking forward to heading over to Spain and improving my Spanish, meeting people from all over the world and learning stuff off them. It will be a great experience,” the 25-year-old said.

Cormac hopes to open his own restaurant in the future.

Anne O’Leary (Lecturer) with Cormac Withero

Over 50 participants from the Hotel, Restaurant, Hospitality and Tourism industries attend the College of Tourism & Arts Careers Day The College of Tourism & Arts hosted its annual Careers Day on March the 11th. Each Year the fair gets bigger and this year was no exception, with over 50 stands. There will be 314 students (Full time & Part time) graduating from the College of Tourism & Arts, Dublin Rd in 2015, and over 400 students looking for placements. There were over 260 placement and full time positions available on the day from potential employers, and most of these were filled by GMIT students both present and past.

This year the college welcomed International groups such as Hotel Hershey, PA, and Raglan Road Pub, Orlando, USA as well as the Dorchester Hotel Group and Hastings Hotels, UK, amongst many others.

This fair is free to all participants and is an ideal opportunity to meet, interview, and recruit students, graduates and Alumni for their properties. Registration to participate is open to all Hotel, Restaurant, Hospitality, Tourism, Retail, Event & PR Companies. The Fair is also open to the General public. The next CTA Fair will take place on Wednesday March the 09th 2016, 1.30-4.30pm. Further details can be sought by contacting the LINKS Office Team on CTAevents@gmit.ie or Tel -091 742565.

College of Tourism & Arts GMIT Dublin Road, Galway Tel: +353 (0)91 742343 Web: www.gmit.ie/cta

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Cait Noone Head of College T: +353 (0)91 742236 E: Cait.Noone@gmit.ie

Clockwise from above: Claire Taylor & Niamh Larkin from The Dorchester Collection John Kelly, Group HR Manager from Lalco Group Hastings Hotels group with L to R, Niall Coffey, Tristan Allen, Niall Mc Gurnaghan with Asia Tayyab, Event student and the Hastings Duck!

Photography: Joe Travers

Gerry Talbot Head of Department: Culinary Arts Service Industries T: +353 (0)91 742320 E: Gerry.Talbot@gmit.ie

Gerry O’Neill Head of Department: Heritage & Tourism Humanities & Languages T: +353 (0)91 742294 E: Gerry.ONeill@gmit.ie

GMIT NEWS

College of Tourism & Arts students visit La Rochelle Bordeaux, March 2015 The La Rochelle experience is a cultural, professional and social experience which is offered to students studying on Hospitality and Culinary Arts programmes, in co-operation with our partners in the Lycée Hôtelier de La Rochelle. This is based on a partnership and relationship dating back 23 years.

The objectives for our students are: to take part in a learning adventure, to socialise and interact with their peers on a professional level in France, to increase their self-confidence, to expose them to a new linguistic and cultural environment, to engage in good practice in another environment and to reflect on good practice in a professional context, to stimulate a passion for food and food presentation, and to have fun!.

Day 1. Sixteen Culinary Arts and Hospitality students embarked on a gastronomic and cultural trip to La Rochelle and Bordeaux.

First stop, between plane and train, a picnic in the little square opposite Notre Dame in Paris, a visit to the Cathedral and then a batobus on the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. Train to La Rochelle.

Dinner in the training restaurant, Le Vieux Carré, of the Lycée Hôtelier de La Rochelle, our partners since 1992. The dinner was prepared and served by their peers in the Lycée, the theme was their local beer, and Science Infuse.

Day 3. Early start in the kitchens and restaurants, en Travaux Pratiques, as they prepared lunch in 4 kitchens and the Brasserie Restaurant with their peer s and our Lycée colleagues. A brief tour of La Rochelle was followed by an unforgettable visit to the Aquarium, one of the best in Europe! That evening, dinner in La Boussole in La Rochelle, classic cuisine with an Oriental spice touch.

Day 4. Early departure by train for Bordeaux. A guided tour by Aurélie was voted the best tour yet, as she told the history of Bordeaux like the latest gossip around town!A wine-tasting of a Graves and a St Emilion in the Bar à Vins (CIVP), expertly presented by Colin, was much appreciated by all. Time to explore Bordeaux, taste, shop and chill. Our final dinner was in the Brasserie bordelaise, great buzz, steaks, duck, pork, the walls lined with bottles of wine.

Day 2. With their Bac Pro peers from the Lycée and thanks to our colleague Sophie Renaudon, we set off for Cognac where we had a guided tour of the Musée du Cognac, from distillation to marketing, and a follow-up questionnaire to make sure all were listening! Then on to Bourg-Charente to the Château de la Société Marnier Lapostelle where we were invited to a tour of the distillery of Grand Marnier, from aromatic orange peel to an amazing tasting, followed by a delicious buffet lunch in the Château. Dinner in La Rochelle in La Marie Galante, overlooking the marina, tasty hake and melt-in-your-mouth confit de canard followed by the best crème brûlée according to our experts!

Day 5. Early departure on the TGV for Paris Charles de Gaulle, departure with Aer Lingus for Dublin and Galway. The students were accompanied by their lecturers Martin Ruffley (Culinary Arts), Colin Gilligan (Hospitality), and Anne Brindley (French).

Superbe!

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FOOD

Head to the Boyne Valley & enjoy food fit for kings Working together tastes good as local businesses launch the 3rd annual Boyne Valley Food Series at the Hill of Tara

The Hill of Tara, seat of the High Kings of Ireland, was the backdrop today for the launch of the 2015 Boyne Valley Food Series - a fitting setting for this innovative calendar of events throughout Summer and early Autumn weaving the region’s exciting food produce and cooking into its rich heritage.

Chefs, farmers and food producers gathered at the historic site to celebrate all that this fertile river valley has to offer in terms of food produce and cooking. They were joined by John McKenna, author of the McKenna Food Guides, who launched this year’s programme of events.

