Tourism sector shares its woes with retailers as Brexit looms
ABUDGET with no surprises makes for little news. And while there was a naturally muted reaction to the speech on Tuesday, there was a very lively debate at the Retail Excellence annual post-Budget dinner, held in the Kilkenny store on Nassau Street in Dublin.
Applegreen chief operating officer Joe Barrett, Carrolls Irish Gifts founder Colm Carroll and Jean McCabe, the owner of the award-winning Willow boutiques in Ennis and Galway, all thrashed out the challenges facing Irish business at the moment, with a number of common themes emerging.
Among them were housing and the policy rationale for not building higher, and the logistical complexities of postBrexit trade.
For a retail event, tourism played a central role in the proceedings.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures indicate that tourism numbers are holding firm but spending is down.
Whatever the mix, the feedback at the event was that tourism is suffering.
Carroll, who generally shuns the media, spoke passionately about the experience on the ground, given his Irish gifts business is heavily exposed to tourism.
“After a fairly decent first quarter, we found the rest of the year quite weak,” he said.
Average spend is doing well, he said, but there appear to be fewer tourists around.
Carroll said he was aware that some of Ireland’s biggest tourist attractions were reporting that their visitor numbers were down 10pc year-on-year.
Some of these numbers are at odds with the CSO data, but it would be foolish to ignore the first-hand experience of those on the frontline.
Carroll said that Brexit had caused huge uncertainty and nervousness, while currency fluctuations were also playing havoc with tourist destination choices and spending power.
Although the Budget committed €40m to support tourism in the event of a nodeal Brexit, the sector is clearly feeling some pain already.
Said Carroll: “There doesn’t seem to be any urgency in the Government to do anything about this.” He also backed hoteliers in criticising the decision in last year’s Budget to increase VAT on hotels from 9pc to 13.5pc. “It is another reason not to visit Ireland,” he said.
“We need to remain competitive and remain a value-for-money destination. We need better Government support and international marketing for the industry.”
Retailers in the room were also keen that Ireland be promoted as a retail destination.
Naturally, Ireland’s scenic beauty, history and high-quality accommodation are marketed heavily, but not its retailers.
Does promoting shopping seem a little off-message? According to Carroll, Chinese visitors spend 50pc to 70pc of their holiday budget on retail, so perhaps getting the retail message out there internationally would be beneficial.
“There are some magnificent Irish brands, but they are not marketed,” said Carroll. Barrett didn’t completely agree with Carroll, saying that the VAT increase was fair game. But he said that there was a need for “self-help”, and to ensure that cutting costs in retail and hospitality doesn’t lead to a less positive experience for customers.
He laid less blame at the Government’s feet than Carroll, but said that businesses needed to change and adapt in this fastchanging environment.
As I write this, optimism for a Brexit deal is growing.
One question put to the panel by MC Gina London, who writes a column in these pages, was what they were looking forward to in 2020. Surely some certainty on Brexit after three years would be welcome? No deal or an agreement, at least they would know what they were facing.
It was something no one on the panel felt they could look forward to. Whatever the outcome, they are expecting that uncertainty and worry will continue, even if we don’t end up in a worst-case scenario.