Northern Ireland received a jobs and tourism boost yesterday with the announcement that five hotels are to be built in the North at a cost of £50 million (€74 million) creating up to 200 jobs. Andras House, run by Lord Diljit Rana, is to build them under the international Ibis brand, which has 750 hotels in 36 countries.
"Work on the first hotel, in King Street, Belfast, will start within the next few weeks and should see the first Ibis hotel in Northern Ireland open for business early in 2008," said Lord Rana yesterday.
"The new hotel will contribute substantially to initiatives to enhance the city centre and the King Street/Castle Street area in particular," he added.
"We anticipate that the expansion will create up to 200 new jobs throughout Northern Ireland and see Andras House become Northern Ireland's leading hotel chain," the hotelier added. Lord Rana said the expansion will mean about 500 new bedrooms for the North. At present Andras House has four hotels in Belfast, employing 300 people with 500 rooms.
"This important strategic investment indicates our confidence in the growth potential of the tourist industry throughout Northern Ireland. We have already acquired sites in Belfast and are actively seeking locations in provincial centres," he said.
The SDLP MP for South Belfast Dr Alasdair McDonnell said the announcement indicated that tourism was growing in Northern Ireland and that "international business sees a wealth of opportunity in the Northern Ireland tourist industry".
DUP Assembly member Robin Newton said the news was "a great encouragement" for the Northern economy. "This is the type of decision the province has longed for and is a vote of confidence in the political process.
"Hopefully, the business leaders who made this evaluation of Northern Ireland's potential will be followed by other similar decisions," he said.
