Jurys Doyle Hotel Group will spend around $55 million (€60.5 million) developing a new hotel in Boston in the US, the company revealed at its annual general meeting yesterday.
Group chairman Mr Walter Beatty told shareholders that it had entered into a joint initiative with the Saunders Hotel Group to open a 220-bedroom hotel in the city.
Saunders Hotel Group, which already owns and operates three hotels in Boston, was selected in February by the City of Boston to redevelop the former police headquarters which is located in the city centre. The redevelopment project is currently before the city's planning process, and if successful, construction will begin in early 2002. It is planned that the hotel will open in mid-2003.
Jurys Doyle Hotel Group will develop and operate the proposed hotel under a 129-year ground lease. The development will be funded by borrowing, according to group chief executive Mr Pat McCann.
Speaking after the a.g.m., Mr McCann said he did not consider the $55 million price tag as excessive.
"If you take it that this figure equates to about £35 million sterling for a four-star hotel in downtown Boston, that's a very good price. It's a full service hotel."
He added the group would be seeking to work more closely with Saunders Hotel Group in the future. "We see greater opportunities in the future as we go forward to do other things with them, be they in terms of marketing or procurement. There are opportunities there to get greater economies of scale."
However, he said Jurys was not eyeing Saunders Hotel Group as a potential acquisition target in the US. "There are no plans like that. It's a joint venture," he said.
Plans to develop operations in Poland have been put on hold due to the company's concentration on the Boston deal. "But we're still very keen to get some development there. We're open to all sorts of opportunities and we will look at everything."
He said Jurys might consider a management deal rather than a property deal in Poland.
Last month, the company also announced plans to develop a new £17.9 million (€22.7 million), 274-bedroom Jurys Inn in Newcastle, England.
Mr Beatty said that the main tourism months of July and August were "difficult" with performance down on last year due to the effect of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak during the key booking season in Ireland and Britain.
"The difficult trading in Ireland and the UK in July and August has been impacted by a significant fall-off in tourist numbers, particularly from the US, and the slower economic environment generally," said Mr Beatty. "This impact has mostly been concentrated in the four and five star hotels where occupancy has remained satisfactory but downward pressure on yields has been experienced."
But he said the inns and three star hotels continued to perform in line with expectations.
"The overall impact of these different factors will be that growth for the first six months will continue, but at a slower rate than previously envisaged," said Mr Beatty. "While it is still very early in the year, we anticipate that business will pick up in the second half with the overall outcome for the year showing an improvement on last year's record performance."
Mr Beatty also paid tribute to Mr Barry Sheehan, the group's outgoing director of finance and corporate affairs and company secretary, who retired from the company.