Over 40 unique experience led food events will take place over a 5 month period from May to September across almost 50 venues & locations throughout the Boyne Valley region, which stretches across counties Meath & Louth to the Eastern seaboard. This initiative, supported by Failte Ireland and Meath County Council, brings together almost 50 businesses working to create a food tourism offering based on visitor experience and quirky, authentic events rooted in the unique history and landscape of the area. The series will include foraging, farm walks, beer tastings and tapas trails, but also some

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more unusual events, such as a Mad Hatter’s Dinner Party, Braveheart Banquet and Gourmet Electric Bike Tour, and no less than 6 festivals.

“We are a group of businesses - restaurants, hoteliers, food producers and visitor attractions - who are passionate about food, keen to celebrate its journey from producer to the table, and to link it to the rich heritage of this region”, says Chair of the group and Fáilte Ireland Food Champion Olivia Duff of the Headfort Arms Hotel & Maperath Farm in Co. Meath, “We have great farm produce and seafood, as well as incredible emerging artisan food producers and talented chefs, but what makes this series so special is the great bunch of like-minded people working together to tell our food story in a way that is fun and engaging.”

There really is something for everyone in this series, including many free and family events and plenty to get your out in the open air - with gourmet cycles and farm walks providing exercise to balance all the indulgence. Some of the highlights across the 5 months include: • May offers 2 festivals; the Seafood festival in Kells and the Sheridan Irish Food Festival, as well as a craft beer & food pairing at Bru Brewery and a Dawn Chorus & Artisan Breakfast with Birdwatch Meath and Newgrange Gold farm, • In June, there’s a Mad Hatter Dinner Party, Meath Food Safari, a Gourmet & Craft Beer Festival, and a Summer Solstice event • July events include Children’s Cookery Camps, a Gourmet Cycle and a 25km Producer Electric Bike Tour, as well as a ‘Dine in the Dark’ dinner, a Barnyard bash and a South American street food festival • August kicks off with the Navan Tapas Trail, back by popular demand following its success in 2014, followed by ‘The Boyne Valley Yank hosts a Hoe Down’, foraging on Girley Bog, and a traditional Garden Fete at Slane Castle. The series will also host a number of events for Heritage week from 22-30 August.

• Finally September will incorporate no less than 3 festivals; the Sheridans Harvest Festival, the Slane Street Festival and the Slane Food, Film & Music Festival at Rock Farm.

FOOD

Just a taste of the diverse array of events on offer. Renowned dining destinations in the region will also offer special events as part of the series, including ‘Taste of the Estate’ Dinner at Tankardstown House, a ‘Braveheart’ Medieval Banquet at the Stockhouse, Trim and a Heritage Dinner at the Vanilla Pod restaurant in Kells.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s programme of events, food writer John McKenna said, “This is an inspired idea...the range of events, covering every aspect of food, cooking and artisanship in the region, reveals the rich fabric of its culinary creativity and reflects the seasons as the year unfolds.

“Nobody else has ever organised a festival of food in this way, as a series of stand-alone and yet related events with food at the centre of everything, and it’s a great tribute to the Boyne Valley area that they have such a wealth of local food and creativity to offer to locals and visitors as part of the Boyne Valley Food Series” The Boyne Valley is known as the heritage capital of Ireland with the UNESCO World Heritage site Bru Na Boinne recognised as one of the world’s most important prehistoric landscapes. Now the region is rapidly building a food heritage to match, with its farmers, fishermen and new wave of food producers turning out distinctive foods from the area’s fertile, vibrant green landscape and rich coastline, and its chefs inspired by this natural larder and artisan craftsmanship to cook dishes that reflect the wealth of the region’s heritage. The Boyne Valley Food Series, now in its 3rd year, brings all of this together, by

offering a calendar of food events which weave through the region, embracing the area’s landscape and natural environment, as well as its built heritage and its more recent history allowing the visitor to really taste the region, to follow its trails, to interact with its rich heritage, to shake the hands that make the food… and to eat like Kings!

Commenting on the Launch of the Boyne Valley Food Series 2015, John Mulcahy, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Hospitality, said: “As overseas visitor numbers continue to grow, food tourism is becoming a very important component in the visitor experience with the amazing quality and authenticity of our food offering in Ireland. You’ll find some of the best raw ingredients in the world, expertly prepared then served simply and fresh... it’s as if you can really taste the place. I am delighted to see so many food businesses in the Boyne Valley showcasing their food offering in a collaborative way to promote the variety of food related events taking place in their region.”

The events kick-off May Bank Holiday weekend with Blossom walks in the orchards of Boyne Grove Farm, with apple juice & cider tasting with Dan Kelly’s cider, and from there you can munch and taste your way through the months ahead with events every week until the end of September.

So if you are heading to the Boyne Valley Region or just looking for something fun to do make sure you check out www.boynevalleyfoodseries.ie for the full calendar of events and map.

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39

HYGIENE

The clean scene

Hygiene, is it the bane of a business or the most fundamental part? Between the costs involved, the fear of inspectors and a lack of consistency in standards, businesses can be left with a sense of being damned if they do and damned if they don’t. In this article we’re getting to the crux of the matter of hygiene.

Helen Crowley, Information Executive with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) maintains that overall; standards are very good within the industry. Helen explains there are approximately 44,000 businesses registered with the Health Service Executive (HSE) as food businesses and of these 75%, approx. 30,000 businesses are in the hospitality sector. Last year 113 enforcement orders were issued on food businesses and approx. 90 of these were businesses within the hospitality sector.

The breakdown of these orders was as follows; 96 closure orders, 16 prohibition orders and one improvement order.

Therefore, Helen says in terms of food hygiene and safety, standards are very high among the hospitality industry.

Adrian Cummins, Chief Executive of the Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) agrees with this and further maintains that Irish food safety standards within the sector are among the highest in Europe. “I travel throughout Europe for my job and for leisure and I see the standards across the EU, Ireland is definitely in the A division.”

However Adrian is adamant that there are a number of ‘grey areas’ in how standards are assessed across the country by different Environmental Health Officers (EHO) in different locations. Adrian maintains this inconsistency is putting unfair and unnecessary pressure on small businesses within the sector.

