Dublin hotels should aim for London rates — Dalata chief

IRELAND’S top hotel boss has said Dublin hotels should consider aiming to charge at London or Paris levels.

In an interview due to be published shortly, Dalata chief executive Pat McCann said Dublin hotel rates are low by international standards and that this is hindering the supply of new hotel rooms in the capital.

“Out of a basket of approximately 20 European cities, Dublin is number 11 in terms of room rate but number one in occupancy. In my view we will never be able to command the room rates achieved by hoteliers in cities like London or Paris but perhaps that should be our ambition,” McCann said in an interview with accounting and finance firm BDO.

He said Dalata remained committed to expanding in the UK but that its plans have been slowed by the Brexit vote.

He said the company was seeing increased corporate business due to what he called a ‘Google effect’ causing increased employment in technology and financial services.

“These companies and their employees are frequent hotel users,” McCann said, adding that improvements in infrastructure had also contributed to an increased demand for hotel rooms, with supply remaining relatively static.

McCann spoke to BDO for its annual ‘Hotels, Restaurants and Bars Report’. BDO Partner Stewart Dunne said rising tourism numbers and consumer confidence contributed to a sense that Ireland’s recovery was more established.

But Dunne said Brexit uncertainty, skills shortages and minimum wage hikes had caused concern in the industry.