Ulster tourist boom fuels growth in hotel stock

Northern Ireland's flailing peace process is failing to put a damper on the tourism industry, as hotel stock and conference business booms.

A Radisson SAS opened this month in Limavady, County Londonderry. The four-star, 118-bedroom Radisson SAS Roe Park Resort was formerly part of Radisson Hotels & Resorts, but has reopened under the Scandinavian-owned Radisson SAS banner following a refurbishment.

Radisson's second Northern Ireland property will be a four-star hotel in central Belfast. The £14m, 140-bedroom hotel opens next year and will bring the number of rooms in the city up to about 2,700. May will see another new opening in Belfast, the Days hotel, adding another 241 rooms.

In Londonderry two new four-star properties opened last year: the 145-room City hotel and the 93-bedroom Tower hotel.

Visitor numbers to Belfast in 2001 were up 5% on the previous year, with Great Britain remaining the dominant market. US visitors in 2001 fell by 26%, however, and overall visitor spend dropped 18%.