At present the RAI are finalising a nationwide study conducted with all their members. Adrian says this survey is revealing that there is a requirement in the sector for an ombudsman that would mediate between EHOs and business owners. “There is an ombudsman for children, for public bodies, for financial institutions, why not for the food industry.

The feedback we are getting from our members is that they want this.”

Helen Crowley of the FSAI explains, “the legal requirement is for the business owner to inform themselves of food safety standards and hygiene requirements.” In order to support businesses with this, the FSAI has local advisors throughout the country as well as an advice line and website providing a wide range of information. Other initiatives by the FSAI include business start-up seminars which happen around the country to inform owners of the health and safety and

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hygiene information they need when starting their business.

“Breakfast Bites” is another initiative running in Dublin which allows business owners to come together for an hour in the morning to discuss issues pertinent to food safety and hygiene. According to Helen the FSAI currently have no budget for advertising so they rely on word of mouth and local notices etc. to spread the word about these initiatives.

According to FSAI figures there has been an increase in the last year in queries to their advice line. Helen says this could be as a result of new businesses starting up but it could also be attributed to the new legislation requiring businesses to display information on food allergens and some confusion among the sector regarding the requirement to display calorie information also. Helen clears this up, “at the moment it is not a legal requirement for a business to display calorie information, however, it is a legal requirement to display allergen information.”

Adrian Cummins of the RAI maintains that these new requirements are putting more pressure on small businesses that are already stretched. “Our members pay staff, suppliers, revenue, etc. They are in fear of inspectors and how they will lay down the law of the land and now there are these new requirements to display

HYGIENE allergens, it’s just another regulation in an already over regulated industry. The minister has said that the legislation requiring businesses to display calorie information will come in in 2016. It is our opinion that this will end up forcing some small businesses to close.”

So what is the FSAI’s response to the suggestion that there is some degree of inconsistency in how EHO’s assess hygiene standards? Helen says, “I think the difficulty is down to the fact that there is no national training body that provides accreditation for hygiene standards. At the moment anyone can set up as a trainer and while EHO’s will look to see if training has been done and will check certs etc., it’s not the main thing they look for.”

According to Helen Crowley the FSAI’s “Safe Catering” pack can help businesses devise and put in place their food safety management system. This pack was developed with expertise from within the food industry and EHO’s and is based on the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). Helen says it could also help managers who may have a huge amount of experience themselves in the industry and in terms of food safety and hygiene, to implement a staff training programme themselves. Helen asserts, “the message has to be, training and awareness is not just a yearly thing, it has to be a daily practice, an on-going part of business.”

The FSAI maintain they receive thousands of calls a year from customers who have observed or experienced a slip in hygiene standards in businesses. If an enforcement order has been issued on a business, it remains on the FSAI’s website for up to three months after the order has been lifted. Adrian Redmond does not agree with this practice he says, “the minute the order is lifted the business should be off the list.”

Ross McMahon of Bailey Hygiene maintains there is another issue within the sector at present which is not being given due attention. He explains that a lot of the paper being used in kitchens at present is of indeterminate quality. “This country is investing millions in following ‘origin green’ guidelines and adhering to traceability standards, however 90% of the paper being used in kitchens is not traceable, it doesn’t have the quality symbol (knife and fork) and the dyes used in some of the paper are not certified for food safety.” Ross believes that hygiene in the food business is only as strong as its weakest link and that there is not enough awareness being given to this serious issue.

Helen Crowley of FSAI agrees that many food businesses are not aware of legislation around this issue and their responsibilities in terms of ensuring that all materials they are using in contact with foods are suitable for the purpose and that they must retain documentation proving this as part of the business’ traceability system.

The EU regulation that legislates for this issue is 1935/2004/EC and the FSAI website gives a detailed account of this document and the requirements with which businesses must comply. This EU directive covers all materials coming into contact with food, including paper and paper towels, all packaging and labelling. This regulation also states that manufacturers of any materials which come into contact with food, including paper, must have documentation showing that it is suitable for use with food and specify conditions of use, which must be made available to food businesses.

Therefore, according to the FSAI, if a business is using a product in contact with food that does not have a recognised symbol of quality; they must contact the manufacturer to ensure it is compliant with the EU directive. Helen Crowley explains that this legislation is EU wide and is the same in all member states.

Of course the other aspect of hygiene within the hospitality sector is in accommodation. Ines Guerra, president of Irish Accommodation Services says accommodation managers have a lot of responsibility when it comes to hygiene levels in this area. She says, “the most common thing I observe is chemicals not being used the way they should be in the cleaning process, the guidelines are not followed.” Ines says this is usually because staff are training each other when actually she says the chemical companies must be doing the training to

ensure the products are used properly.

Ines is also adamant that this training should be done a few times a year and that when it comes to hygiene,” the same standards apply whether it is a bed and breakfast or a five star hotel. Cleanliness is cleanliness!” Ines is also keen to point out that managers should be observing the cleaning process, how staff are cleaning.

She says it is not good enough to check a room or bathroom after it is cleaned; she maintains managers must also be checking if the cleaning process is being done correctly.

There is no doubt that the issue of hygiene within the hospitality sector is enormous. It not only covers every possible aspect of the business, but with so many stakeholders also involved including; legislators, manufacturers, and regulators, business owners may justifiably feel completely swamped with all the bureaucracy that’s involved. However, regardless of the time and work involved in complying with standards and regulations, it seems hygiene is the key area that businesses simply can not afford to overlook.

FSAI advice line no: - 1890336677. www.fsai.ie RAI - www.rai.ie

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41

TOURISM

New tourism policy for the next decade

Statement targets €5 billion revenue from 10 million overseas visits by 2025

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe T.D., was joined in Kilkenny Castle by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D., for the launch of the Government’s new tourism policy, entitled ‘People, Place and Policy - Growing Tourism to 2025’.

