News

Hotel Guests face 'New Normal'

Guests checking into hotels this week will be presented with a ‘New Normal’, according to two leading accommodation specialists. mhall18

Mary Hall, director of Hallmark Training and Ines Guerra, accommodation manager at the Carlton Hotel, Dublin Airport, agreed that hotels must achieve a ‘fine line’ by remaining places of hospitality rather than creating a hospital environment.

They were speaking to Micheline Corr, director of The Firm recruitment consultants in ‘The Firm Optimist’ on-line discussion series.

Ines Guerra said that the ‘new normal’ includes guest rooms stripped of non-essential items such as extra pillows, cushions, magazines and brochures and individual toiletries. Bedrooms will however offer guests unprecedented standards of safety and hygiene which will emerge from sanitization and deep cleaning. ‘In the past, accommodation staff cleaned rooms. Now they disinfect and sanitize as well’, Ines said.

€16.5m investment for Cliffs of Moher

Clare County Council is set to spend an estimated €16.5m, including €2m on a tunnel for pedestrians, at the Cliffs of Moher.

The spend also includes a €6m upgrade on visitor centre facilities; €4m on 'admission, parking and traffic management'; €2m on Cliff Walk improvements and €2.5m on a waste water treatment plant upgrade.

The current visitor centre was designed to accommodate up to 800,000 visitors per annum and last year, a record 1.6 million paid to enter the visitor attraction.

The tender documentation says as a result, a number of items must be addressed to ensure the health and safety of all visitors in the unique environment while the Cliffs of Moher continues with its 2040 strategy.

The Cliffs 2040 strategy team is currently preparing an architectural masterplan for future development on the site for the next 20 years.

Public urged to cancel foreign holidays

Thousands of people who have booked summer holidays abroad are being advised to cancel them amid fears Ireland could be seeing the first signs of a potential resurgence of deckchairs0620

Covid-19.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan issued the plea amid a small but worrying rise in clusters of travel-related infections and an increase in cases of the virus in young people flouting rules here.

The surprise turnaround in the pattern of infection stoked fears of a potential flare-up in the virus and comes as pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, hotels and a range of businesses yesterday welcomed back customers for the first time since March.

'Re-opening with Respect' campaign

Drinks Ireland has launched a new campaign called "Reopening with Respect", the purpose of which is to encourage consumers to act respectfully when they return to pubs, ba respect

rs and restaurants.

The campaign aims to support the work being done by the Government and relevant agencies, including Fáilte Ireland, that are introducing new guidelines and safety measures across the hospitality sector.

The "Reopening with Respect" campaign will encourage consumers to respect the guidelines set out by individual venues upon reopening, asking them to respect staff by being patient and cooperative, and to respect each other, to ensure that everyone is kept safe.

"Reopening with Respect" will be digitally led at first, with a campaign toolkit available to drinks brands and the on-trade sector.

Both the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) and the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) have endorsed the campaign.

Re-Opening Day

This Monday is -Re-opening Day’ for hundreds of hotels and thousands of restaurants, cafes and bars throughout the country. intercon0620

Most operators are confident that they can work within the restraints imposed by Covid 19, but consumer response to the re-openings remain uncertain.

In line with Failte Ireland Guidelines, hotels re-opening to-day have introduced a range of protocols including on-line booking, contactless check-in, social distancing in public areas, room service and deep cleaning of accommodation. Extensive staff training has also been completed in many hotels.

Hotels expect to operate at around 30% occupancy initially, but his is likely to rise to over 50% in the coming weeks. Higher occupancy levels are expected later this month as the holiday season approaches its peak. Failte Ireland has launched a major home holidays campaign with intensive advertising on tv, radio, print and social media.

Restaurants can also re-open from to-day, but it is uncertain how many will do so. Some operators say that they will be unable to run a viable business within the social-distancing guidelines, which stipulate two-metre distancing except where this is not physically possible.

Pubs which re-open to-day must operate as restaurants and will not be permitted to allow customers to stand at the bar or mingle. They must charge a minimum of €9 for a meal.