A new report by the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation has asserted that more promotion is required for Northern Irish hotels to ensure that demand for accommodation keeps up with an increase in supply as a "stormy" year beckons.
As reported by The Belfast Telegraph, 1,170 new rooms have come on stream in Belfast alone over the past year and the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation has said that the market is currently going through a stutter with both occupancy and rooms rates decreasing.
Declining Demand
According to the federation, "It is important to note that demand for hotel rooms has grown over the last year, but it hasn't kept pace with the increase in supply."
The federation expects demand to decrease significantly over the next two years and believes that it is unlikely to catch up with supply until 2022.
Northern Ireland Hotels Federation chief executive Janice Gault commented, "Market snapshots indicate a stormy 2019 with volatility in the market. Overall analysis shows a reduction in occupancy levels and a decline in rate."
A Need For Increased Promotion
Gault proceeded to state, "Demand is growing, but this needs to be accelerated with a number of interventions, including increased promotion, a bigger marketing budget and a proposition of scale for Northern Ireland along the lines of the Wild Atlantic Way.
"Measures like this will allow the market to adapt to and absorb new supply. There has been a seismic change and a response of equal measure is required to create new business."
© 2018 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
