DUNBRODY BOOSTED BY LOCAL CUSTOM
‘FOR the first week it’s been better than expected.’
Sounding an optimistic note, Dunbrody Experience Visitor Centre CEO Sean Connick said he and his team were pleasantly surprised by the numbers coming through the centre’s doors over recent days.
‘It’s great to be back open. It’s a whole new environment,’ he said.
Although business was down by 75 per cent on the same period last year, The Captain’s Table restaurant has been busy with locals even with half the seating compared to pre- Covid-19 days.
‘ The next two months will be so important to us. We are looking at promoting ourselves in the south east to get footfall up.’
Mr Connick said the situation for all visitor attractions was ‘ horrendous’ up until last week.
‘All we can do is continue opening up and go through it. There is more traffic on the road and we’ve had people in from Cork and the west and Midlands so that has been encouraging.
We know some people are nervous about coming indoors but we’ve had a lot of people who have come to see the ship and come up to the restaurant. Fingers crossed the domestic market, particularly locals and people from across the south east, will keep coming.’
He said all staff have been impacted by Covid-19 with pay cuts across the board. ‘We are operating in July with December staff levels. Normally we would be buzzing during the summer. It’s having a big impact on jobs; we’re hoping it’s temporary. Measures have had to be taken in all of the department’s interests in terms of overheads and continuing.’
The Dunbroy centre normally employs 50 people during the summer and currently there are around 25 people employed. ‘We would always take on loads of students. We are monitoring the situation week by week and are making adjustments based on numbers.’