Wexford drinks and hospitality sector ‘at risk’

COUNTY Wexford’s drinks and hospitality businesses are highly vulnerable to a hard or ‘no deal’ Brexit following a new report published by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI).

The report, National and Regional Employment in the Drinks and Hospitality Sector, authored by DCU economist Anthony Foley, shows that drinks and hospitality businesses account for significant proportions of rural employment. In Wexford, hospitality employment accounted for 3,294 jobs – 6.8 per cent of all employment in the county.

Rosemary Garth, Irish Distillers’ Communications and Corporate Affairs Director and Chair of DIGI, said: ‘In many parts of Wexford, drinks, hospitality and tourism businesses are the primary and sometimes only employers. This makes these areas highly vulnerable to economic shocks, like Brexit.’

She added that the new report clearly demonstrates the vital importance of the drinks and hospitality sector to rural Ireland, local employment and the economy in general.

She said if a hard or no deal Brexit occurs and sterling devalues further, British tourists will look to save their money rather than spent it. That means fewer holidays and a smaller budget when travelling. Considering the British are the single biggest tourism market in Ireland, this is a problem for rural areas that completely rely on foreign spend to power their local economy. Some towns and villages could face business closures and job losses.

‘A downturn in the drinks and hospitality trade could also harm the economy,’ said Ms Garth.

In terms of employment in the ‘accommodation and food service’ sector, which includes many drinks and tourism businesses, nine counties report a total employment share above the county average of 5.8 per cent. This is based on the Census of Population ‘main activity’ measure. Of these nine counties, six are part of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way and the other three are in the Ancient East region. The drinks industry directly and indirectly employs a total 90,000 people. When the tourism sector is included, much of which is dependent on or associated with the drinks industry, total employment is 254,400, or 11.5 per cent of all Irish jobs.

Faced with an uncertain economic environment, DIGI has called upon the Government to safeguard the growth of the drinks and hospitality industry by implementing a ‘defensive’ alcohol excise tax reduction.