The new Policy Statement sets out a range of objectives and aims to grow tourism over the next decade so that, by 2025, revenue from 10 million overseas visits will increase to €5 billion, enabling employment in the sector to rise to 250,000.

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Speaking at the launch, Minister Donohoe said: ‘After a significant decline in the period 2008 to 2010, we have witnessed four years of successive growth in our overseas visit numbers. We want to ensure this positive momentum is maintained in the longer term to benefit not just those directly involved in tourism but also the economy as a whole’. “‘People, Place and Policy - Growing Tourism to 2025’ represents a fundamental examination, and a clear statement, of what we want to achieve for Irish tourism in the coming decade. It sets out ambitious targets for growth in overseas visits and associated revenue, and increased tourism employment.”

Headline Goals of the Tourism Policy Statement The Tourism Policy Statement has three headline targets, to be achieved by 2025: • Revenue from overseas tourism, in real terms and excluding air fares and ferry charges, will grow to €5 billion per year in 2025 from €3.5 billion in 2014;

TOURISM

• 250,000 people will be employed in tourism, compared with an estimated 200,000 at present; and • We will see 10 million overseas visits to Ireland, compared to 7.6 million in 2014.

Framework and key policy objectives: People, Place and Policy The Tourism Policy Statement’s guiding principle is to set out Government policies to enable Ireland’s key attractions of People and Place to combine effectively to maximise the economic, social, and environmental benefits of tourism. The Statement includes policies on: • Visitor Revenue Rather than Visit Numbers The Policy Statement shifts from a previous focus on simply growing the numbers of trips to Ireland by overseas visitors to increasing the economic contribution of overseas visits. This is measured by CSO surveys of expenditure within Ireland by overseas visitors. While the domestic tourism market will continue to play a significant complementary part, supporting tourism enterprises at times and places where overseas visits are fewer, the primary focus of the Statement is in growing overseas revenue and ultimately exports.

• Tourism Marketing Overseas marketing will be targeted across a range of countries and market segments, focusing on the highest revenue potential while avoiding being too vulnerable to downturns in a few markets.

• Continued Key Role in Tourism for Festivals and Events A new policy objective is that support for events will be weighted towards those that offset the seasonal nature of tourism as well as, in line with the overall aims, those with greatest overseas tourism potential. The appropriate use of themed years, including a possible repeat of the Gathering, will be pursued further when drawing up the Tourism Action Plan (see below).

• Training and Skills Development in Tourism State support for training and career development in the tourism sector will aim to ensure the industry can meet the needs of future visitors and enable those working in the sector to achieve their potential.

• Competitiveness in Tourism The Statement reiterates the critical importance of competitiveness, in terms of quality, value and cost. In line with previous Budget statements, it reaffirms that the maintenance of the 9% VAT rate in the tourism sector will depend on the sector ensuring that it remains cost-competitive.

• The Role of Communities and Local Authorities The Policy sets out the vital role of local communities in developing and delivering quality tourism experiences. Local Authorities will have a key role in leading and supporting communities in tourism, as they already do, but this is now recognised

at policy level. At the same time, the particular strengths of local authorities in developing tourism, within their overall economic development role, are recognised and reaffirmed.

• Whole of Government Approach The Policy also reaffirms the vital role of Government in supporting tourism across policy areas and Departments, including taxation, environment, and enterprise policy. It commits to a whole-ofgovernment approach to ensure the ambitious targets are met.

Commenting on how the Policy Statement will be implemented, Minister Donohoe stated: ‘In the coming weeks I will be announcing the membership of a Tourism Leadership Group, which will oversee the creation of an initial three-year Tourism Action Plan for 2015-2018, to draw up the medium-term actions necessary to achieve the long-term aims in the Tourism Policy Statement. The many submissions received during the formulation of ‘People, Place and Policy’ will again be examined during the Action Plan stage to see if there are specific actions which should be implemented. If the industry, stakeholders or indeed anybody with an interest in Irish tourism wishes to suggest additional actions, these can be sent directly to my Department for consideration’.

“I believe the Policy Statement launched today provides the foundations for a prosperous and sustainable tourism sector over the next decade. While the targets we have set are ambitious, I have no doubt that by working together, we will achieve them.”

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43

DESIGN

The role of the interior designer Following on from last issue’s article on ‘Planning your Restaurant Design’ expert designer Denise Ryan, in the second of three articles, advises on the role of the Interior Designer.

Interior Design, unlike architecture for example, is a relatively new profession.

Until the turn of the last century, the designs of hotels, bars and restaurants relied upon collaboration between architects, craftsmen and artisans.

Independent wealth and travel from the mid-1800s inspired decoration of interiors; initially in private homes, followed by commercial interiors. Yet, it wasn’t until the mid-20th Century that Interior Design emerged as an expertise of its own.

Interior Decoration Vs. Interior Design The role of the Interior Designer is often blurred, mostly down to the fact that it’s not a protected term. Unlike the way legislation in Ireland (driven by the RIAI) protects the title of Architect since 2007, there is no such protection here for the term Interior Designer, or indeed Interior Decorator. So Decorating Contractors often use the term ‘Interior Decorator’ who may in turn, use the term ‘Interior Designer’. Ironically, many Architects offer Interior Design now too.

While the terms Interior Decoration and Interior Design may occasionally interchange and overlap, there is a tiered distinction.

Interior Decoration relates to the finishing of interiors - colours, fabrics, finishes, materials, furniture and fittings.

Interior Design encompasses these but uses training or education in spatial planning; expertise in ergonomics and an understanding of the psychology of the use of spaces, particularly when it comes to commercial interiors. The 20th Century principle of modernist architecture and industrial design, ‘form follows function’ could be regarded as the essence of each aspect of Interior Design.

Interior Design Services • Qualified Interior Designers have an education in construction that allows them to visualise the maximum potential of a potential restaurant site, albeit with the legal and/or technical supervision of an Architect or Engineer. With early involvement, the Interior Designer can

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advise on regulatory requirements - Planning, Fire Certification, DAC, EHO and so on. Addressing these issues at the start allows the project to run more smoothly.

