Hotels & TourismDuring 2006 over 6,000 hotel rooms have been added to the national stock of over 50,000, and that's double what it was 10 years ago, writes Joan Scales

This year almost 70 new hotels opened their doors in Ireland, adding over 6,000 rooms to the national stock of over 50,000 rooms - double what it was 10 years ago.

The massive growth has been driven by generous capital allowances, access to labour from eastern Europe and pushed by the Government's "New Horizons" programme for tourism.

In 2006, more than seven million overseas visitors to Ireland will have spent close to €5 billion, and Irish people will take more than 3.5 million trips within the country.

The domestic tourism market is the principal driver of an increase of 4 per cent in hotel occupancy levels from January to August of this year, according to a Fáilte Ireland survey.

Recent years have seen substantial private investment in tourism infrastructure with an estimated €2.2 billion invested in hotels alone, supported by beneficial tax schemes. The capital allowances for hotels and other holiday accommodation gave 15 per cent a year in respect of all expenditure incurred by July 31st, 2006.

Expenditure incurred after that date falls to 4 per cent per year in line with the capital allowances for industry in general.

Annette Devine, president of the Irish Hotels Federation, says: "There has been a notable recovery in Ireland's key tourism markets this year, with US visitors increasing by 11 per cent and British visitors growing by 6.5 per cent. Overall, visitor numbers for the first three quarters of the year have increased by 10.6 per cent with record numbers in July, August and September."

The Minister for Tourism, Arts and Sports John O'Donoghue says tourism will receive a 9 per cent increase in the Budget for 2007, bringing the allocation to €154 million, including the largest ever budget for tourism promotion at €54 million.

This is good news for those involved in giving Ireland an unprecedented range of new hotels and raising the standards of the national product.

There is no other country which has had such a rapid growth in tourism product and quality in such a short space of time.

But at a recent Irish Travel Agents conference, Matt McNulty, former chief executive of Bord Fáilte, asked: "Will all these new hotels become the nursing homes of the future?"

While much of the growth in hotels is in the greater Dublin area, with 17 opening this year, others have been spread around the country, with Leitrim recording five new openings this year. Hotels have ranged from three to five stars and from the very modern to the conversion of former stately homes. At the top end of the market this year, Farnham Estate in Cavan opened under the management of Radisson SAS, and Carton House, Maynooth opened under the Clarion brand while Sheraton operates the five-star property at Fota Island.

New hotels have ranged from 10 rooms to the Bewleys Hotel near Dublin Airport with 466 rooms.

A number of hotels are in the boutique category, the Dylan in Dublin and Ross in Killarney.

The current classifications scheme is changing and a new system will be introduced in 2008.

This system will be designed to better reflect changing consumer demands and an evolving hotel industry. There has been close co-operation between the Irish Hotels Federation and Fáilte Ireland in the planning of the new system.

The participation of international brands in the Irish market has grown considerably in recent years and makes a positive contribution to the sector in terms of quality standards, staff development and international marketing.

Hotel development will not be coming to a standstill with work continuing on new hotels for 2007. The Ritz Carlton will manage a 200-plus bedroom hotel for Treasury Holdings in Powerscourt. Ramada will continue its rapid growth around the country.

In Dublin, the Radisson SAS Golden Lane will open with 160 bedrooms while the Comfort Inns in Citywest and Granby Row, Dublin, will open with more than 250 rooms.

Hilton Hotels will open in Kilmainham with 120 bedrooms and the Crowne Plaza will open in Dundalk with a 130-bedroom hotel while a new hotel near Cork Airport will have 150 rooms. Rumours abound in the industry, too, of the opening of Ireland's first six-star hotel in Cork.

The losers in the current situation are our indigenous tourism product, the B & Bs. The three-star hotel market with strategic pricing and added services is eroding the bedrock of Irish tourism.

Fáilte Ireland is very aware of this and is working on ways of supporting B & Bs.