American Football Series Will Provide Boost For Tourism Sector
Hospitality Ireland
Hospitality Ireland is the industry magazine for the Irish food service and on-trade drinks sectors.
Thousands of international and Irish American football fans descended on Dublin last weekend as the capital hosted the first game of the Aer Lingus College Football series, which saw the Northwestern Wildcats take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The game took place on Saturday 27 August at the Aviva Stadium after cancellations in 2020 and 2021 and was a further boost to the recovery efforts of the tourism industry. According to Fáilte Ireland, these games are of critical importance to the Irish economy and provide a platform to build a future pipeline of large-scale international sporting events for the country. Paul Keeley, Director of Regional Development, Fáilte Ireland said, "Large scale events such as this are an important part of driving tourism demand because they provide international and domestic visitors with a compelling reason to choose Dublin as a destination. As one of the key sponsors of the event, we're looking forward to welcoming the thousands of American football fans, including 13,000 visitors from the US, to Dublin this weekend for the first game in the series. Many of the fans will also travel to other parts of Ireland boosting tourism revenue throughout the country."
Dalata Hotel Group has published its results for the six-month period that ended on 30 June 2022. According to a statement published on DalataHotelGroup.com, the group’s business levels surpassed those of pre-pandemic H1 2019, with revenue increasing by 9%, to €220.2 million, and adjusted EBITDA increasing by 14%, to €83.5 million, while group revenue per available room (RevPAR) went up by 5% when compared to H1 2019, and by 18% when compared to May/June 2019. The group experienced a post-tax profit of €46.7 million in H1 2022, compared to €32.7 million in H1 2019, and its free cash flow in H1 2022 was €56.6 million, compared to €45.2 million in H1 2019. The group has added 1,600 rooms in the year to date, after adding five hotels in H1 2021, and a further hotel opened in August. The group entered into a lease for its first hotel in Continental Europe. It opened the Maldron Hotel Merrion Road, in Dublin, in August, its 50th hotel – the Clayton Hotel Glasgow City – will open in October, and it currently has hotels under construction in Brighton, Liverpool, London and Manchester, according to the statement published on DalataHotelGroup.com.
Bord Bia officially launches the Asian leg of two EU co-funded campaigns promoting European beef, lamb, and dairy from Ireland across seven Asian markets this week, as part of Bord Bia's ministerial-led trade mission to southeast Asia and Japan. The Japan phase of the "European Beef and Lamb - Ireland, Working with Nature" and the "European Dairy - Ireland, working with nature" campaigns were launched today (Thursday 1 September) at a special technical seminar in Tokyo. Over 80 local buyers, stakeholders, and media attended both events, to learn more about Ireland's capability as a supplier of high-quality, sustainably produced beef, lamb and dairy. Speaking of the EU campaign roll out event, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue TD said he was thrilled to see Ireland at the forefront of industry campaigns aimed at building the profile of European beef, lamb and dairy in Japan, a priority market for Irish food and drink exports according to Bord Bia's Prioritising Markets - Opportunities for Growth study.
The Talbot Collection's training programme for trainee chefs will return for 2022. Running in conjunction with Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB), all trainees will receive a salary, accommodation, meals, and transport for the duration of the 25-week programme. The aim of the programme is to help trainee chefs learn, progress, and excel in their careers. Following the programme, they will have the opportunity to learn and work on the job with a team of chefs in at one of The Talbot Collection's six hotels: Talbot Hotel Wexford, Talbot Hotel Stillorgan, Talbot Hotel Carlow, Midleton Park Hotel, Oriel House Hotel or the Talbot Hotel Clonmel. This will be a continued permanent, full-time, and salaried contract as a junior commis chef. Throughout their time on the job, candidates will receive continuous development by way of on the job training and experience, as well as additional online modules. They will also have the opportunity at the end of this tenure to take part in the Level 6 National Commis Chef Programme.
Irish Distillers has released its results for the year that ended on 30 June 2022. According to a statement published on IrishDistillers.ie, the Jameson whiskey manufacturer saw Jameson achieve record sales of 10.4 million cases during the 12 month period, with 22% volume growth; Jameson sales reached 4.5 million cases in the US for the first time in a fiscal year, which represented 9% volume growth; emerging markets including India, Zambia and Bulgaria surpassed the 100,000 case mark for the first time; Jameson achieved strong sales in key markets including a resurgence in global travel retail (+157%), Spain (+94%) South Africa (+43%), Poland (+43%), Ireland (+20%) and the UK (+16%); and Irish Distillers' prestige portfolio experienced volume growth of 16%, which was mainly driven by Redbreast, which exceeded the 100,000 case mark for the first time.
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