It was about 15 years ago. After a long and dusty drive to the Savannah, I was delivered to a community run hotel in Africa. It was hot, even though by now it was late evening, and I was impressed by the beautiful swimming pool the hotel had listed among its facilities.
As it was a community run hotel, and the tourist board were very proud of it and what it had achieved. There was a briefing planned giving me further details on this, but I had some time to spare. So I checked out the swimming pool in quest of a refreshing plunge. It quickly became apparent there was no water in it. Nor had there been for many years. Decades even.
How viable are community run hotels? Recent events in Roscrea have raised new interest in the viability of such projects.
L:et us stat by looking at international precedents, successful community run hotels around the world. There aren’t any.
Examples such as Charela Inn in Trinidad, Shalala Lodge in Ecuador, Hotel Tayka del Desierto in Bolivia and Black Bull in Gartmore in Scotland are rare examples of a concept that has been abandoned by the world of hospitality after a flush of enthusiasm for such projects between the 1950 and the late 1990s.
The problem is that hotels are complicated businesses, with beds, Food & Beverage, recreational facilities and yield management that need diverse management skill sets. Hospitality training is a massive international industry, in which Ireland is a leading player through Shannon and other colleges.
UNESCO reported in its annual report during the global final coal recession (when capital shortages led to a lot of start-ups) that “small community-run hotel projects may be hampered by administrative and organisational problems resulting from a lack of business skills.”
Government run hotels were abandoned by even the most dogmatic socialist regimes. Cuba in the 1980s soon abandoned its statist hospitality plan to allow European franchises to run hotels in Varadero, Havana and other resorts. When your correspondent did a tour of Derg-run hotels in Ethiopia they were a decaying smalls, with an empty swimming pool in each one.
There is just one community run hotel in Ireland, rendered a success through the availability bro peace process grants and the energy of the local community. The chair of the hotel’s management board, Mary Mullen, has questioned if the idea is suitable for Roscrea.
“For anything like this to be a success, it has to come from the community itself. Someone can’t come into an area and tell you what you should have, and develop it for you and make it a success. People in the area need to have a commitment to it and interest in it long-term.”
“There is an immense sense of achievement. We’ve won awards, we’ve involved everyone, we have young people settling in our area again. An area that was dying has come back to life.”
The Sliabh Beagh hotel in County Monaghan, initiated by the Knockatallon Development Group started off as a scheme to establish a bar, restaurant, and self-catering accommodation, but Fáilte Ireland, then under the stewardship of John Dully, suggested building a hotel instead. Mary Mullen, chairperson of the board of directors, says, “we never set out to build a hotel.”
Funding was sourced from various sources, including the International Fund for Ireland. The project was launched by US ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith in March 1998 and the hotel opened in 2000, with accompanying publicity emphasising its crucial role in the economic and social regeneration of the area, addressing issues such as lack of infrastructure, employment, and amenities.
The hotel is located in a remote and picturesque area, named after a mountain that spans three counties and is designated as a special area of conservation. Any profits made are reinvested into the delivery of the Community Services Programme.
Other community efforts have led to the replacement of derelict houses, the construction of new houses, and the establishment of additional amenities like a preschool and playground.
Funding for this initiative comes through POBAL, who provide €136k per annum for wages. Most of the business comes from returning visitors, family events, weddings and funerals. The hotel provides 250 Sunday lunches for locals of which about 100 would be subsidised meals for the elderly.
WATCH Minister of State Thomas Byrne outlines the “community run hotel’ alternative: “Clearly, there’s a great need for the facilities that a hotel offers to the community.”
