Hospitality industry is a rewarding one, says new president of sector

The new president of the Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI) Brian Bowler is the manager of one of Cork’s most iconic hotels The Montenotte Hotel.

The Kerry man, who is now happily settled in the rebel county, has been with the Montenotte since 2017 and said working with the Cork hotel is a career highlight.

“I’ve been in hospitality all my life. I’m from Ballyferriter, West Kerry and as a teenager I worked in pubs.” 

Brian, who is a gaeilgeoir and still has the cupla focal, decided to pursue a career in hospitality after his second-level education.

“After my Leaving Certificate, I did a trainee manager programme with the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney. I did a four-year programme there, working in every department and when I graduated, I left and joined the Great Southern Group and worked in Killarney and Shannon before joining Choice Hotels, which owned Clarion Hotels at the time.

“I spent 10 years working with them, I was in the Clarion Hotel in Limerick, then transferred to Cork where I was the deputy General Manager for three years before transferring to Carton House Maynooth and I was the Deputy General Manager there.

Brian said Carton House was a really exciting place to work.

“At that time we had two championship golf courses and we had football training pitches, so we would have hosted the Irish Open in 2013 and the British And Irish Lions in 2013.

“In the few years I was there we had Rooney, Ronaldo and Messi staying with us because all their national teams would have stayed, a really exciting and interesting place to work, so beautiful as well, 1140 acres.”

During his time at the Carton House, Brian had guests such as Rory McElroy and Shane Lowrey who were at the Irish Open in 2013.

“That period of time, May, June, July in 2013, it was a real highlight, every day, there was so much happening. first, we had the British and Irish Lions, then they were only gone a few days and the Irish Open was on and there was a huge build-up.

Brian said as a sports fan, those years meant a lot to him. “I would be hugely into sport, big GAA, Rugby, soccer fan “At the time, I was a big Manchester City fan and Argentina stayed with us and everyone was interested in Messi but there was a fella, Carlos Tevez playing for Man City at the time and I was more into him.!

“It was really exciting at the time, these big international stars coming and going,a few club sides from Spain and France doing pre-season training camps, it was amazing.” After his time at Carton House, Brian took up his first General Manager role with Brehon Hotel in Killarney, which is part of the Gleneagle and INEC complex where he did his managerial training, before moving to Cork in 2017 and taking up his position with the Montenotte Hotel.

Brian, who is now the president of the IHI for the next two years, has been with the organisation for a good number of years. He was invited onto the board four years ago and served two years as the deputy before taking over at the helm.

Chatting about his intentions, Brian said he wanted to focus on highlighting the career opportunities that exist within the sector.

“The sector is taking a bit of a hammering at the moment. A lot of people have left, people who have been in it a while.

The Montenotte General Manager said he felt it was really is a rewarding industry

“Long hours and low pay is not a fair description of the industry. There are fantastic opportunities there for people. You don’t have to go off and get degrees and Masters if that's not your thing if you are not particularly academic. If you are good with people, good communication skills, you can go a long way.” Mr Bowler also said he would be encouraging his kids to get involved in the industry as he felt there were vital life skills to be gained from the sector.

“I would certainly encourage my kids and be looking for them to work in a hotel, bar or reception, where they can build people and communication skills.

“I know from my own experience, working at reception gives you great confidence in dealing with people.” 

Brian outlined the vast array of great courses available within the Munster area in hotel management and hospitality.

“Unfortunately there aren’t enough people getting into the industry at the moment, the numbers are as low as they have ever been. That is a concern, the industry is going to rebound and it is going to need staff, atm you can’t get staff for a managerial and supervisor role. If I can make it known through the IHI that it is a really rewarding career and industry to work in that has a lot of opportunities.

Chatting about his time at The Montenotte Hotel, Brian said it has been a very exciting four years as the hotel is constantly evolving and improving.

“The owners Frankie and Josephine Whelehan are very passionate about the product and about what we are trying to create here, a real high-end luxury and unique experience. We are very uniquely positioned, we have unrivalled views of the city and we are opening a new rooftop bar, which is a real statement piece and another string to our bow.” In the last four to five years the hotel has done a lot of work on the business, refurbishing its health club, opening a spa and revamping the ground floor into a panoramic bistro and terrace overlooking the city.

“We have put a huge investment in the gardens over the last four years, we have beautiful Victorian style gardens. We are creating a destination type hotel in a city environment, which is kind of unusual but we are nearly there.

“I do feel one of the luckiest General managers in the country.”