A NEW £7 million, 116-bedroom budget hotel planned for Derry is set to bring 47 jobs to the city.
The three-star Holiday Inn Express Hotel is being developed by the Duddy Group and supported by Invest NI to the tune of £724,000.
Located on the corner of Strand Road and Great James Street, it will occupy a prime location close to the Peace Bridge and key tourist sites including the Guildhall and the City Walls.
Describing it as an "exciting development" for his company, Brendan Duddy said the hotel would support the wider tourist and hospitality industry in the north and provide a new base for visitors exploring Derry and the surrounding area.
"We wanted to grow tourism in the north west and create employment and business opportunities for service providers in the region," Mr Duddy said.
A further grant of £475,000 has come from the Department for Communities via its Urban Development Grant, while £1million of mezzanine funding has also been secured from Whiterock Capital through Invest NI’s Access to Finance strategy.
"The support from Invest NI and the Department for Communities will enable us to progress our investment plans and we are aiming to have the hotel open for business by early 2018," he added.
Featuring a Marco Pierre New York Italian restaurant, two meeting rooms and three retail units, the hotel will provide accommodation for up to 40,000 visitors per year, according to Invest NI chief executive Alastair Hamilton.
He said: "This will bring significant additional revenue to the city, and the economic benefit also includes the creation of 47 jobs as well as employment generated during the construction phase.
"The addition of this internationally acknowledged brand will underline the city’s position as a quality destination and will contribute to achieving government’s targets to grow tourism revenues to £1 billion and visitor numbers to 4.5 million by 2020."
Pauline Campbell, director at the Department for Communities, added: "Our £475,000 investment will unlock significant private and public investment into this project.
"This new 116 bedroom, three-star hotel will give a much-needed boost to the economy, as well as regenerating a key site within Londonderry."