I see that the Cambridge dictionary nominated the word “perseverance” as the word of 2021 based on the number of searches for the word during the year . This of course was linked to the NASA Mars landing earlier in the year. However the word got me thinking about the perseverance that has been displayed by all in hospitality and tourism in the past 20 months and how it looks likely that we will need to keep this skill top of mind as we go into 2022.

Building back our business’s successfully will take not alone perseverance but agility, planning and some big thinking as our environment remains so uncertain.

Positively the macroeconomic signs are strong and we can expect that there will be a strong domestic market coupled with a growing international market as we trade throughout 2022.

We continue to work with many of you in the sector, helping you plan for long term change, stabilize your offerings and your diversified income streams . This is work we love to do and we delight in so many of you going on to enjoy even greater success as a result of the work and projects we undertake with you.

We  are so heartened  that many of you have listened to our advice and have prioritized technology as a key future business enabler. Investment in such projects will support your commercial objectives across your business . In making such investment you will yield greater guest and demand data along with some really solid insights that will empower you to make better business decisions in turn supporting greater total revenues .

On the tourism side of the house we will complete the development of a lovely visitor experience network in Northern Ireland before Christmas. This project coupled with a similar distillery network development earlier in the year have given us fantastic insights in to the wonderful visitor offering that exists in the North. We have many road trips planned for 2022 to allow us to enjoy these experiences first hand .We encourage you to do your own research to explore the fabulous visitor offering available on our island and all only a drive away.

Meantime we would love to hear from you if you think we can help you in your business planning and execution for 2022 and beyond . Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram @TheInnovateRoom for shared content and to keep up to date with myself and the team.

All that remains is for me to wish you a  very Happy Christmas. Enjoy the downtime if you are lucky enough to have some planned and if you are working the season, keep safe and well.

We look forward to working with you in 2022. Thanks to you all for your support in 2021, it is greatly appreciated .

Oonagh & all the team at The Innovate Room

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