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Staycity plans expansion with three new locations
20 June 2010 By David Clerkin
Staycity, the Irish provider of serviced accommodation for European city breaks, is in talks to open in three new locations, after opening its seventh site in Manchester this month.
Tom Walsh, chief executive of Staycity, said that initial business from the new base was positive. However, he warned that tourist patterns in Dublin were the poorest in Staycity’s portfolio, which includes Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Birmingham and Liverpool.
‘‘Dublin continues to disappoint in a big way, with visitor numbers to the city in steep decline," said Walsh, who operates more than 700 serviced apartments across Europe as a flexible alternative to hotel accommodation for tourists and business travellers.
He said the government’s controversial €10 tax on visitors, which has been criticised by Ryanair and Aer Lingus, should be scrapped. Walsh remained upbeat about Staycity’s non-Irish business.
‘‘The star performer is Paris, and the British cities are holding their own well," he said. Staycity will open an eighth base in Portsmouth next year and is also working on establishing sites in London, Glasgow and Bristol.
Walsh said the company, which was founded in 2004, was on track to become one of the top five providers of serviced accommodation in Europe within five years. It plans to operate more than 3,000 units by 2015 and is seeking to concentrate on Britain and France.
Walsh expects to add significant capacity in Paris and London and target other major cities in each market.
The company is 20 per cent owned by Irelandia Investments, the investment vehicle owned by the family of the late Tony Ryan, the Ryanair founder.
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