Refurbishment work on Tralee hotel to give 170 jobs
January 1996
AN ESTIMATED 170 jobs will be provided when work gets underway in March on a £4.9m refurbishment of The Brandon Hotel, Tralee.
Manager of the hotel, Peter McDermott, confirmed this week, that 120 people would be employed for 12 months during the construction of the extension, while an additional 50 fulltime jobs would be created once the development is complete.
This latest expansion of The Brandon involves a major refurbishment of the hotel, which will include the addition of 23 new roof-top bedrooms, two presidential suites, an extension of the existing 72 front-facing bedrooms, and an extensive refurbishment of the existing conference centre and leisure centre.
The most significant part, of the development will involve a major extension to the conference centre, which when, completed, will allow seating for 2,000 people. According to Mr McDermott, this will open up the hotel to the international conference market.
“In conjunction with Kerry Holidays and Kerry Airport, we have already researched UKbased companies who would consider Kerry as a viable location for their annual conferences. The fact that there are so many good golf courses in the vicinity is a major advantage,” he explained.
Work on the refurbishment is due to begin in March with the construction of the new bedrooms, while work on the conference centre will commence in September.
Mr McDermott said the new conference centre would provide the Festival of Kerry with the optionof holding the live television selection of the Rose of Tralee at the centre instead of having to erect The Dome. However, this option will not be available until 1997.
Princes Investments Ltd, the company which owns the Brandon Hotel, received £2.2m through a 1990 Business Expansion Scheme promoted by AIB, ‘ which proved very popular with the Kerry business community.
One major expansion of the hotel has already been completed and this second expansion will begin shortly.