• It’s advisable to bring the Designer in from the outset of a project, before statutory applications have been made. For example, the Designer will accurately estimate the capacity of the restaurant determining the number of fire-exits required or note if a reduced size disabled WC may be permitted. Far too often we, in our own office, receive drawings where Fire Safety and Disability Access Certificates have already been made; and where the end user - say, a restaurateur who may be leasing the space - never had an opportunity for input nor someone advising on his behalf. The operations directly affect his/her number of covers and staffing levels, and could be the difference between making a profit or not.

• With Hotels, Bars and Restaurants, the practical positioning and design of backof-house areas are just as important as the public spaces. Back-of-house operations should run like well-oiled machines. The space that the customer sees (and that brings in revenue) needs to be as large as practicable. Therefore ancillary areas may be tight or confined spaces which makes their efficient operation even more important. It is not enough just to earmark areas - spaces must be planned, equipment positioned and staff management understood from the outset. This is particularly important in instances where a chef has yet to be appointed, as the kitchen should be laid out with his/her use in mind.

• The planning of the public spaces, the service and seating areas, need to knit into the service areas so the customer experiences a seamless service. Interior Design of restaurants examines the style of service, the location of bars or service counters and the flow of customers and staff through the space. One of the greatest challenges is to maximise seating capacity and varying party sizes without a restaurant becoming like a canteen. A designer will analyse and solve for flexibility of floor plan and seating layouts in novel and discrete ways.

• All Interior Designers have a talent, a flair, a sense of style - hence their pursuit of design as a profession. As regards personal taste however, commercial interior design is less influenced by that of the interior designer, as it is when it comes to say residential interiors (and often misrepresented on television shows). Restaurant Designers need to be aware of trends and influences- and be ahead of those trends - so that they can impart the best knowledge and advice. That ‘talent, flair or sense of style’ is an ingredient for sure, but the design is mostly guided by demographic, budget and what the individual restaurateur has been exposed to or is open to.

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Non-Interior Designed Layout Vs Interior Designed Layout

• The design of the interior is articulated through architectural elements, product and material specification, furniture design and attention to detail. Just as important as creating a design, is creating ambience; and this is influenced by more than just visual elements. We’ll look at trends, styles and ambience more closely in the next article.

• Interior Design of hotels, bars and restaurants will often incorporate HVAC, Mechanical & Electrical and AudioVisual Services entirely or to some extent, although changes to the Building Regulations in 2014 limits this to projects that do not require a Certificate of Compliance.

• The Interior Designer’s specifications should adhere to codes and regulations, particularly when it comes to the durability and appropriateness of materials - for example, slip rating of floor tiles; flame retardancy of timber panelling or rub testing of fabrics. These are a critical, but often unacknowledged aspect of the commercial Interior Designers role.

• The Interior Designers work, and that under their supervision, should comply with Health & Safety Regulations.

• Interior Designers may often take on the role of Creative Director to other aspects of the fit-out or be part of the Creative Design Team, advising on Graphic Design, Landscape Design, Visual Merchandising and so on. This creates synergy between the overall brand and the design.

Choosing an Interior Designer When choosing an Interior Designer or Design Firm, consider the following questions: 1. Do they have the required skillset? Look at portfolios, past projects, testimonials or references.

2. Is there easy communication with the Designer/Firm?

3. What exactly is their scope of works and how does it compare to that from another Interior Designer/Firm?

4. Will the Interior Designer/Firm provide project management? Ask what this entails - for example, is the project management passed onto the building or fit-out contractor, with phone consultation only; or will there be limited/unlimited number of site visits.

5. Does the Designer/Firm have Professional Indemnity insurance?

6. Will the Designer/Firm include Health and Safety obligations such as Design Supervisor, Design Stage and Risk Assessment Schedules?

7. Will they co-ordinate with the Fire Officer or Environmental Health Officer, if required?

8. Is the role of Assigned Certifier required and can the Interior Designer take on the role if yes?

Interior Design Fees As there is no regulation in the industry, Interior Designers typically work on one of

the following business models: 1. In line with Architectural Practices, some Interior Design firms charge on a percentage of the overall cost of the project, typically 8-14% of the overall cost of the project. This may lessen if the project is very big; or if there is much repeat work - say consecutive areas in a hotel or venue; or with replication (as in chains of restaurants or hotel rooms).

2. A flat fee, passing all trade discounts onto the Client. This is how we in our own practice charge. The advantages of this is it allows the Client comfort that they can budget for an exact amount and there are no surprises. More beneficial than that however, is the trust that comes from knowing that it is of no benefit to the Interior Designer should the overall cost of the job increase.

3. Mark-up from supply of goods or trade discounts, such as furniture, fabric or wallcoverings. This is more common in the residential market but it does happen in commercial interiors. The main concern with this model, is the lack of impartiality in the decision process - for example, the Interior Designer may encourage the Client to spend €200 p.sq.m. on tiles when €20 may do just as well, as it’s financially beneficial to them.

4. A combination of a flat fee and a markup of supply of goods and trade discounts.

Unfortunately this is still a very common business model for many interior design practices. While legitimate, it is not often made clear to the Client from the outset and a lack of transparency can damage the trust required for a good partnership. It also makes it difficult to compare Interior Design Quotes ‘like for like’.

Thankfully, with the increase in suppliers showing their prices online, Clients are better informed now than in the past, but not every service or supplier can be transparent - and after all, the Interior Designer beings them business, often repeat business, and it’s their way of recognising that.

When enquiring about the fee method, ask about any additional charges - mileage, expenses, printing and presentation costs.

If you expect a professional relationship, then expect to pay these as you would with any other profession - the same way you would pay an accountant or solicitor. After all, in the words of Red Adare ‘If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur’.

Denise Ryan is Director of Fineline Interior Design which she founded for 15 years ago specialising in bar, hotel and restaurant design. She holds a Diploma in Architectural Technology from Bolton St. and a Rhodec International Diploma in Interior Design from the Dublin Institute of Design.

