Omicron grant scheme in Northern Ireland extended to hotels

The Omicron grant scheme in Northern Ireland has been extended to hotels after they were initially excluded.

Following Executive agreement, hotels will now also be eligible for a one-off grant between £10,000 and £20,000 depending on their rateable value.

From next week, Land & Property Services will contact Tourism NI-certified hotels by email if they previously received a payment under the Localised Restrictions Support Scheme (LRSS). The email will include a link to an online form, where businesses will be asked to confirm some information and complete a declaration to enable payments.

Finance minister Conor Murphy said: “Hotels are a vital part of our hospitality industry and have undoubtedly been impacted by Omicron, facing cancellations over the festive period.

“I was determined to ensure hotels were not left without support and in the absence of a bid for funding for a scheme to help this sector being brought forward, my department has again taken the lead and obtained Executive approval to include hotels in the Omicron Hospitality Payment scheme. My department will move at pace to get financial assistance out to hotels.”

NI Hotel Federation chief executive Janice Gault said: “Hoteliers are pleased their plight has been recognised in a similar way to other components of the hospitality industry and welcome the inclusion of the sector in the scheme. To date, January has been quiet but with the relaxing of restrictions, the removal of the Covid passport and hospitals coping with infection levels, the climate is becoming more favourable.”

Chief executive of Hospitality Ulster Colin Neill said it was a “welcome step” and a “boost” that would “go some way” to supporting hospitality businesses.

He added: “It is also welcome that hotels have now been included in the Omicron Hospitality Payment scheme and only right that those providing accommodation receive this vital support when trying to rebalance and bring reignite the tourism offer.

“The next step is to ensure that the right resources are in place to provide hospitality the opportunity to revitalise and prosper once more through a marketing campaign to restore consumer confidence and dedicated hospitality strategy to rebuild the industry. This must include the lifting of all outstanding restrictions that are still imposed and hindering the build back process.”

The Executive has also agreed to extend the scheme to include certain sports clubs with a licensed bar or restaurant facility. A maximum one-off £10,000 payment will be available to sports clubs that operate a bar or restaurant, have a liquor licence and received less than £50,000 in total from the Department for Communities Sport Sustainability Fund last year.

Already eligible businesses such as restaurants, cafés, nightclubs and pubs were contacted last Wednesday (19 January) by Land & Property Services (LPS) to verify their details. To date, 2,233 businesses have confirmed their details and LPS has paid 86% of those applications. So far, more than £23.7m has been issued to 1,936 hospitality businesses.

A process has also been put in place to allow new hospitality start-up businesses or those that had not previously applied to Localised Restrictions Support Scheme to apply for the Omicron Hospitality Payment.

Photo: Shutterstock