King’s Birthday Honours: Janice Gault - 'It’s lovely to be recognised' says hotel body chief made MBE

The head of an organisation which has overseen the transformation of the hotel industry in Northern Ireland has told of her delight at being made an MBE.

Janice Gault, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation, is recognised for services to tourism and hospitality in the King’s Birthday Honours.

The Londonderry woman said the number of hotel rooms in Northern Ireland had doubled in recent decades.

She said: “I was very surprised and delighted to hear about the MBE. It’s lovely to be recognised, not just in a personal capacity but also for the role that the industry has played, not only during Covid but over the last number of years.

“Northern Ireland has really transformed. It is nice to think that people are now coming to visit us and we feel that we in the federation have had some small part in that.”

Ms Gault said there had been a “seismic shift” in the tourism industry in Northern Ireland.

She said: “It is a very different industry to the industry it was in the early 90s, there have been massive changes and it has really has gone from strength to strength.

“The number of hotel rooms has doubled, we have a lot more product.

“In the last year it was measured we brought over £1bn into the local economy.

“I think this is an industry that should be immensely proud of its performance, not only over Covid, but in subsequent times.

“Many people discovered that going out for a cup of coffee, going away for the weekend, meeting family and friends, was something that was incredibly important to them and I think that has given us real support.”

She added: “Coming back from Covid has not been easy. A lot of businesses have had to change things, incurred a lot of cost, had challenges in bringing people back, but this is an industry with incredible resilience.

“People have learned the lessons from Covid, have moved on and are up for continuing to grow and contribute in a positive way.”