INTERNATIONAL WORKERS account for 29 per cent of employees in the State’s tourism and hospitality industry, an awards ceremony in Dublin heard yesterday.
The Irish Hospitality Industry Diversity Awards, now in their third year, are funded by the National Action Plan Against Racism.
Among the winners at the event were the Shelbourne Hotel on Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green, which won the group hotels category, and the Dunboyne Castle Hotel and Spa in Co Meath, which won the individual hotel category.
The Shelbourne received the award for making huge progress in the area of diversity since it reopened last year following two years of renovations. Some 75 per cent of its staff are non-Irish nationals who now work at operational as well as floor level.
Other winners included Aramark-Campbell catering, which has offices across Ireland, in the catering operations category, while nationwide service Noel Recruitment won the award for diverse hospitality recruitment practices.
The chief executive of the Irish Hospitality Institute, Natasha Kinsella, said the diversity awards focused on awareness but the fundamental goal of the initiative was to learn the benefits of integration from experience.
“It is the winners through their involvement that will help us to continue the success of such programmes to encourage others both within and outside the hospitality sector to emulate this approach,” she said.
Minister of State for Integration Conor Lenihan was unable to attend as had been planned, but in a prepared statement he said immigration had helped to fill gaps in the labour market, it had increased growth and continued to make Ireland more attractive to multinational companies.
