This article is from page 7 of the 2006-06-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
CIE TOURS is the latest company reputed to be showing an interest in buying the Shannon Great Southern Hotel, as part of the Great Southern group package.
The transport company originally sold the hotels to Aer Rianta and business sources have revealed they are now interested in buying them back, as a strategic addition to their steadily growing tour business.
If they make their interest public, CIE will be in the running, along with multimillionaire builder, Bernard McNamara and Choice Hotels, who form one of the groups interested in making a bid.
The group was officially put up for sale last week, but it is understood that the sale could be delayed until July 7, two weeks later than the original deadline.
It is expected that the sale will raise €200 million for the Dublin Airport Authority, which inherited the business on the break-up of Aer Lingus.
The Shannon Great Southern, along with the hotels at Dublin and Cork Airports, are the three hotels in the group to break even.
Galway, Killarney and the luxurious Parknasilla in Kerry – the Taoiseach’s favourite holiday spot – all need major investment and have accumulated losses of €40 million.
The Galway hotel has as many staff as it has bedrooms, while the Corrib is one of the worst performers in the group.
The eight hotels are being offered for sale on an individual basis, or as a portfolio. It is understood there have been more than 100 enquiries received by the advisers.
Shannon independent councillor, Patricia McCarthy, said that given the fact that Shannon was one of the hotels not making losses, it would make sense for the Shannon Airport Authority to have it in their ownership.
“It is catering for a niche market and doing well. It has a strategically very important position being next to Shannon Airport,” said Cllr McCarthy.
She added that the future of the 50 staff was a high priority.
“There is a very high quality and level of service and that should be maintained. I would not like to see any erosion of wages or skills. A minimum wage job just would not be good enough.”
The three-star hotel has a brisk business as the airport “is busy night and day now. There are flights coming in at every hour,” said Cllr McCarthy.
There are 400 permanent workers in the group and part-time employees make up the equivalent of another 300 full-time jobs.