Hotel expansion in Northern Ireland means Belfast is likely to break the 10,000 room barrier by the end of 2018.
Between new builds and expansion projects at existing hotels the city smashed the 9,000 barrier in June, helped by the opening of Northern Ireland’s largest hotel, the Grand Central, swiftly followed by new brand, Hampton by Hilton.
Janice Gault, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Hotels Federation (NIHF) said: “There are now 142 hotels in Northern Ireland and over 1,000 rooms have come on stream since January 2018. By this time next year we anticipate expansion will tail off. However, visitor numbers have increased and this has been borne out in the performance figures from STR. These show that occupancy in Northern Ireland is pretty much on a par with 2017 at 74.4% and demand for rooms is up 5.9%.”
Janice continued: “The summer season is going well with anecdotal evidence suggesting an increase in both European and Northern American visitor numbers. Hotel properties in Northern Ireland have also seen considerable investment over the last number of years and this is being reflected in a better room rate in all areas. A number of trends are starting to emerge but it will be several months before the market adjusts to new supply levels. Room rate has held up well and although occupancy levels have had a couple of stutters, in general the industry has coped well with an unprecedented situation.”