Following recent news that hotels in Northern Ireland are now excelling with even higher occupancy levels than that of Dublin, there's more positive signs of progress in the hospitality trade today.

Lord Diljit Rana, Chief Executive of Andras House, (pictured, inset) said he was so confident of further growth in the hotel business that he is to invest more than £10m on the expansion of the Ramada hotel in south Belfast - overlooking the picturesque Shaw's Bridge, (main picture).

"Political stability is certainly having a very positive impact. I believe that Northern Ireland can look forward to faster growth in tourism revenues," said the long-established restaurateur and hotelier.

The former winner of a top NI Travel News Award for his personal contribution to the industry said that the investment will create 60 more jobs in the four star hotel, which currently employs 117 staff.

"We are enjoying another successful summer with high levels of occupancy, despite the poor weather," he said.

"Tourism guests have been growing strongly over recent years and we are seeing visitors from many parts of the world including the US, India, parts of Europe and also from Japan," he said.

Earlier this month, a survey found that a huge increase in bed occupancy rates in Belfast had been fuelled by overseas holidaymakers, short-break and business tourists.

Michael Williamson, Director of Hotel, Tourism and Leisure Consulting at ASM Horwath, said that demand for hotel bedrooms outstripped supply in some areas like Belfast.

"In financial performance terms, the industry now outperforms hotels in Dublin, one of the most dynamic markets in Europe over the past number of years.

"This can be regarded as a major transformation to an industry that was once considered the domain of only the brave or the foolhardy," he said.

See: NI Hotels Booming - In A Different Way

(BMcC/KMcA)