APRIL is set to be a milestone month for the hotel sector in the north as room numbers are set to break the 8,500 mark for the first time.
The new £25 million AC by Marriott Hotel at City Quays on the Belfast waterfront opens later this month and its 188 bedrooms will ensure Northern Ireland is on track to surpass 9,000 by the end of 2018.
By the end of April the number of hotel bedrooms in the north will be 8,577, with the figure supplemented already this year by the opening of the 237-room Maldron Hotel Belfast City last month. The four-star, 11-storey hotel on Brunswick Street is Dalata’s first new-build in almost a decade and represented a £24m investment for the company.
Chief executive of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation (NIHF), Janice Gault said early signs suggest 2018 is set to build upon the success of the previous 12 months.
“We had a number of new openings and expansions over the course of 2017 and this expansion is set to ramp up in 2018 with two new properties already opened in the first quarter. We have had a reasonable start to the year with reports suggesting that Easter has held up well.”
“Tourism has continued to flourish with steady growth since 2012. The hotel sector has responded to this opportunity with an investment of over £500m in new product and a further £100m in refurbishment and upgrades. Job numbers will have grown by 25 per cent by the end of 2018."
The chief executive did, however, express concerns within the sector in relation to recruitment.
"One of the greatest challenges for the sector has been the issue of staffing and skills. Recruitment of new staff and finding staff with suitable skills to take up supervisory and management roles has been difficult over the last eighteen months. New openings, competition from other sectors and a reduction in numbers of workers from within the EU have exacerbated an already difficult situation."
In the coming months, a further 800 hotel rooms are set to become available in the north, including the 304-bedroom Grand Central Hotel, due to open its doors in June, the 179-bedroom Hampton by Hilton Belfast City Centre, set to begin trading in September and the 119-room Holiday Inn Express in Derry. The openings are set to bring the total number of rooms in Northern Ireland to over 9,000 by the end of 2018, while a separate report has predicted this will reach 10,000 next year.
