Inside Business podcast: ‘Belfast is ripe for new hotel investment’

Northern Irish hotelier and managing director of the Hastings chain of hotels, Howard Hastings, was in Dublin this week to announce plans for a £53 million (€60 million) investment in a new hotel in Belfast called the Grand Central, which will be the city’s largest once completed.

On the latest Inside Business podcast, he spoke to Ciarán Hancock about his new hotel and about tourism in Belfast, which he says is “sound” and has not yet been affected on the ground by the lack of an administration at Stormont.

Founded

The Hastings chain, which was founded by his father Sir William Hastings 50 years ago, is already the biggest in Northern Ireland and also owns a share of the Merrion Hotel in Dublin.

Mr Hastings also spoke about Brexit and what impact that may have on the Northern Ireland hotel sector, which currently has 20 per cent VAT on room rates, compared to 9 per cent in the Republic.