I was delighted to see An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen take the time to address delegates at the IHF Annual Conference in Galway yesterday (1/3/10). I think his presence at the event was highly symbolic and perhaps an indication that the tourism industry is beginning to get more attention at the Cabinet table.
Much of the conference discussion centered around the oversupply of hotel stock in the Irish market (about 15,000 bedrooms). Peter Bacon, who recently carried out a review of the sector, suggested that a high level group consisting of hotel representatives, tourism development agencies and financial institutions should be convened urgently. This group, he suggested, could decide which hotels ought to close - those which are currently insolvent but important for recovery in the tourism market or those which may be solvent but not strategically important. I think that's going to be very tricky.
However, seasoned professional operators including Bill Kelly, Liam Griffin and Mary Fitzgerald suggested that the focus at the present time should really be on attracting overseas visitors to fill the spare rooms. I agree. That is a much more positive agenda and one which the whole industry should get behind.
I did like Peter Bacon's call for a review of the composition of hotel stock. We have too many identical full service hotels selling rooms at budget hotel rates, but very few real budget hotels. Watch this change in the coming years!
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