Castle Varagh Hotel wins at Fáilte Ireland Employer Excellence Awards

Castle Varagh Hotel, Castlepollard won the Best Employer – Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Award at Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence Awards which took place in the Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel and Spa, in Limerick.

The ceremony celebrated businesses that have demonstrated their commitment to making the tourism industry an appealing and rewarding place to work through their participation in Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence programme.

This is the third year of the award ceremony.

The 14 winning businesses are:

Best Employer – Outstanding: O’Callaghan Coaches, Kerry

Best Employer – Large Business: Radisson Blu Hotel Dublin Airport

Best Employer – Medium Business: Sandhouse Hotel, Donegal

Best Employer – Small Business: O’Callaghan Coaches, Kerry

Best Employer - Wild Atlantic Way: The Bedford Townhouse, Limerick

Best Employer - Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands: Castle Varagh Hotel, Westmeath

Best Employer - Ireland’s Ancient East: The Goldie Fish and Ale Restaurant, Cork City

Best Employer - Dublin: GPO Museum, Dublin

Best Employer - Attraction: Smithwick’s Experience Kilkenny

Best Employer - Food and Drink: Orso Kitchen and Bar, Cork

Best Employer - Hotel Group: PREM Group, Dublin

Best Employer - Golf: Lahinch Golf Club, Clare

Best Employer - Adventure: Castlecomer Discovery Park, Kilkenny

Best Employer – Tour Operator: Vagabond Adventure Tours, Wicklow

As part of the programme, a survey conducted with staff of participating businesses gave them the chance to highlight the strengths of their workplaces, plus areas for further development.

Fáilte Ireland is now supporting those businesses to implement actions identified in their survey to further enhance employee engagement. The winning businesses completed management upskilling, engaged with HR experts and were then chosen based on employee feedback.

Fáilte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly said: “Tourism is fundamentally a people business, and nowhere is this more evident than in Ireland, where our greatest asset is the céad míle fáilte provided by tourism staff and businesses to our visitors.

“An engaged workforce is key to delivering successful businesses and this warm welcome to our visitors. The Fáilte Ireland Employer Excellence Awards celebrate the businesses that have set the industry standard for employee engagement and workplace culture. These awards will help drive further improvements in both the quality and perception of careers in the tourism sector.”

Jenny De Saulles, Fáilte Ireland’s director of Sector Development, added: “Our latest figures show that since the programme launched in 2022, it has positively impacted 30,000 employees across the tourism sector nationwide. Employee engagement scores for businesses now in their third year of the programme have grown to 75%, 8% higher than the average across the wider employment sector, with significant improvements made in the areas of induction, reward and benefit, and management involving people in decisions affecting their jobs. So, it’s fantastic to gather together for these awards to showcase the best-in-class examples of employers along with those professionals who are thriving in the industry.”

Tourism businesses who are interested in joining Fáilte Ireland’s Employer Excellence programme can find out more at https://www.failteireland.ie/employerexcellence.aspx.