Forsythe Support Hospitality Industry At Stormont Event

South Down MLA Diane Forsythe shows support for hospitality industry at Stormont event to mark Tourism & Hospitality Week

South Down DUP MLA Diane Forsythe showed her support yesterday (30 9 24) for the hospitality industry at a Stormont event designed to mark Tourism & Hospitality Week and to emphasise the role the industry plays in both the local economy and in skills development throughout the region. 

At the event, MLAs heard from Hospitality Ulster representatives such as Chief Executive Colin Neill and Chair Stephen Magorian, who is Managing Director of the Horatio Group which operates pubs such as Horatio Todd’s and the Northern Whig.

Also at the event were stakeholders across industry and education, such as Mark Rice, Curriculum Business Lead for Hospitality & Tourism at Belfast Metropolitan College; and Professor Ioannis Pantelidis, Head of The Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Ulster University.

MLAs heard from those present about the importance of the hospitality industry’s role within the local economy, as well as efforts on the ground to promote the development of skills within the industry.

And efforts too have been made to create employment pathways for those typically underrepresented in the workforce, with it also stressed to them that the industry could play an even bigger role in the economy with the removal and reform of some cost barriers.

Accounting for 72,000 jobs, hospitality is the fourth largest private sector employer in Northern Ireland.

As an industry worth a total of £2 billion per year to the Northern Ireland economy, hospitality also accounts for two-thirds of tourism’s £1.2 billion spend per year.

The importance of these figures is re-emphasised by the fact that every £100 spent in hospitality sees £58 retained in the local economy.

Through the Hospitality & Tourism Skills Board Northern Ireland Region, a partnership has formed between Hospitality Ulster, Further Education Colleges, Ulster University, Department for the Economy, Department for Communities, Tourism NI, the Labour Relations Agency, and the Labour Market Partnerships.

Various initiatives have been piloted to both improve the wellbeing and skills development of hospitality employees and prospective employees.

Chief among these is The Wellbeing Promise, a commitment by employers to develop their staff, provide a work-life balance, and support their mental health.

Various qualifications have also been co-designed by industry stakeholders, FE Colleges, and Ulster University in order to provide both entry into the industry and career development opportunities.

These include: Get Into Hospitality; Get On in Hospitality; and Hospitality Horizons, which offers qualifications in becoming a leader in the industry and becoming your own boss.

Additional initiatives have also been piloted to engage with primary school pupils, to reactive the long-term economically inactive, and to create pathways for both ex-offenders and people aged over 50.

Colin Neill, Chief Executive, Hospitality Ulster said: “Our message in meeting with MLAs yesterday was simple: Hospitality Matters.

“We wanted to showcase the importance of the industry to the local economy, as well as point out how we have been delivering upon the Executive’s skills development and growth plans.

“We feel as if, despite all this hard work, the industry still isn’t operating at its full potential.

“It was encouraging to meet with MLAs yesterday and drive home the message across the different parties that much more can be done to get the industry to where it could be.

“There are urgent matters to be dealt with if we are to make that a reality, such as reform of business rates and the extension of the 100% Rural Rate Relief for Pubs from Britain to Northern Ireland.

“We are also calling on the Department of Finance to commission independent research into a reduction on VAT for hospitality and tourism specific to Northern Ireland in order to present it to the UK Treasury.

“If we can deliver on these asks and really recognise the value of the hospitality industry, we know that our operators will deliver upon the industry’s potential.”