Cork hotel wins top European quality award

"Optimus” Awards Recognise 46 Achievers in Quality and Efficiency

Today, at the Fáilte Ireland Optimus Awards, the Maryborough Hotel & Spa, Cork became the first hotel in Ireland to collect the highestEuropean Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Award for Excellence.  To do so,Maryborough Hotel had previously progressed through the earlier modules of the Optimus Programme promoted by Fáilte Ireland.
In all forty six tourism establishments were honoured at the award ceremony held today in the Brehon Hotel in Killarney. The Optimus programme, developed by Fáilte Ireland, aims to help tourism establishments – including hotels, visitor services and restaurants - achieve excellence in every aspect of their business by providing a practical approach to improving business and customer service.
 
Speaking today, Chairman of Fáilte Ireland, Redmond O’Donoghue congratulated the award winners –
 
“This awards ceremony sees the highest number of tourism businesses ever in Ireland receive recognition for their commitment to quality through the Optimus Programme. Today’s recipients are spread across fourteen counties and include a range of businesses across the tourism industry.
 
He continued “This programme particularly appeals to me because of its emphasis on improving the visitors’ experience during their stay in Ireland. Tourism numbers are always assisted by strong marketing programmes but some of the best marketing is done through word of mouth. In the age of the internet, with influential sites such as Tripadvisor and others, this word of mouth endorsement has become n even stronger factor and made the customer’s personal experience all the more important to the tourism industry.”
 
Optimus is a national quality standard and business improvement tool for the Irish tourism industry. The multi-tiered programme was designed to help businesses understand their performance and assist them in making continuous improvement.
 
The Optimus programme structure comprises three core levels and a further two tiers of development, enabling businesses to progress through a gradual programme of improvement.
 
The first level, the Service Excellence programme, leading to the Ireland’s Best Award, focuses on the creation and development of a service excellence culture that is specific to the hospitality industry.
 
The second level, the Mark of Best Practice, focuses on every aspect of the operation and enables tourism businesses to set appropriate standards and monitor performance levels throughout.

The top level, ‘Business Excellence’ is awarded to businesses that demonstrate a deep commitment to continual improvement and superior performance with a primary focus on the development of a strategic approach to managing their business. 

 - There are two further steps to progress via the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). The level four and level five awards from the EFQM reflect organisations that have developed and now manage their business in a more strategic manner through setting targets and monitoring performance. This level can only be achieved by organisations that can simultaneously maintain the high level of improved quality already achieved in the earlier three Optimus programmes. The fifth level recognises the very top organisations each year and has never been achieved previously by an Irish hotel.
 
Aidan Pender, Director of Policy and Industry Development at Fáilte Ireland stressed the importance of Optimus in the current trading conditions.
 
“Potential visitors to Ireland are bombarded with choice and have become much more demanding and discerning. Our continued success will therefore depend on our ability to meet higher expectations in terms of customer service and quality.
 
 “The Optimus programme sets out to focus everyone in the business on the customer. This focus is even more vital now because of the changing economic and trading environment at home and internationally. Results to date clearly demonstrate that Optimus works on a number of fronts in raising quality standards and improving operational effectiveness and ultimately profitability.”
 
Further information on the Optimus Awards and programmes is available online from www.optimus.ie or email info@optimus.ie 
 

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Laoise Bray
Communications Department – 01/8847195

Notes for editor
 

Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, was established in 2003 to guide and promote tourism as a leading indigenous component of the Irish economy.
 
The tourism and hospitality industry employs over 300,000 people and generates more than €6 billion in revenue a year.
 
Optimus was established in 2004 to develop a culture of excellence within the Hospitality Industry through supporting organisations to become more profitable, more efficient and more competitive. 
 

Optimus Award Winners

The recipients at this year’s Optimus awards were:
 
Recognised for Excellence
(European Foundation for Quality Management Award Level 5)
Maryborough Hotel and Spa, Cork
 
Business Excellence Award
Clontarf Castle Hotel, Dublin Radisson SAS St Helen’s Hotel, Dublin

Mark of Best Practice
Radisson SAS Farnham Estate, Cavan Quality Resort Killarney
Maritime Hotel, Cork Carton House Hotel, Maynooth
Carlton Hotel Dublin Airport Westport Plaza, Westport
Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, Dublin Westport Woods Hotel, Westport 
Connemara Coast Hotel, Galway Faithlegg House Hotel, Faithlegg
Galway Bay Hotel, Galway Whites of Wexford, Wexford
Glenlo Abbey Hotel, Galway   

Service Excellence Award
Armada Hotel, Miltown Malbay Maldron Hotel, Galway
Blue Haven Collection, Kinsale Dingle Skellig Hotel and Peninsula Spa
Garryvoe Hotel, Castlemartyr Kate Browne’s Bar and Restaurant
Jameson Experience, Midleton Killarney Towers Hotel & Leisure Club
Oriel House Hotel, Ballincollig Lake Hotel Killarney
Buswells Hotel, Dublin Carlton Hotel Kinsale
Dublin Tourism Visitor Services Best Western Perys Hotel, Limerick
Dublin Tourism Visitor Activities Marriott Hotel Limerick
Farmleigh, Dublin Clewbay Hotel, Westport
Lemongrass, Citywest, Dublin Wyatt Hotel, Westport
Lemongrass, Naas Hamlet Court Hotel, Enfield
Temple Bar Hotel, Dublin Clonmel Park Hotel, Clonmel
Carlton Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe Wineport Lodge, Athlone

The Maryborough Hotel & Spa, Douglas, Co. Cork
 
The Maryborough Hotel & Spa is a 4 star hotel located in Douglas, Co. Cork. It offers 93 executive rooms and suites and its amenities include a 10,000 square foot spa, a leisure club, 11 conference and banqueting rooms, a 140 seater restaurant and extensive public areas and bar facilities.
 
At today’s awards, it became the first hotel in Ireland to collect the highestEuropean Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Award for Excellence.

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