VISIT Derry says it is delighted to report that summer 2016 has recorded the highest hotel occupancy levels ever seen in the city.
July 2016 with an average occupancy of 84% and subsequently August 2016 which reached 89% were both record months.
This represented an increased occupancy shift of 6 percentage points on 2015.
In July 17,000 hotel rooms were sold and this was subsequently surpassed by August with over 18,000 hotel rooms sold and this represented a 13% growth in room sales on 2015.
The previous record month was August 2013 during City of Culture.
Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Alderman Hilary McClintock, welcomed the news. “I am delighted to see the hotel industry go from strength to strength. The city is undoubtedly establishing itself as one of the must see destinations and our reputation in the tourism marketplace continues to grow as we welcome more and more visitors. This is also good news for potential investors leading on future developments in the city following recent hotel planning approvals by Council”.
Commenting on the figures Odhran Dunne, General Manager, Visit Derry said
“This is a fantastic performance by the hotel sector. Overnight visitors contribute almost £43m to the local tourism economy and the hotel occupancy data is a good indicator of the destinations performance in attracting visitors throughout the year.
“We are delighted that 2016 is on track to be a record year for the hotel sector.
“A strong leisure tourism market and events calendar has supported this record growth during the summer months.
“Visit Derry working in partnership with over 260 tourism providers continues to raise the destinations profile in national and international markets in collaboration with Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland.
“We have noticed increasing interest and room demand from the travel trade and independent travellers and it is great to see this converted into these record results”.
Andy O’Doherty, General Manager, Da Vinci’s Hotel welcomed the news “I am pleased to report that we have had an extremely busy Summer Season at Da Vinci’s Hotel.
“We had our busiest August on record at the hotel and September is looking very promising.
“Our increased occupancy is due to a number of reasons; more large scale events, a strong domestic market and a weak pound attracting more out of state visitors.
“We have seen the demand for rooms soar around Clipper and the Foyle Cup which highlights yet again the importance of a special events calendar for Derry”.
Visit Derry say it is determined to ensure that this momentum continues as the tourism industry offers one of the best opportunities for economic growth in the local economy.
The continued investment by both the public and private sector over the coming years in tourism will support the region in maximising our potential as a major tourist hub for visitors to the island.
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