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Cliste Hospitality acquired 8 hotels between 2014-2019. While much of the international investment focus was on Dublin hotel investments, there was a strong recovery taking place in regional tourism. Tourism outside of Dublin is very much reliant on the leisure market segment, representing approximately 70-80% of its business, with corporate representing no more than 20%. In terms of source markets, 67% of Ireland’s regional hotels business comes from the domestic market, with 14% from North America, 10% from mainland Europe & 7% from the UK.

As the recovery from the Irish financial crisis took hold, the domestic consumer was spending a lot more of their income on holidays, short breaks and dining out. At the same time, international numbers into country reached a record high, driven by increased air capacity from North America & mainland Europe. While most international visitors into Ireland want to visit Dublin, they also want to see the Irish rural landscape and tourism hotspots. Locations such as Kilkenny in the east of the country and Kerry, Clare, Galway & Sligo on the west coast have benefited hugely from the surge in international tourism.

Cliste Hospitality identified the opportunity in the regional hotel sector. During this time, the investment lens was on Dublin, so we were able to acquire a number of these hotel assets off market or with very little competition. Cliste built a good reputation for execution of purchases and because of this, we are regularly approached with acquisition opportunities.