Jazz Festival means business for Cork over holiday weekend

ONE city hotel has had to hire 50 extra staff to meet demand over the coming Jazz festival.

The Guinness Cork Jazz weekend is the flagship calendar event for many Cork businesses, according to the Cork Chamber, who said that the entire hospitality sector will see a boost next weekend.

Imelda May, the Booka Brass Band and the King Kong Company are just some of the big names playing in the city next weekend as part of the 40th edition of the festival.

A large number of businesses are expecting increased trade over the October Bank holiday weekend and have increased staff numbers to cope with demand.

The founding hotel of the Jazz Weekend, The Metropole, is hiring 50 extra staff to deal with the expected surge in customers.

General Manager of The Metropole, Roger Russell, said experience, attitude and attention to detail were the three most important things that they were looking for in their new recruits that they hired in the run-up to October the festival.

“We have recruited 50 people for the Jazz Weekend and we are confident we have got the cream of the crop.

“There were over 200 applications for the positions and we ran interviews over a number of days last week.” 

Chief Executive of the Cork Business Association Lawrence Owens said all businesses that will be positively affected by the increased trade over the October Bank Holiday weekend will be optimising their staff over the weekend with additional hours.

“Generally there will be extra hours going, maximum hours going to ensure customer service levels are maintained and business is optimised.

"It is critically important in the hospitality sector to offer the very best level of customer service available.”

Mr Owens said prioritising customer service was imperative to the reputation of Cork as a destination city and in order to ensure a good return from the busy weekend.

“Not alone for the customer service level, but also from the commercial aspect, you know, good service, is good business and you keep people happy, you maximise your sales and it is just pure common sense.

“I have no doubt that businesses that have a lot of experience with the Jazz weekend will be well tuned in and they will have the right level of people to provide the best service.”