Clontarf Castle Hotel, Dublin was amongst a group of twenty tourism establishments honoured at the Fáilte Ireland Optimus Awards held today in Galway.Clontarf Castle Hotel received the top level award (European Foundation for Quality Management Award Level 4) for special recognition for its ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and business excellence.
The Optimus programme, developed by Fáilte Ireland, aims to help tourism establishments – including hotels, restaurants and visitor centres - achieve excellence in every aspect of their business by providing a practical approach to improving the quality, value and delight that visitors experience during their stay in Ireland.Speaking today, Chairman of Fáilte Ireland, Redmond O’Donoghue congratulated the award winners –
“This year we have twenty winners who are receiving recognition for their commitment to quality through the Optimus programme. Today’s recipients are located throughout the country, representing twelve counties in all, and reflect well on the tourism industry’s willingness to embrace change and innovation towards self-improvement. I would like to commend your willingness to take on Optimus at a challenging time for tourism. This demonstrates your ability to embrace challenges and deal with them proactively. For our part, we in Fáilte Ireland are committed to working with you and others in the industry to overcome the challenges posed by the current economic climate. Indeed, 2010 will see us enhancing our level of practical business support offered to tourism enterprises". He continued: - “The EFQM Recognised for Excellence Level 4 award is synonymous with the highest standards of quality management. The evident drive, commitment and achievement of the team at Clontarf Castle Hotel are very clearly demonstrated by this award. They deserve to be proud of the results they have delivered in raising the profile of quality management within the Irish tourism industry.”
The ‘Optimus’ programme is a national quality standard and business improvement tool for the Irish tourism industry with an emphasis on business improvement. The programme helps enterprises understand their performance and then assists them in establishing priorities around making continuous improvement.
Tony Lenehan, Head of Food, Hospitality and Standards at Fáilte Ireland stressed the importance of Optimus in the current trading conditions. “I would like to congratulate all twenty businesses on their achievement. Not just on the accolade that they have received today but on their business acumen which has seen them embrace a management framework that brings tangible business benefits. These twenty achievers have undergone a full assessment based on the Optimus framework. This assessment confirms the performance of these organisations and their ability to embed the principles of continuous improvement across their business while transforming these principles into tangible results.”
Clontarf Castle Receives Optimus Award, pictured were (l. to r.): Redmond O'Donoghue, Chairman, Fáilte Ireland; Deirdre Fitzsimons and Mark Long, Clontarf Castle Hotel 
