The Northern Ireland Hotels Federation is a leading player in the developing Northern Ireland hotel industry and tourism. A relatively new organization in the segment, formed in 1999, the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation represents over one hundred and four Northern Ireland hotels and guesthouses and sixty trade partners. Totally, the members of the NIHF form over eighty percent of the hotel industry. The NIHF is a sister body of the Iris Hotels Federation and an associated member of the British Hospitality Association.
The Federation maintains a website, www.nihf.co.uk, which is of a great importance for the promotion and advertising of all Northern Ireland hotels and for their general appeal to the worldwide audience. It is important to note that the NIHF website was awarded the Goldeneye Website and described in the Business Eye Magazine as "clean, well presented and simple to use". In fact, www.nihf.co.uk is a leading searchable and booking database for Northern Ireland hotels.
The NIHF's Blueprint for Tourism, issued in 2001, is a very interesting and significant publication, complementing and greatly enlarging on the information, presented on www.nihf.co.uk. It contains relevant data, research findings, tourism trends, strategies for effective marketing and action plans, joined under the general goal to stimulate the growth in the hospitality industry and tourism as well as to contribute to the creation of a market focused tourism strategy. The Blueprint emphasizes a significant role of tourism, as the world's fastest growing industry for the UK economy, highlights the potential growth of tourism in the United Kingdom and specifically attends the role of the hospitality industry in the growth of tourism.
The NIHF provides essential research findings, such as particular types marketing, investment and promotion, improvement of quality and professionalism, each customer focus and e-commerce that should extensively influence the development of the hospitality industry. Many ideas and strategies, described in the Blueprint for Tourism, have been already put into practice and, today, many Northern Ireland hotels are rightfully called the venues of exceptional cleanness, high quality and distinguished professionalism.
The Hotplate, issued in spring 2003, is another interesting, full color publication of the Federation, featuring news and features of interest to hoteliers and the wider industry. The publication deals with e-commerce development, particularly with starting the NIHF website and describing its role in the marketing and development of the hospitality industry. It also describes numerous events that join NIHF members for cooperation and competition. The Belfast Jobsfair, the Centenary Celebration of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Exchange have become legendary meetings for many job seekers, chefs and hospitality inventors, who had an opportunity to present their talents and win awards, emphasizing their professionalism and dedication to their job and career.
Certainly, the traditions of meeting, cooperating and competing are continuing and attracting more and more members of the Northern Ireland hospitality industry. The ads and results of competitions are always featured on www.irelandhotels.com.