A 280 room “family friendly” hotel has been proposed for Hamilton Dock in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter.
The proposal by JMK Group is planned to sit directly opposite the Titanic Belfast building.
One hundred family rooms have been included within the proposed new hotel to meet the growing demand from visitors to family-focused attractions at Titanic Quarter including; Titanic Belfast, W5 and the SSE Arena, We Are Vertigo, SS Nomadic and HMS Caroline and other attractions across the city.
The new 280 room hotel, designed by award-winning Belfast architects RMI Architects, would open in the summer of 2021, and although a brand has not yet been confirmed JMK Group’s current brands include Hampton by Hilton, Seraphine and Holiday Inn operating across both the UK and Ireland.
This Titanic Quarter site will be its first investment in Northern Ireland.
A spokesperson for JMK Group said: “This project is about making a strategic investment in Belfast’s tourism sector, meeting the increasing demand from families who see Belfast and Titanic Quarter as a family friendly destination. We believe that the growth of the tourist sector in Belfast and Northern Ireland has an exciting future.
“Titanic Belfast is among the leading tourist destinations in the world so we are confident that tourism will continue to be an engine of economic growth for Belfast and that is why we are investing in that future, tailoring our offer to the needs of the city.
“JMK group will be able to bring a wealth of experience in the tourism and hospitality sector to Belfast. We already have a presence in the Republic of Ireland, in Dublin and Waterford as well as a lot of experience in the London hotel market.”
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More than 20,000 people live, work, study and play in Titanic Quarter daily. It has become Europe’s largest waterfront development attracting more than one million visitors every year.
Brian Kelly, a director at the project’s planning consultants Turley, added: “As part of the master-planning team for Titanic Quarter, Turley is very excited to be part of this exciting project.
"We are delighted that a leading UK hotel developer has chosen Titanic Quarter as its first location in Northern Ireland. This major investment will support the area’s successful evolution into a world-class tourism destination, an international exhibition and conferencing location and a hub of local, national and international business and education.
“Tourism is a key driver of Belfast and Northern Ireland’s economy and Titanic Quarter is home to three of Northern Ireland’s top five visitor attractions, Titanic Belfast, SS Nomadic and W5.
"Since 2012 Titanic Belfast has attracted over five million visitors from across 145 countries and was awarded the accolade of ‘World’s Leading Tourist Destination’ at the prestigious World Travel Awards in 2016."
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A public information event for this Hamilton Dock proposal will be held on May 9.
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