The number of hotel bedrooms in the North is expected to grow by nearly 50 per cent over the next three years, writes Joan Scales

Hotel interests in Belfast are already anticipating a big increase in tourism following the reinstatement of the Assembly, with more than 11 new hotels planned for the city in the near future. Work has begun on some and others are making their way through the planning process.

This sign of confidence is tangible evidence of the feeling that Belfast is set to take off as a business and tourism destination. The introduction of an Aer Lingus base in the city is another indicator while the Lonely Planet guidebook's blue list identified Belfast as a must-see in 2007.

The number of hotel rooms has tripled in Northern Ireland in the past 10 years, from 900 to around 3,000, and in the next three years will increase by a further 40-45 per cent.

"We will need all the rooms planned to cope with the pent-up desire to visit Belfast," says Gerry Lennon, chief executive officer of Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau. Last year tourism to Belfast grew by 19 per cent, just over one million bed nights in the city. "The city break and conference market are our fastest growing sectors, but we cannot be complacent," he says. "Occupancy is running at more than 85 per cent and 100 per cent on some weekday nights, and we are competing with a lot of other destinations."

Brendan Mullan of Andras House, the biggest developers of hotels in Belfast (formed in 1981 by Lord Diljit Rana, and operating hotels under the Ramada, Holiday Inn and Ibis names), is very positive of the future for tourism. "The clear stability in politics will encourage the market to grow even further," he says. "Belfast is in the top five growing regional economies in the UK, and if we bring our corporation tax in line with the Republic, it will grow even faster," Mullan says.

Evidence of Andras House's commitment to the market is the fact that they will be opening two new hotels in Belfast within the next year: King Street/Castle Street will have 120 bedrooms and will be managed by an international brand new to Ireland and soon to be announced; and Renshaws Hotel, on University Street in the university quarter, will be a 60-bed mid-market hotel and it too will be operated by an international brand. Andras House will also be building a 90-bedroom hotel in Portrush and is actively looking for hotel sites in Derry, Enniskillen, Newry and Lisburn.

The Hastings Hotel group, Northern Ireland's biggest hotel group, is adding rooms to the Stormont and Culloden hotels and has applied for permission for 35 more rooms in the Europa. It has sensitively added 60 rooms to the Victorian era Slieve Donard in Newcastle and investment in Ballygally Castle has paid off with the hotel being upgraded to a four-star rating recently.

But Howard Hastings feels that the planning process is a deterrent to the development of hotels, as the length of time it takes to bring any project to fruition makes it difficult to determine market conditions.

This was also noted in the Select Committee for Northern Ireland Affairs, which called on the North's Department of the Environment to bring forward a planning policy statement to govern tourist industry development. Some projects have taken years to complete.

The committee said the development of tourism infrastructure was vital for the economy of the province. "If Northern Ireland is to remain competitive as a holiday destination, it needs hotels and the facilities providing goods and services that tourists want to purchase. The current provision of quality hotels in Northern Ireland is insufficient. The tourist industry needs a strategic partnership between private and public sectors to achieve the 'holistic' approach to development."

Business at the newest five-star hotel to open in Belfast, the Merchant, is so strong that, although it only opened last year on Waring Street in the Cathedral Quarter, it has applied to extend by another 48 bedrooms.

The most interesting of planning permissions is from Barry Gilligan, a developer who is heading a scheme to transform the former Crumlin Road Courthouse into a 160-bed four-star hotel. The courthouse was the scene of many significant events during the Troubles.

The tourism industry is expected to provide Belfast with a good selection of hotels with both international brands, indigenous and boutique hotels to appeal to the growing market.