Hospitality is Northern Ireland’s “Cinderella” industry, one of the biggest operators in the sector has said.
Bill Wolsey, whose Beannchor Group runs the Merchant Hotel along with a number of other hotels, bars and restaurants, challenged Stormont to treat it fairly.
Mr Wolsey, who has been in the industry for decades throughout the Troubles and Covid, said hospitality businesses deserve much more support.
“I think the hospitality industry in general is sort of a Cinderella industry.
“Years ago, hospitality was dwarfed by farming and engineering,” he said. “In a few years time, we’ll be bigger than them.
“They have ministers that represent them. We don’t have anybody.
“So while some operators in hospitality, and undoubtedly we’re one of them, make a profit, there’s a lot of people are just about making a profit, and a lot are trading at a loss, and it absolutely should be supported more.”
Mr Wolsey described the sector as key to the growing number of tourists and visitors to Northern Ireland.
“If you think about tourism, a lot of people who come here love pubs. They like the restaurants, they stay in the hotels,” he said.
“I was speaking to one of the bosses of one of those big firms of solicitors that have relocated here, and there were definitely some grants, but the whole environment, the nightlife appealed to them, and they thought that would help bring people to work for them.
“So there’s huge impact. There are grants that are given out to all sorts of industries, and then they make a bit of money here, and then they move to India or Bangladesh, or whatever.
“I’ve yet to see any restaurant to pick up all his bricks and move to India.
“We’re here, hospitality is embedded in the community and plays a very important part, and I really don’t think that’s represented fairly.
“Our rates are astronomical. We’ve been hit with all sorts of rises, and it’s a very difficult time for our industry.”
