New 300-bed hotel planned for Titanic Quarter in Belfast

JMK, the UK hospitality group, which operates hotels in Dublin and Waterford, is planning to make its first investment in Northern Ireland with a new 300-bedroom hotel in the Titanic Quarter.

The privately owned London-based group, which has a portfolio of hotels, including the Hilton and Holiday brands, has applied for planning approval for the proposed Titanic Quarter hotel which it wants to open in the second quarter of 2021.

Family friendly

JMK, which is in the process of developing a new Holiday Inn Dublin Airport hotel, scheduled to open in 2020 and a Hampton by Hilton hotel at the River House near the Four Courts in Dublin city centre, believes the time is right to develop a new "family friendly" hotel in Belfast.

“This project is about making a strategic investment in Belfast’s tourism sector, meeting the increasing demand from families who see Belfast and Titanic Quarter as a family friendly destination. We believe that the growth of the tourist sector in Belfast and Northern Ireland has an exciting future,” JMK said in a statement.

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“Titanic Belfast is among the leading tourist destinations in the world so we are confident that tourism will continue to be an engine of economic growth for Belfast and that is why we are investing in that future, tailoring our offer to the needs of the city.”

Third hotel

The proposed hotel would be the third to be located so far in Titanic Quarter – a Premier Inn opened in 2010 and Dublin-headquartered Harcourt Developments launched its £28 million (€33 million) Titanic Hotel, which is based in Harland and Wolff's former head office, two years ago.

Last year six new hotels opened in Belfast, creating an estimated 1,200 additional hotel rooms for sale in the city. The £15 million George Best Hotel, which is being developed by Liverpool group Signature Living, is expected to open its doors in the city centre this summer.