Newsflash

Dalata Optimism at Hotel Opening

Dalata Hotel Group says that hotel room revenue surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time as it expressed optimism for summer trading. The comment came as the group opened its new Samuel Hotel in Dublin's Docklands, which it said reinforces the importance of the Dublin market for the company.

Overlooking the River Liffey, the €39m four-star Samuel Hotel is located close to the Convention Centre Dublin, Croke Park, The 3 Arena and The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. The hotel has 204 air-conditioned bedrooms, meeting and event facilities, a coffee shop, bar and restaurant.

Wexford Hotelier Buys Wells House

Wells House and Gardens has been sold to Wexford businessman Seán Doyle.

Wells House was originally put on the market with a guide price of €7m prior to the pandemic when the 185-acre property had garnered a lot of interest from clients across the world. However, current owners Uli and Sabine Rosler were determined that the new owner would be someone with a love for the property and someone who would carry on the good work they had begun since opening the premises to the public in 2012.

Mr Doyle, whose group owns the nearby Upton Court Hotel in Kilmuckridge, said it would be "business as usual" when his team take ownership of the property.

Dublin Hosts World SITE Conference

Fáilte Ireland welcomed over 400 incentive travel professionals from all over the world to Dublin for the SITE (Society of Incentive Travel Excellence) Global Conference 2022. Fáilte Ireland bid to host the three-day conference in 2019 and successfully competed against a host of other European cites. The conference, which ran from Wednesday to Friday, could generate €36 million for the Irish economy.

Incentive travel, where companies reward employees with trips abroad, is an extremely lucrative sector with delegates estimated to be worth 2-3 times the value of leisure visitors. SITE (Society of Incentive Travel Excellence) is the professional association for the global incentive travel industry, and by bringing this delegation to Dublin, the National Tourism Development Authority aims to drive tourism recovery and future proof Ireland’s market share of this sector of business tourism.

For the average destination, incentive travel makes up about 7% of the revenues that it derives from the business events sector. For Ireland, this percentage is much higher, reaching as much as 20% in some years.

As part of the conference, delegates took excursions to Howth and Airfield Estate and experienced gala dinners at Christ Church Cathedral, Guinness Storehouse, the Convention Centre Dublin and the Museum of Literature Ireland to enhance their knowledge of the tourism experiences and attractions on offer here and allow them to sample Ireland’s hospitality and welcome.

Global Irish Fest for WAW

Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin TD and Minister of State for the Diaspora, Colm Brophy TD, announced that the Global Irish Festival Series will take place along the Wild Atlantic Way in Mayo, Donegal, Limerick and Kerry this year.

A joint initiative between Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Global Irish Festival Series aims to encourage diaspora to return home to visit Ireland and provides funding and support through Local Authorities for events that tap into international diaspora networks.

The annual Global Irish Festival Series was initially launched in 2018, supporting events in Donegal and Limerick. With an investment of up to €300,000, the series returns after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic with two additional locations, Mayo and Kerry.

Virtual Adventure ‘Down Under’

Twenty-four tourism companies from Ireland took part in Tourism Ireland’s "Outdoor and Adventure Virtual Expo" for Australia and New Zealand.

The Expo was an online B2B tourism event organised by Tourism Ireland to allow the tourism companies from Ireland to connect with around 35 leading Australian and New Zealand travel agents and tour operators.

Tourism Ireland facilitated, via an online system, a series of one-to-one, pre-scheduled video appointments. The aim was to showcase Ireland’s outdoor and adventure tourism offering to these influential travel professionals and to highlight that Ireland is open for business again and "cannot wait" to welcome back visitors from Australia and New Zealand.

Sofia Hansson, Tourism Ireland’s Manager for Australia and New Zealand, said:

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