WORKING in the Dunraven Arms as a schoolboy was a defining experience for Brian Harrington, regional boss of the Irish Hotels Federation and manager of the Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa.
As far as his future career was concerned, the Adare man’s mind was made up.
“I’m afraid, I never looked to my right or left after that,” he says.
After training at the Galway Institute of Technology, his tour of duty embraced Ryan Hotels, Lynch Hotels and Jurys in Dublin. Then an ill-fated mid-2000s investment in the Castletroy Park Hotel and the Marriott on Henry Street led to a sharp drop at the brow of the recession.
As a managing partner, Brian had no job and no income. He had to face burnt creditors in his own county, losing everything when the Castletroy hotel closed in 2009. Staff there and at the Marriott on Henry Street were subsequently employed by the new owners.
He became a consultant to the Ennis-based Lynch Hotels Group and was later retained by examiner Price Waterhouse Cooper to run the West County Inn when NAMA swallowed the loss.
He counts himself lucky and is now happily ensconced in the calm, luxe environment of the Radisson Blu on Limerick’s Ennis Road.
The career hotelier has been chairperson of the Shannon branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) for two years and prior to that was secretary.
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So, what is the purpose of Shannon IHF?
“The Federation has a number of branches throughout the country and I represent the Shannon region with some 42 properties – but that wouldn’t be full coverage of the industry. There’s a whole variety literally, from guest houses to five star properties.
“The Federation is a forum for them to come together to discuss things of common interest. It provides a great resource concerning issues, for example getting the nine per cent VAT rate down from 13.5 per cent. We had that for seven years.”
As chairman, he links branch activities and concerns to national council meetings ten times in the year, airing local issues. In turn, he brings issues of national importance to the local audience.
What is on the table at those meetings?
“The rising cost of insurance which works against reinvesting. The whole employment scenario. The Federation runs a programme called The Quality Employment Programme and sets out best practice for hotels and a lot of members are in that.”
“Brexit? Already this industry has suffered. In 2017 our British market fell by seven per cent across the whole country – that’s about a quarter of a million people who did not come here. After that I think it rebounded slightly in 2018, by one per cent to six per cent.”
“We have been fortunate that the American and European market replaced that almost equally, in fact total figures across the country show they exceeded that in 2018.”
How have we become attractive to those markets? He looks at the big picture, “Worldwide, tourism is growing by four to five per cent each year. Yes, we are lucky, as there is now far more access into Ireland than heretofore.”
“Dublin brings in 30 million passengers a year. That is huge. That figure is for 2018 and for Shannon Airport, it’s less than 2 million. American business and transatlantic business was up last year.”
“The whole uncertainty really bothers the industry,” he states.
“Some Irish Hotel Federation members are holding off on capital investment so Brexit is concerning, certainly.”
Sterling’s loss in value is another challenge.
The influx from countries that visit in droves through Dublin skewers their lucrative spend to the East.
“The western seaboard depends on a thriving Shannon Airport. If you look at how developed our road network is now, more and more people are happy to land in Dublin and radiate out in trips – you can go to the Cliffs of Moher in a day.”
“We are not getting any stay from that kind of customer and are losing out on a huge amount of bednights.”
“I am concerned about the third runway at Dublin Airport. That will provide it with greater capacity to snaffle any future growth of inward travel. I would like to see regional targets set for us rather than national tourism numbers. The National Planning Framework called for greater growth in the regions.” He makes the point that the burgeoning international industry in the Mid-West hinges on easy air access to the US and other destinations.
Scan for digital editor Cian Reinhardt’s interview on Brexit knocks, and sector CPD opportunities in the Mid West:
