UK-based hospitality company Whitbread has announced plans to expand its Irish room count by 30%.
The company aims to increase its medium-term growth target to 5,000 bedrooms in Ireland, up from the current target of 3,500.
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This decision comes in response to the high demand and an undersupply of branded hotel rooms in the region.
The expansion plan includes an updated list of target locations, where Whitbread intends to establish a presence.
The company looks to add additional sites across Dublin City Centre, five new locations in Outer Dublin, and 11 locations across Ireland.
It is selecting locations based on leisure and business economies, as well as the potential for growth in visitor numbers.
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By GlobalDataThe company is focusing on tourist destinations such as Killarney, Kilkenny, Kinsale, Sligo, Westport, and Tralee, as well as larger towns and cities including Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford.
Whitbread’s revised growth plan is part of a broader strategy to reach 125,000 Premier Inn rooms across the UK and Ireland.
Whitbread Ireland development manager Matt Gent said: “Our confidence for Premier Inn in Ireland is driven by the positive performance of our trading hotels in Dublin and Cork, as well as our belief in the growing demand for high-quality budget hotel rooms in Ireland.
“We believe there are many further opportunities for Premier Inn in inner and outer Dublin and are confident the brand will perform well in towns and cities across Ireland with strong local business economies and drivers of year-round tourist demand. It continues to be an exciting time for us in the country.”
The company predicts that total consumer demand for hotel accommodation in Ireland will exceed 20 million bedroom nights by the end of the decade.
The latest announcement comes just after the company submitted plans for a new hotel development in Dorchester.
Whitbread currently operates a network of six Premier Inn hotels in Dublin and Cork and has more than 200 employees in Ireland.
