Future perfect

Rodney Watson’s family made Ulster’s stunning Lakelands their home when they took on the Killyhevlin Hotel near Enniskillen in the mid-70s. Now a well-established figure in NI tourist circles generally, Rodney believes that plenty has still to be achieved if the province – and its south-western corner in particular – is to secure its long-term prosperity…

Whether or not last year’s much-vaunted G8 Summit actually delivered on promises of a £40m economic boost for the Fermanagh region remains to be seen. According to hotelier Rodney Watson MBE, however, the most tangible, long-term benefit of the high-profile gathering will be the international publicity that it generated.

And according to Rodney, who co-owns the well-regarded Killyhevlin Hotel near Enniskillen with his sister, Jackie, that’s a very valuable commodity.

To some readers, it will come as a surprising statistic, but upwards of 80 per cent of the trade that the Lakeland hotel enjoys is drawn from the home market:

“The real problem for us is that there aren’t enough out-of-state visitors coming into Northern Ireland,” Rodney told LCN recently. “We’re not attractive enough as a destination because of the economic situation and the ridiculous level of our VAT at 20 per cent against our competitors’ nine per cent in the Republic.”

These factors, as well as the inequalities in air passenger duty between the two jurisdictions, combine to create a perception among potential visitors that Northern Ireland is “an expensive destination”, Rodney said, and he added:

“There has to be something innovative done now to promote Northern Ireland to tourists…A lot of people believe that with a VAT rate at 20 per cent, we just aren’t competitive.”

These days, the Killyhevlin is a popular local hub employing around 100 staff. It has a dozen chalets which are let out weekly in the summer and for short breaks and the hotel’s popular two-night weekend stays are now available through the week as well.

Yet like all such venues across the province, costs continue to be an ever-present issue. Rodney Watson describes them as “an ongoing battle”:

“It all builds up and it eats away turnover,” he remarks. “We have to continually watch our outgoings, look for savings where we can make them and find new ways to boost our business.”

That’s doubly difficult in a depressed economy and Rodney doesn’t subscribe to all the current talk of imminent recovery:

“I don’t see any major turnaround here as yet,” he says. “People are still being very careful about how they spend their money. If you’re able to give them value then you’ll get the business, but you have to be proactive in that, you can’t just wait for it to come to you and in that, I think that marketing has got to be key.”

Some improvements were made to the grill bar at the Killyhevlin last year – Rodney has seen an increase in demand for that type of dining – but he’s not planning any further additions in the short term.

“The numbers aren’t there”, he says, “but I’d be happy in a couple of years’ time if I was able to talk about adding some more rooms or extending our restaurant facilities. Until then, we just need to work at perfecting what we have.”