Courtyard Hotels In San Diego|"Tourism Spike Breathes Life Into Hotel Trade"

Source         :     independent.ie
Category     :    Courtyard Hotels In San Diego
By               :    FINBARR FLYNN AND NEIL CALLANAN
Posted By   :    Hotels in Virginia Beach North Courtyard

Courtyard Hotels In San Diego

Four years ago, Ireland's debt-laden hotels were contending with falling visitor numbers and new competitors financed by surging mortgage lending during the Celtic Tiger. That's when zombie hotels emerged, slashing room rates to stay alive and keep tax breaks granted during the boom. Now increasing demand for rooms, led by Dublin, is prompting investors from American billionaire John Malone to Russia's richest woman to buy hotels here. The capital generated more revenue growth per available hotel room than any other major European city in the 12 months through June, according to a survey by lodging-data provider STR Global.

"There's a fair bit of capital in the marketplace looking for what people now believe is a good investment again," said Kevin McGillycuddy, managing director of Brehon Capital Partners. The Dublin-based private-equity firm and partner Midwest Holdings bought the Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt in Wicklow in February and opened the five-star Marker Hotel in April.

Tourism, Ireland's largest indigenous industry, was devastated by the global financial crisis, with visitor numbers plunging 23pc between 2008 and 2010. Demand for hotels evaporated, causing the occupancy rate to fall to a 16-year low of 59pc in 2009, according to a survey by Crowe Horwath, an accountancy and consultancy firm. Since then, visitor numbers have begun to pick up. The occupancy rate climbed to 64pc in 2012 from 61pc a year earlier, Crowe Horwath said. That's reflected in the property market. Hotel values have climbed about a fifth in downtown Dublin since September 2011, more than any other part of the Irish property market, brokers CBRE and Savills estimate. "Trade is very strong," said Peter MacCann, general manager of the five-star Merrion Hotel, opposite Government Buildings on Merrion Street. "We have to be careful – and this goes for every hotel – that we don't get greedy. We have got to protect the business to get it to come back."

Source:independent.ie/business/irish/tourism-spike-breathes-life-into-hotel-trade-29524257.html