Tag: 2016

Dublin hotels saw highest occupancy in Europe in 2016

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Dublin hotels had the highest occupancy in Europe in 2016 and are forecast to stay on top in 2017 and 2018, according to PwC ‘ s European cities’ hotel forecast 2017 and 2018.

The report found that hotel occupancy in Dublin was higher than London, Amsterdam, and Berlin within the same period. Dublin’s average daily room rate ranked ninth most expensive in Europe at €128.This average is expected to reach €138 in 2017 and even further to €147 in 2018.

The report showed that Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland had the highest average daily rate on the continent. The most expensive city is Geneva at €300, followed by Zurich at €245 and Paris at €229. PwC said while security concerns saw mixed fortunes for some city destinations in 2016, overall it was another record-breaking year for European tourism with 12m more visitors and almost 3bn nights spent in tourist accommodation.

Dublin Airport had a record-breaking 28m passengers in 2016, which exceeded the 2015 record by more than 2.8m. The report found that European hotel deal activity did see a slow down of nearly nearly 10% from the record high of €21bn in 2015 to €19bn in 2016, still the second-highest level ever recorded. The drop was largely driven by a slowdown in transaction volumes in the UK which fell by over 60%, due to Brexit uncertainty.

Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year finalists announced

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The six finalists for the Euro-toques Young Chef of the Year 2016 have been announced .The six young finalists in the final judging process are:

  • Maeve Walsh, aged 23, Chef de Partie Restaurant FortyOne at Residence, Dublin. Maeve’s mentor is Head Chef Graham Neville
  • Glen Sutcliffe, aged 23, Chef de Partie, The Marker Hotel, Dublin 2. Glen’s mentor is Gareth Mullins
  • Chris Fullam, aged 23, Sous Chef at Old Street, Malahide Dublin. Chris’s mentor is Fergus Caffrey
  • Killian Crowley, aged 24, Chef de Partie at Aniar, Galway City. Killian’s mentor is JP McMahon
  • Gary Doyle, aged 25, Chef de Partie, at The Canteen, Celbridge, Co Kildare. Gary’s mentor is James Sheridan
  • Marc McWilliams, aged 25, Chef de Partie at The Brooklodge and Strawberry Tree restaurant, Wicklow. Marc McWilliams’ mentor is Evan Doyle

The theme of this year’s competition, which began three months ago, is Inspiration. The first task in the competition saw the candidates write a social media entry, expressing their inspiration in no more than 140 characters. In the second round, saw the competitors write a recipe along with an entry detailing their thought processes. Successful candidates then had to take part in face to face interviews and an on the spot omelette challenge in front of a panel of Euro-toques judges, including the GM of La Rousse Foods.

The six successful candidates will now face a cooking competition in the kitchen of Chapter One on November 27th with two separate skills tests in two hours in front of a panel of chefs – including 2 star Michelin chef Nathan Outlaw and Great Irish Bake-Off judge Paul Kelly.

Euro-toques Ireland are celebrating their 30th year, with the Young Chef of the Year in its 29th year. The Irish branch of Euro-toques was founded in 1986 by Myrtle Allen, founder of the famed Ballymaloe House restaurant and cookery school.