Kerry hotels issue desperate plea for help to survive virus
KERRY hoteliers are pleading with the Government to take urgent and drastic action to protect almost 16,000 jobs in Kerry’s vital tourism and hospitality sector.
Among the emergency measures sought by Kerry’s hotels are a 12 month waiver on rates and water charges; a total cut to tourism VAT for a year and the provision of State grants to help businesses reopen and rebuild after the crisis.
Chair of the Kerry branch of the Irish Hotels Federation Bernadette Randles said all hoteliers appreciate that the country is experiencing the greatest health crisis in living memory and that significant resources are being committed to address the overriding issue of public health.
However, she warned that “every day’s delay in implementing the measures (to mitigate the impact of the lockdown tourism sector) results in greater risks to our tourism and hospitality industry.”
Ms Randles noted the willingness of hotels to play their part in providing assistance to essential services where required by the HSE and other Government departments.
She said that mitigating the impact of Covid-19 must go hand in hand with ensuring that Irish people have a viable economy to return to in the coming months.
“The health and wellbeing of all citizens is intertwined with the economy, and people will need livelihoods after the crisis is over. Tourism supports 11 per cent of total employment nationally. Here in Kerry tourism supported 15,700 jobs and generated €592 million in local revenues before this crisis,” she said.
“Further measures are now urgently required to protect tourism livelihoods and address the enormous challenges we face. These challenges are existential for many tourism businesses and of a significantly greater scale than anything experienced during the last financial crisis,” said Ms Randles.
Kerry hoteliers are calling for a range of measures that will allow businesses to plan now for their recovery. These include:
A waiver on local authority rates and water charges for a minimum of 12 months.
Tourism VAT rates to be reduced to zero for a minimum of 12 months, then restored to nine per cent on a permanent basis.
Employer’s PRSI to be reduced to 0.5 per cent for a minimum of 12 months and until the industry has recovered.
Business interruption grants to help businesses survive and reopen.
The Kerry IHF is also seeking supports for seasonal workers in tourism who do not currently qualify for Covid-19 related payments.
“At present most of our industry is closed. We are seeking an urgent response to ensure that hotel and guesthouse properties are preserved and ready to scale up when the restrictions are lifted,” said Ms Randles.
“These urgent measures are required now to help our industry recover and play its part in ensuring that the Irish economy will be strong enough to service post COVID-19 national debt.”