The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Time for a post pandemic plan to aid tourism
HOTEL and B&B owners across Kerry are calling on the Government to bring in measures to tackle the catastrophic crisis facing many businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Welcoming the recent positive trend in cases chair of the Kerry Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) Bernadette Randles acknowledged the great progress being made in suppressing the disease and said it is now time to address the need for people to have livelihoods after the pandemic.
Ms Randles has called on the Government to urgently seek assistance from the proposed EU Recovery Fund and create a package of specific supports that recognises the unique challenges facing the tourism sector.
“The June Bank Holiday traditionally marks the start of the holiday season, yet thousands of tourism businesses across the country remain closed due to the pandemic, including 90 per cent of hotels, and the majority of the industry’s 260,000 employees are laid off,” she said.
“Further delays in providing support measures could have devastating implications, particularly for rural Ireland, that may take decades to recover,” said Ms Randles.
“The tourism and hospitality sector was asked to close down in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. That was the right decision, and the health and safety of staff and guests will always be our main priority. However, there must be compensation for those businesses that have been devastated for the common good,” she said.
“When hotels reopen in July, they will be reliant on the domestic market for business. While every guest will be very welcome, the reality is home grown tourism will not recoup the significant financial loss to the economy of overseas tourism, which last year accounted for over €7billion in revenue compared to less than €2bn from the domestic market.
“When the time is right, the overseas market will reopen again. In the meantime, specific supports are needed to safeguard an industry that can play a vital role in the country’s economic recovery and rural Ireland in particular.”