Just in case it did not have enough hotels, plans are now in place for the development of yet another hotel in Westport. Leading hotels in this tourist haven for County Mayo include the Castlecourt Hotel, the Westport Plaza, Hotel Westport, Knockranny House Hotel, the Westport Woods Hotel, the Mill Times Hotel, the Wyatt Hotel, the Clew Bay Hotel and the Atlantic Carlton Hotel. Now, as part of an ambitious masterplan, management at Westport House and Country Estate have announced their intention to develop a number of major new residential units including houses, apartments and a hotel, all still subject to planning but which if approved, are tipped to create 100 new jobs in the area in the distant future.
Going public on such massive hopes and dreams at this point in time can not only be described as brave but pioneering. The most recent hotel added to the generous offering in the area, Westport Country Lodge in Aughagower, has had to deal with the unanticipated challenge of opening its doors just as the boom times ended. Another hotel scheduled to open around the same period, out in Murrisk, never launched and remains today an uncompleted shell of a building on the extremely busy tourist route out to Louisburgh and Leenane.
The grand plan for Westport House is something that has been in the offing for several years and is an effort to put in concrete form what have up to now been pipedreams for the Browne family. To the many families who already know and appreciate what is on offer at the estate, Westport House is truly a wonderful asset for the county and one of the biggest attractions for visitors to the area. Being that little bit out of town means that the actual business of tourism that goes on in the estate is often not visible first hand to local residents. However so many families with young children are very familiar with all the attractions on offer from the flume ride to the slippery dip and can appreciate the new additions such as the pirate queen ship that continue to come onstream and add to the terrific offering of entertainment, scenery, activities, history, food and walks available. Management are wished the very best of luck with their ambitious plans for the estate, which will of course hinge on the support, cooperation and sanction of local authorities and planning bodies.
Also in the world of business this week the National Consumer Agency has published its third annual report highlighting almost 100 businesses that have received either prosecutions or warnings in regard to how operations are run. A handful of those on the list were Mayo businesses, and sanctions imposed related to charging customers higher prices than those shown on display and on-the-spot fines levied at €300 a pop for failing to display prices at all.
One particular outlet that would cover a fairly large premises was hit for three of those fines at one time, adding up to almost €1,000 in dues. Of course we all want to know who the rogue traders are in our midst and equally want retailers to comply with all the regulations that apply to running a business. Given that the National Consumer Agency actively encourages members of the public to get involved in the process by alerting concerns over pricing and displays, allied to the fact that those in business already have mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy to sift through every year just to stay afloat, perhaps a message of congratulations to the majority of retailers who do manage to comply with regulations throughout their entire premises would also be timely right now.