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45

STANDARDS

A centre of excellence

The Crowne Plaza Hotel and Holiday Inn Express, Northwood, Dublin, one of the largest conference hotels in Ireland, is celebrating success. The hotels, part of one of Ireland’s leading hotel groups, Tifco, as well as the global InterContinental Hotel Group, has recently achieved the distinction of a prestigious EFQM Business Excellence Model 5 star Award - an accomplishment that, General Manager Pius Furlong, assures us, was no accident.

His leadership approach, coupled with the team’s hard work, the great support of HR Manager, Jane Short and commitment driven by the Tifco philosophies, provided the groundwork for the hotel to excel within the EFQM framework and excellence criteria.

Tifco Hotel Group is one of Ireland’s largest with over 1,800 hotel bedrooms, 130 self catering units, 3,000 square metres of conference space and almost 1,100 staff. As well as the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express brands in both Ireland and Germany, the Group owns and operates Clontarf Castle Hotel, and has

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management contracts with top hotels including Johnstown House Hotel & Spa, Co. Meath; Lough Erne Resort, Enniskillen; Hotel Killarney, Co. Kerry and The Heritage Resort, Co. Laois. Tifco as a group is also very focused onthe EFQM framework, and its benefits, in many of its hotels.

Tifco’s proactive sales teams and managers based in both the domestic and overseas markets have in the last 24 months brought in over 60 international conferences and approximately 20,000 conference delegates to its hotels in Ireland, including the Crowne Plaza Dublin Northwood -no doubt thanks to its state-of-theart 1,500 delegate capacity Conference and Event Centre, 204 bedrooms and close proximity to Dublin Airport. The EFQM Excellence Award and its relevance to the business sector will give them the competitive edge in attracting high level international conference business.

Managing an operation of the Crowne Plaza Dublin Northwood’s scale has its challenges, but with over ten years of General Manager experience under his belt, it is that clear energetic and driven Pius Furlong relishes leading the charge.

“Our key words are focus and energy,” says Pius. “I’m passionate about combining great people skills with an instinctive strategic vision, producing outstanding, sustainable results in a team spirited yet competitive environment. The hotel is also part of the InterContinental Hotel Group, which has 4,500 hotels worldwide. Our team dictates our culture, and we have aligned our values against those of the InterContinental Hotel Group.”

The ‘team’ is something Pius mentions a lot. It is clear staff aremore than just deeply valued - they are regarded as the lifeblood of the hotel.

“The Tifco core ethos and philosophy is a team effort, a spirit, a special customer approach that is built built in to our culture,” he says. “We have an empowered, competitive team with a high drive for results and a proven track record in

STANDARDS star Award recognition,” Pius says. “For us, it’s a strong management framework that delivers. We have developed as a team and developed as a hotel; and our hotel performance indicators have also improved, year on year.”

Despite this success, Pius refuses to become complacent, instead choosing to keep the momentum going through constantly striving for excellence and adapting to meet the needs of a rapidly changing industry, and of course, a more discerning customer.

“Millennials are our fastest growing customer segment,” Pius tells us. “They are making a huge impression on the hospitality industry. They are doing things differently, forcing hotels to adapt or be left by the wayside. More than any other group, theydo not mind sharing their experiences be they positive or negative, and more than any other segment, reviews are incredibly important when making travel considerations.It is my belief that we need to ensure we are giving this group the best, most unique experience possible. They could be your greatest advocates!”

And Piusis confident the Crowne Plaza Northwood will continue to do just that, his passionate belief in the hotel apparent: “We have an absolutely magnificent hotel and team,” he says.”The focus for 2015 is to once again raise the standards of care, attention, and service that we can deliver to our guests. We never stand still and we intend to lead rather than follow!”

significantly improving standards, quality and service, consistently. We as a team are constantly changing, reviewing and refreshing our way of doing things. With the change that has happened in our industry and the anticipated future change it is necessary to compete as best in class, to deliver consistently, to be the benchmark.To ensure sustainable financial growth, we need to keep our customers satisfied. To do this, we need to develop and deliver products & services that add value to them. We also need to deliver excellent service to maximise retention, loyalty and our reputation.”

And according to Pius, working within the EFQM Business Excellence Model, used by over 30,000 organisations across Europe, has been instrumental in achieving this benchmark of excellence status. Regardless of sector, size, structure or maturity the framework is a practical tool which helps organisations establishes appropriate management and business systems - measuring where they are on the journey to excellence, helping them understand the gaps and working with them to apply innovative, results-focused solutions to the day to day operations of the hotel.

Tourism businesses are frequently requested to provide external validation of their business to potential clients in the MICE sector. The EFQM accreditation fulfils this requirement and provides an endorsement of excellence and professionalism in the products, services and customer relationship management of the business.

And it seems the approach is working. An independent assessment against internationalcriteria led to the hotel’s accreditation of the EFQM Business Excellence Model 5 star Award at the recent EFQM annual awards ceremony in Belfast. This distinction, awarded to “excellent organisations that achieve and sustain outstanding levels of performance that meet or exceed the expectations of all their stakeholders” is a major coup for the Crowne Plaza and the team,The benefits of accreditation are substantial as it provides an international symbol and benchmark, especially for tourism organisations, seeking to source high value leisure and business markets.”

“We were naturally delighted to achieve the EFQM Business Excellence Model 5

The EFQM is a Management & Business framework with application to SMEs and large organisations in the Hospitality and Tourism Sectors. It is designed improve existing management and operational performance, processes and standards. It can be applied at basic, intermediate or advanced level depending on the size, strategy and maturity of the business.

EFQM programmes and awards are managed through the Centre for Competitiveness, (Ireland) as the EFQM Country Partner for Ireland.

The CCI, with offices in Dublin and Belfast, also provides a business diagnostic service, management development programmes, consultancy services, as well as a suite of strategic innovation and business solutions- all designed to improve business performance and management competencies in Tourism.

