New Hotel is Vote of Confidence in Scotland's Conference Industry
Glasgow’s conference and tourism industries have been given a major vote of confidence with the news that Jurys Inns is planning a new hotel next to the Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre (SECC).
The 230 room hotel, which will create an estimated 75 new jobs, is scheduled to open in 2010. It will be the second Jurys Inn hotel in Glasgow and its third in Scotland.
The company said it hopes to capitalise on the 3.24m annual UK and overseas visitors to the Glasgow area who spend £800m in the Glasgow visitor economy each year. It also predicts that Glasgow will benefit from the trend for Brits to ‘staycation’ due to the unfavourable Euro exchange rate.
The new hotel is part of a £90 million, four hotel expansion by Jurys’ strategic development partner McAleer and Rushe.
Jurys Inns Acting CEO John Brennan: said: ““It is a significant vote of confidence in Glasgow that we can announce plans for a new hotel in the area in today’s challenging economic climate.
“Our positioning at the premium end of the budget market means we can be competitive with business users switching from four star hotels and leisure customers that still want hotel pedigree and hospitality from their weekend breaks – something missing from no frills budget operators.
“I am confident that Glasgow city can benefit from research predicting that up to 50% of Britons will holiday at home this year due to the strong euro and recession. With a resilient business to build on we continue to look speculatively for new locations as site valuations drop and struggling mid-market hotels close. We remain proactive and hungry for development and growth opportunities in Scotland as the UK hotel market consolidates.”
Scott Taylor, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: “Jurys’ latest development represents Glasgow’s continuing growth in new hotels, and is one of 12 proposed new hotel developments that are committed to Glasgow.
“The meetings industry can feel confident that Glasgow has both the capacity and the quality to deliver mega events and conferences as well as boutique solutions for meeting organisers.”
Ben Goedegebuure, Director of Sales at the SECC, said: “The arrival of the new Jurys Inn is a welcome addition to Glasgow and the SECC’s campus environment.
“The additional bedrooms further underline our ability to provide large scale events with the range, quality and quantity of bedrooms they require and I’m confident that we will be able to attract more events to Glasgow because of their arrival.
“It’s an exciting time for the city and for our venue, our visitor economy is robust enough to be expanding at a time where other destinations are struggling; what’s more, there has never been a better time to visit Glasgow from a price perspective.”
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Moira Dyer, Senior Manager – PR, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau
Tel: 0141 566 0831; Email: moira.dyer@seeglasgow.com
(or)
Stephanie Johnston, ReputationInc
T: 0203 178 4767 or M: 07723322307; Email: sjohnston@reputation-inc.com