Alcohol licensing for hotels guest houses and conference centers

Hotels, Guest Houses and Conference Centres can be licensed for the retail sale of alcohol.

Applicants must apply to the courts for a liquor licence and demonstrate that certain conditions have been met:

• The licence holder is fit to hold a licence
• The premises is suitable for the sale of alcohol
• The premises meets the criteria for which the application for licence is being sought

Tourism Northern Ireland (Tourism NI) is responsible for the issuing of Certificates and licensing letters for Hotels, Guest Houses and Conference Centres.

Hotel and Guest House

These are the documents which are required to be lodged in court as part of the granting of the liquor licence process.

• Hotel or Guest House certificate and licensing letter (subject to application). Please click here to apply. 
• Copy of coloured hatched Licensing Plans to scale. These should be served on Tourism NI by your solicitor together with the copy of the
• Notice of Application for provisional and then final grant of application to the Court.
• Copy of full Planning Approval for the Hotel or Guest house from the relevant Planning Authority.
• Confirmation that you have completed a Fire Risk Assessment.
• Copy of current clearance letters from the Environmental Health Department where the Hotel or Guest house is located covering the relevant Health and Safety at Work Legislation and Food Hygiene Legislation.

Certification involves an inspection prior to court where the premises must meet the required criteria set down under the legislation , which is the Tourism (Northern Ireland) Order 1992. New and existing Hotels and Guest houses are required to have a current certificate from Tourism NI.

Hotel - A hotel is an establishment with a minimum of 15 double bedrooms all of which must be en-suite. A hotel operator must be capable of providing breakfast and an evening meal for guests as well as mid-day refreshments and a daily cleaning service for bedrooms. All details are in the Hotel start up guide. 

Guest House - A guest house is an establishment with a minimum of three double en-suite bedrooms and is capable of providing both breakfast and an evening meal and a daily cleaning service for bedrooms. Guest house set up guide.

It is important to remember that all Liquor licences are renewed by your solicitor in court every five years and the next licensing year is 2022. You must apply to the court for renewal of the licence. The Court will require you to lodge your current Tourism NI certificate and your solicitor can apply for a licensing letter from Tourism NI’s Quality and Standards department prior to your court date. 

New Hotel and Guest House applications

Where it is a new premises, you should contact Tourism NI’s Quality and Standards department in advance of starting any development work, provide scaled architect drawings (hard copy) for comment to ensure full compliance under the intended category of legislation. The Quality and Standards department will review the drawings and advise on the requirements.
Once the building work is completed and, prior to opening to the public, an application must be made to certify the property. The inspection will be completed by a member of the Quality and Standards team. Subject to full compliance a certificate will be issued together with the licensing letter for court.

Other Accommodation Licences

Licensed Guest Inn

Public House and Licenced Restaurants that are serving food and drink may add accommodation to their premises and they must meet the criteria for Guest House. Guest House start up guide. 

These properties can then be listed and promoted as Licensed Guest Inns on our web sites. See link below for details on liquor licences. If you are considering a new application as a Licenced Guest Inn, please contact the Quality and Standards department to discuss the development prior to commencing any building work to ensure compliance under the legislation.

Inspection Requirements for Conference Centres

Conference Centres will require an inspection from Tourism NI prior to court where the premises must meet the required criteria set down under the legislation.

The following sets out the minimum requirements for Conference Centre establishments under Licensing (Requirements for Conference Centre) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997. The premises must have a specialised conference brochure or otherwise advertise the provision of conference facilities as one of the main businesses offered by the premises.

The premises must:

• Have a minimum of two conference rooms, one of which must be capable of seating at least 60 persons in addition to providing adequate space for the person(s) addressing the gathering.
• Be capable of providing a main table meal for up to 60 delegates simultaneously.
• The conference rooms must be used exclusively or mainly as meeting rooms.
• The premises must have at least one named member of staff with designated responsibility for handling conference enquiries and arrangements.
• Adequate equipment for use at conferences must be available on the premises.
• The premises must be compliant under all statutory bodies.

Where the development is a new application we would recommend that you should contact Tourism NI’s Quality and Standards department in advance of starting any building work and provide to scale architect drawings (hard copy) for comment, to ensure full compliance under the conference centre legislation. The Quality and Standards department will review the drawings and advise on the requirements.

Alcohol Licensing for Conference Centers

In order to obtain a licensing letter from Tourism NI for the purposes of securing a licence for the sale by retail of alcohol, Conference Centre operators are required to submit the following documentation to Tourism NI:

• A letter detailing the premises to be inspected and your intention to apply for a liquor licence.
• Fee of £500 payable to Tourism NI.
• Copy of full Planning Approval for the Conference Centre from the relevant Planning Authority.
• Confirmation that you have completed a Fire Risk Assessment.
• Copy of current clearance letters from the Environmental Health Department where the Conference Centre is located covering the relevant Health and Safety at Work Legislation and Food Hygiene Legislation.
• Copy of coloured hatched Licensing Plans together with a copy of the notice of application to the court for provisional and final grant of licence to be served on Tourism NI by your solicitor

Once Tourism NI’s Quality and Standards Unit has received all of the above information a Quality and Standards Officer will contact you to arrange a visit to carry out an inspection. If the Conference Centre meets the requirements Tourism NI will issue a letter confirming that the premises meet the definition of a Conference Centre contained in Article 2 (2) of the Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

It is important to remember that all Liquor Licences are renewed by your solicitor in court every five years and the next licensing year 2022. You must apply to the court for renewal of the Liquor Licence. The Court will require you to lodge your current Tourism NI certificate and licensing letter. Your solicitor can apply to Tourism NI for a licensing letter from Quality and Standards department prior to your court date in September 2022.

Providing 'free' alcohol to guests

You need a licence to sell alcohol – this includes providing 'free' alcohol, because it could be perceived to bean incentive to purchase and/or is included in your pricing structure. The fact that you charge the guest for staying in your accommodation means that they are essentially paying for the alcohol that is provided. In other words, the guest has effectively paid a 'consideration' for that service. It is not free.

All liquor licensing information is available here.

More Information

For more information for Hotels, Guest Houses and Conference Centre wanting to obtain a liquor licence please contact Tourism NI's Quality and Standards department:

Tel: 028 9044 1545
Email: QA@tourismni.com

This information is provided as a guide and is not designed to be definitive. Each business has its own requirements, depending on the type of accommodation. For precise or detailed information, or on the legal implications for you in particular, you should consult your solicitor.