The owners of the five-star Merrion Hotel in Dublin shared a bumper €7.6m dividend payout, last year, as profits at the hotel soared.

Pre-tax profits at the family-owned hotel group that owns a number of hotels, including the Europa Hotel in Belfast, the Culloden in Co Down, and also co-owns Dublin’s Merrion Hotel increased 21% to £4.9m (€5.5m).

Waterford company Zolk C was the first to enter the market with an electronic hand-held tourist guide, bringing heritage sites to life and is now turning its attentions to the lucrative North American tourism market, writes Trish Dromey.

A five-star hotel in the North has apparently been told to keep some of its foreign staff away from business delegates attending a major US investment summit, it emerged today.