AQW 11407/22-27

Mr Alan Chambers
Ulster Unionist Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 07/05/2024
Answered On Date: 20/05/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy for his assessment of the current hotel capacity to meet future demands of tourism for bed nights.

Answer:

Current hotel accommodation capacity is 143 hotels, with 9,637 bedrooms, offering a combined total of 21,173 bedspaces. Occupancy has come back to pre-pandemic levels, reaching 74.4% in 2023.

In terms of new developments, there are currently nine projects that are on site. Approved projects may get underway in 2024 but are unlikely to start trading before 2025. There are likely to be around 200 rooms coming into the market in 2024, a rise of 2% and the same level as 2023.

Forecasting the future beyond 2024 and giving any meaningful figure on hotel numbers is difficult, particularly as the last number of years have been so unpredictable. The NI Hotels Federation anticipate that the sector will grow and advise that not all projects will come to fruition but there are opportunities and keen interest in investing. Growth will be driven by the Private Sector and will bring more jobs, help transform local communities and produce economic wealth.

As part of my Tourism Vision and Action Plan I will support the development of more hotels outside of Belfast. Following the review of Invest NI, my Department is working with Invest NI and Tourism NI to transfer the responsibility for providing capital support for new tourist accommodation from Invest NI to Tourism NI. As part of this process, I will be reviewing my Department’s policy for this support to ensure that we can meet the future demands of tourism for high quality accommodation across the North.