Hoteliers criticise missed opportunity in Budget 2020

HOTEL and guesthouse owners in Wexford have criticised the Government’s decision not to reverse the tourism VAT hike, which came into effect following last year’s budget.

Chair of the Irish Hotels Federation South East branch Colm Neville said the increase in VAT from 9 per cent to 13.5 per cent has seriously undermined Irish tourism’s international competitiveness and the ability of tourism enterprises such as hotels to reinvest in their business and local economy.

Mr Neville said: ‘Budget 2020 is heralded as a budget for Brexit. Despite the serious challenges facing tourism, Government has failed to recognise the importance of competitiveness and its role in the ever-increasing cost of doing business in Ireland. This is a missed opportunity to rebalance the tax take from tourism at a time when economic indicators provide significant warning of a change in outlook.’

He said the hotel and accommodation industry has been one of the great success stories of the economy in recent years, supporting 270,000 jobs and promoting balanced regional growth across the country.

‘Here in Wexford it supports 9,300 jobs and contributes some €227m to the local economy annually. It is therefore disappointing that the Government has failed to recognise the exceptional challenges now confronting tourism businesses. Ireland is already a very high-cost economy by international standards. A rate of 9 per cent VAT is the appropriate level for Ireland and would put us mid-range in a European context. This is what the Government should be looking at to ensure long-term sustainable growth of our industry.’