Crowe speaks at Hospitality Perspectives 2023 event
Mairea Doyle Balfe participates in panel discussion.
Hotels, Tourism and Leisure Director Mairea Doyle Balfe, participated in a panel discussion at the recent Hospitality Perspectives Conference held by Cliste Hospitality. The panel addressed the theme Hospitality in the Family – Strategies, Succession and Tax Planning.
Mairea was joined by three other industry professionals, Sean O’Driscoll of Cliste Hospitality, Niamh Walsh of TDL Horizon and John Cuddigan of Ronan Daly Jermyn.
A fundamental part of succession planning is the actual planning and making the right decisions. Mairea highlighted that hotels demonstrated their resilience, innovation and ability to make hard decisions during the trading challenges of COVID-19. With succession planning it is critical to look to the longer term and objectively assess what is good for the business. This means standing back, using hard facts and KPIs and critically understanding the needs of the business. For example – are the right people in the right roles? While this can be difficult in family situations, taking an objective approach can help with making the right decisions.
Family-owned hotels are still at the centre of Irish hospitality. As part of the discussion, Sean O’Driscoll highlighted the options for an owner wanting to exit the family hotel business. These included transferring a hotel asset to a family or nominated person, opting for a management contract and leasing or selling the asset. He suggested the importance of seeking independent external advice as often an independent report will provide unbiased opinions and recommendations.
John Cuddigan spoke of the importance of tax planning when looking at succession and stressed the importance of starting early. He outlined the different routes to succession, be it passing the business on, leasing, management agreement or selling, and that each will have different tax implications.
Niamh Walsh offered some insights from personal experience of where the transferral of a hotel business within a family does not always go smoothly and she stressed the need for clear and considered planning.
For more information about how Crowe’s dedicated hotel, tourism and leisure team can assist you with any hotel or hospitality project, contact a member of our HTL team.
Mairea was joined by three other industry professionals, Sean O’Driscoll of Cliste Hospitality, Niamh Walsh of TDL Horizon and John Cuddigan of Ronan Daly Jermyn.
A fundamental part of succession planning is the actual planning and making the right decisions. Mairea highlighted that hotels demonstrated their resilience, innovation and ability to make hard decisions during the trading challenges of COVID-19. With succession planning it is critical to look to the longer term and objectively assess what is good for the business. This means standing back, using hard facts and KPIs and critically understanding the needs of the business. For example – are the right people in the right roles? While this can be difficult in family situations, taking an objective approach can help with making the right decisions.
Family-owned hotels are still at the centre of Irish hospitality. As part of the discussion, Sean O’Driscoll highlighted the options for an owner wanting to exit the family hotel business. These included transferring a hotel asset to a family or nominated person, opting for a management contract and leasing or selling the asset. He suggested the importance of seeking independent external advice as often an independent report will provide unbiased opinions and recommendations.
John Cuddigan spoke of the importance of tax planning when looking at succession and stressed the importance of starting early. He outlined the different routes to succession, be it passing the business on, leasing, management agreement or selling, and that each will have different tax implications.
Niamh Walsh offered some insights from personal experience of where the transferral of a hotel business within a family does not always go smoothly and she stressed the need for clear and considered planning.
For more information about how Crowe’s dedicated hotel, tourism and leisure team can assist you with any hotel or hospitality project, contact a member of our HTL team.