Business Person of the Month: Dermot Crowley

Dalata Hotel Group chief executive Dermot Crowley has been chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month for December, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland.

Mr Crowley last year led the hotel group as it rebounded strongly from almost two years of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. In mid-December the company said it was trading ahead of expectations amid a strong recovery and continued expansion of the business.

The owner of the Clayton and Maldron brands also said its revenue would exceed €500 million in the year ended December 31st, 2022, the first time it will have hit that milestone.

Like-for-like group revenue per average room was up 21 per cent compared with 2019 levels in the period covering September to November 2022. Dalata said corporate bookings had increased after the summer period, with the strong US dollar leading to a noticeable increase in visitors from North America.

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The hotel chain opened six new hotels in the year, including Dalata’s first in continental Europe, with strong occupancy levels recorded in each of them.

Looking ahead to the coming year, Dalata said it was “cautiously optimistic” about trading, with positive engagement with corporate customers and tour operators on demand and pricing, and the resumption of more normalised conference business levels in the UK and Ireland.