Fitzwilliam manager buoyed by record ROI visitors
The man at the helm of Belfast’s 5-Star Fitzwilliam Hotel has hailed the impact of record visitor numbers from the Republic of Ireland this summer but warned “if this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s to take nothing for granted and to expect the unexpected”.
Manager Cian Landers revealed that his hotel had been fully booked since reopening its doors at the end of May and that looks set to continue through to the end of September.
He said: “We’ve had a fantastic summer and we really appreciate the tremendous support we’ve received from our local leisure market both at home and ROI. Let’s just say that I’m cautiously optimistic about the future, but we certainly won’t be resting on our laurels.”
ROI visitor numbers have more than trebled from what they were pre-Covid, with 55% of all summer bookings now coming from south of the border, ahead of GB and Northern Ireland bookings.
‘Huge potential’
And Cian, below, believes this bodes very well for the future, adding: “As our neighbouring market, the Republic of Ireland has always been a tough nut to crack and despite steadily increasing visitor numbers in recent years, there is still huge potential for growth due to the fact that many ROI residents still have never made the trip north.
“What the pandemic has given Northern Ireland is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to now attract visitors from the Republic, who really have nowhere else to go, show them what we have to offer and give them plenty of reasons to come back again.
“We can see this in our own bookings, which now show the Republic of Ireland to be the hotel’s biggest market, ahead of NI and GB guests. Pre-Covid, that would have been totally reversed with ROI visitor numbers languishing behind GB, the USA and NI.
Despite the positives that summer has brought, the future is still hard to predict, as Landers explained.
“Bookings are now very much last minute, compared to what they were before,” continued Cian, “so we can only see so far into the future in that respect – despite a lot of enquiries coming in for Christmas and next summer.
“Add to this the fact that we don’t really know what Covid-19 may yet have in store, and I believe there are still too many factors outside of our control to enable us to predict the future with any great degree of confidence.
“So while we’re delighted with how summer has gone, we know we need to keep investing in technology and innovation, and working hard to attract visitors and further build capacity.
“We are currently operating at approximately 70% of our full capacity due to a number of reasons, including social distancing restrictions and other health and safety regulations. We aim to gradually increase this but in a very careful and responsible manner, without compromising on the 5-star service that our customers expect.”
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