- Hotel sector in the six counties passed the 10,000 bedroom mark with 10,107 rooms
- The milestone was reached in May 2026 with the opening of Aloft and Residence Inn Belfast
- Over 233,000 hotel rooms were sold in July 2026, a 20pc surge
- Investment levels are expected to approach £2bn by 2027
- An 81 room Premier Inn at Belfast International Airport is due before the end of 2026
NI’s hotel sector has passed the 10,000 bedroom mark with 145 hotels now offering 10,107 rooms. The milestone was reached in May 2026 with the opening of Aloft and Residence Inn Belfast. Bedroom numbers rose by 476 in less than a year. Further growth is expected with an 81 room Premier Inn at Belfast International Airport due before the end of 2026 and around 500 additional rooms anticipated in 2027, much of it concentrated in Belfast.
Official figures published by the NI Statistics and Research Agency indicate that the portfolio breached this long-anticipated mark in mid-2026, driven by a decade of strategic acquisitions, extensions and a steadily recovering building pipeline. While original industry forecasts from the NI Hotels Federation predicted hitting this capacity by 2021, pandemic-related delays pushed the timeline back. The market has since rebounded dynamically to stand at 10,107 rooms across 145 hotels. Growth has also come from hotel operators adding non-traditional units on hotel grounds, such as eco-cottages, luxury lodges and forest dens.
Over 233,000 hotel rooms were sold in July 2026 alone, a 20pc surge compared to the previous year, boosted by events like the All Ireland Fleadh in Belfast, which drew an estimated 1.65m visitors. Investment levels are expected to approach £2bn by 2027. Upcoming projects include a new Premier Inn at Belfast International Airport before the end of 2026, alongside an influx of aparthotel and extended-stay concepts like Adagio, YOTEL and Staycity moving into 2027 and 2028.