For further information contact the Centre for Competitiveness, at the CityWest Business Centre Dublin 24 .www.cforc.ie Telephone 01 4693743; or email Tony.Lenehan@CforC.ie

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HOTEL TRANSACTIONS

Irish Hotel Transactions 2014 was a very active market for Irish hotel transactions with almost 60 hotels changing ownership for total value of €440m, double the 2013 transaction value.

In the first months of 2015, two very large hotel deals completed, totalling over 9,000 bedrooms across Ireland & the UK. Lone Star purchased Jurys Inn Group for over €900m. Of the 31 hotels in the chain, six are located in Ireland including one in Belfast with the remainder mainly in the UK, where three London properties trade under Hilton brands. The average price per bedroom for the 31 freehold and leasehold hotels was over €120,000.

Dalata Hotel Group Plc. completed its purchase of nine Moran Bewley hotels, 4 of which are located in the UK, London, Leeds and Manchester. A price of €453m translates to an average of over €220,000 per bedroom, with the majority held freehold and located in Dublin or London.

Eight of these newly acquired hotels will be rebranded under the new Clayton brand.

Individual hotel were also significant with over €200m of sales completed in the first three months of 2015. Many of these properties were marketed in the second half of 2014, such as Adare Manor, Temple Bar Hotel Dublin 2, Clayton Hotel Galway and Whites of Wexford. There were two substantial off-market transactions - the InterContinental Hotel in Ballsbridge (acquired by John Malone) and the Holiday Inn Belfast (another Dalata acquisition).

Some of the key hotels transaction year to date :

In addition to these property sales, the loans/debt on many Irish hotels traded in recent months.

Irish Hotel Values - the Recovery Seven years ago in March 2008, the demise of Bear Sterns and the collapse in the Anglo Irish Bank share price marked the start of a rapid fall in Irish hotel values. The collapse was severe due to the multiple impacts of excess supply, reduced demand and profitability, poor market sentiment and lack of finance. Combining lower valuation multiples and smaller profits had an exponential impact on value. In a hypothetical Dublin example, value could have reduced from €60m in 2007 to €10m in 2010 (table below).

Since 2011, a recovery in trade and sentiment could have seen that value recover to €19m in 2012, when transactions recommenced and in the last three years it is possible that values doubled.

Dublin Hotel 2007 2010 2012 2015 Sales €10.0m €6.5m €7.5m €9.5m EBITDAR €3.0m €1.0m €1.7m €3.0m Value Multiple x 20 x 10 x 11 x 14 Value €60m €10m €19m €42m Per Bedroom €340k €60k €110k €240k Outside of Dublin, values were never so high, but when trade declined it was more difficult to maintain profitability and the rare buyer for a Dublin hotel did not venture beyond the canals. In the hypothetical example below, recovery since 2010 has been as strong as Dublin (x4), but the total value is just over 50% of the 2007 peak, whereas Dublin might be back to in the region of 70%.

Provincial Hotel 2007 2010 2012 2015 Sales €5.0m €3.5m €3.8m €4.5m EBITDAR €1.0m €0.3m €0.4m €0.8m Value Multiple x 15 x7 x9 x 10 Value €15m €2m €3.5 €8m Per Bedroom €150k €20k €35k €80k

Tom Barrett is a Director of Savills, where he is Head of the Hotels & Leisure Team. Previously Tom was Commercial Director of Choice Hotels Ireland and Finance Director of Forte Meridien Hotels & Resorts. Savills advise on hotel transactions, valuations, strategic reviews, brands, operators & asset management in the hospitality industry.

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During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, I was Finance Director for Meridien Hotels & Resorts, based in Hong Kong and we assisted many owners and banks through the difficult times. It is hard to believe now, but countries like South Korea, home of Samsung & Hyundai, entered an IMF rescue programme. Many property prices collapsed by a similar quantum to Ireland, but for the Asian hotel industry, quick currency devaluations and a growing global economy provided a huge boost to tourist numbers and profitability. This brought good hotel assets back to the prevaluation hard currency values quickly. Poorly planned and located hotels, developed with soft funds did not recover in value. Although slower, a similar international led recovery is well underway in Ireland.

Impact of Economics and Foreign Exchange Rates factor supporting growth in tourism to Ireland has been recovery in the economies of key trading partners, particularly the US and UK, growing by 2.4% and 2.8%

HOTEL TRANSACTIONS PwC, behind London, Edinburgh and Paris, highlighting the popularity of Dublin with both business and leisure visitors. With Occupancy approaching and in many cases exceeding 80% in Dublin, ADR has become the main growth lever increasing from €77 in 2010 to approx. €96 in 2014.

Along with the traditional calendar of major events in the city, recent additions such as The Web Summit have attracted additional international visitors to the city. Dublin was the best performing city in Europe in terms of RevPAR growth in 2014 up 11.1% (Source STR/PwC).

respectively over the last year. With low interest rates and oil prices, both economies are adding new jobs, with total employment in the UK up 2.0%, while US unemployment now stands at 5.5% as of March 2015. The ECB announced its “Quantitative Easing” program in January 2015, with a total planned stimulus package of c.€1.1 trillion. The impact of this announcement was immediate with both the EUR/ GB£ & EUR/ US$ exchange rates falling nearly 10% to £0.74p and $1.12 respectively, a level last recorded in January 2003. Since Quantitative Easing commenced in March 2015, the Euro has weakened further against the GB£ and US$. The UK and US are Ireland’s largest and most lucrative tourist markets and these exchange rate movements should have a strong positive impact on visitor numbers to Ireland, now and for the future as demonstrated by the following chart which tracks US GDP growth, EUR/ US$ exchange rates and Visitor Arrivals.

Dublin Hotel Performance

A combination of strong demand and very limited new supply has resulted in the rejuvenation of occupancy at Dublin’s hotels, increasing from 67% in 2010 to approx. 78% in 2014. This is the 4th highest occupancy in Europe according to

Hotel Branding Dalata are planning to rebrand eight Irish hotels and five UK under the Clayton brand, originating from the Clayton Galway. The brand will be on larger urban properties, with a focus on midweek corporate customers. The existing Maldron brand will have fourteen properties with a greater range of locations and more of a leisure focus. The established Bewleys name is due to come off all six properties.

