Leisure guests give Celtic Manor Resort a record year
Venue of the 2010 Ryder Cup, the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, South Wales, has announced a record year for leisure visitors.
The five-star, 400 bedroom resort sold 20,000 more room nights to leisure visitors in 2009 than it did in 2008.
There was also a 58% increase in green fee income, a 26% rise in bar and restaurant revenue and an 18% increase in spa business. However, corporate business was down by 29% on the previous year and 60 staff were made redundant at the beginning of 2009.
The boost in leisure business resulted from a combination of Celtic Manor's increased international profile as home of this year's Ryder Cup, which resulted in a 45% rise in the number of overseas visitors, and the introduction of competitive packages for leisure travellers.
"Having been voted the UK's top conference hotel in three of the last four years, this has always been a very important market to us but 2009 was a tough year for corporate business so we focused most of our energies on the fantastic leisure offering at the resort and we have been very pleased with the results," said Celtic Manor's vice-president of operations, Ian Edwards.
"The strategy has included offering a number of different packages to attract a range of markets including groups of golfers and families. This has brought our overall room occupancy up to record levels while the golf courses, bars and restaurants have never been busier.
"Focusing on the leisure business has helped to build our customer base for the future and we expect to welcome even more visitors in 2010 as the Ryder Cup draws ever closer."
Current plans for the resort, which employs 600 staff, includes the improvement of bedrooms with the installation of flat screen TVs in every room and the expansion of the Olive Tree restaurant and Rooftop Garden barbecue terrace.
The Ryder Cup will be played on the Twenty Ten course, one of the three golf courses at the resort, from 1 to 3 October.
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