With high occupancies in Dublin, tight supply and talk of a growing development pipeline international brand development teams are no longer an endangered species in Ireland, but can be frequently sighted at Dublin Airport, in the vicinity of Leinster House, Cork and further afield. I believe that international brand mistakes from the early 2000’s, when very high end brands entered management agreements in the wrong locations, will not be repeated.

In January, InterContinental (IHG) replaced Four Seasons in Dublin and a Holiday Inn Express (IHG) is due to open on O’Connell St, Dublin 1 in less than a year. Hilton have two DoubleTree properties in Dublin and a Hampton by Hilton or an Aloft (Starwood) must be a possibility.

In the UK, branded budget hotels such as Holiday Inn Express, Premier Inn and Travelodge dominate the current development pipeline, accounting for 47% of the pipeline, but we don’t see the same depth of opportunity or brand appetite here.

33, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 www.savills.ie

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AWARDS

Responsible tourism awards The winners of the 2015 Irish Responsible Tourism Awards, organised by the Irish Centre for Responsible Tourism, were announced recently at an event at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin 8. The awards attracted 450 nominations from every county on the island of Ireland indicating the growing interest in this area.

The concept for the awards came from the last conference organised by the Irish Centre for Responsible Tourism (www.icrt.ie) in March 2014. When the audience were asked what they thought could drive and promote responsible tourism in Ireland. One of the things they suggested was responsible tourism awards, but stipulated they must be rigorous. James discussed the idea behind the awards with Justin Francis from responsibletravel.com, the organiser of the World Responsible Tourism Awards, in April last year at the last Responsible Tourism in Destinations conference in Manchester. Over the next few months James developed the idea, selected awards, promoted the awards, engaged the Irish Times as media partner, and moved things on.

Categories There were eight categories for the 2015 awards: • Best Tour Operator for Responsible Tourism • Best Small Hotel or Accommodation for Responsible Tourism • Best Transport Initiative for Responsible Tourism • Best in a Marine or Coastal Environment • Best Destination for Responsible Tourism • Best Cultural Heritage Attraction • Best Local Food Initiative • Best Adventure Activity Provider for Responsible Tourism Nominations The nominations were open for around 3 months closing on 21st December. There were 445 nominations across the 8 categories from 229 businesses. These were long listed to 160 with between 10 and 30 per category.

Judging Process Each long listed nominee was sent a detailed questionnaire, based on that used for the world awards, in early January. The deadline for returning these was the 6th February.

These were distributed to the judges for evaluation during February with a shortlist announced at the beginning of March.

Judges included: Catherine Mack (now working for responsibletravel.com), Kevin Griffin (Tourism lecturer in DIT and ex-EDEN awards judge), Ruth Morgan (Environmental Policy Officer, NITB), Paddy Mathews (Fáilte

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Ireland), Catherine Fulvio (Ballyknocken House & Cookery School), Peter Krahenbuhl (Sustainable Travel Consulting, ex Tourism for Tomorrow judge), Annabel Fitzgerald (Coastal Programmes Manager An Taisce), David Owen (ex-UNEP Tourism), Awards Ceremony The awards ceremony took place after the Responsible Tourism in Destinations conference on 11th March.

Best Tour Operator for Responsible Tourism • GOLD: Connemara Wild Escapes (Co. Galway) • SILVER: Cycle Inishowen (Co. Donegal), Whale Watch West Cork (Co. Cork) Best Small Hotel or Accommodation for Responsible Tourism • GOLD: Hotel Doolin (Co. Clare) • SILVER: Pure Camping (Co. Clare), ArdNahoo Eco Retreat (Co. Leitrim), Tory Bush Cottages (Co. Down) Best Transport Initiative for Responsible Tourism • GOLD: An Taisce Green Schools Travel and Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark Partnership (Co. Clare) • SILVER: Cycle Inishowen (Co. Donegal), Rock Farm Slane (Co. Meath) Best in a Marine or Coastal Environment • GOLD: Dolphin Watch (Co. Clare) • SILVER:Blasket Islands Eco Marine Tours (Co. Kerry) and Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre & Nature Reserve (Co. Kerry) Best Destination for Responsible Tourism • GOLD: Loop Head Peninsula (Co. Clare), • SILVER: Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark (Co. Clare), Sheep’s Head & Bantry Tourism Cooperative (Co. Cork), Mulranny, Co. Mayo (Co. Mayo) Best Cultural Heritage Attraction • GOLD:CnocSuain (Co. Galway) • SILVER: BrúnaBóinne (Newgrange & Knowth) (Co. Meath), Mizen Head Signal Station & Visitor Centre (Co. Cork) Best Local Food Initiative • GOLD: Archways B&B (Co. Wexford) • SILVER: Burren Smokehouse (Co. Clare), Orchard Acre Farm (Co. Fermanagh) Best Adventure Activity Provider for Responsible Tourism • GOLD: Atlantic Sea Kayaking and Wild Atlantic Walks (Co. Cork) • SILVER: Life Adventure Centre (Co. Down), Boyne Valley Activities (Co. Meath) Overall Winner: Atlantic Sea Kayaking and Wild Atlantic Walks (Co. Cork) Judges for the awards include: • Catherine Mack (Travel Writer, responsibletravel.com) • Kevin Griffin (DIT tourism lecturer and former-EDEN awards judge) • Ruth Morgan (Environmental Policy Officer, NITB) • Paddy Mathews (Fáilte Ireland) • Peter Krahenbuhl (former Tourism for Tomorrow judge) • Annabel Fitzgerald (Coastal Programmes Manager An Taisce) • David Owen (ex-UNEP Tourism) • Catherine Fulvio (Ballyknocken House & Cookery School) For more information go to: www.icrt.ie/conferences www.icrt.ie/awards