MEDIA STATEMENT

Sunday, 27th September 2020: The latest industry survey* from the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) reveals a collapse in hotel bookings on foot additional Government restrictions due to Covid-19.

Since the announcement on 15th September of revised Government plans for restrictions, the weekly rate of new bookings for hotels has plummeted by 67% - representing an enormous blow to Irish tourism at a time when the sector is struggling under immense financial difficulties.

IHF President Elaina Fitzgerald Kane said: “It is now ‘make or break’ time. Urgent and unprecedented intervention from the Government is required to support tourism businesses and safeguard thousands of jobs throughout the sector. This must form a central plank of the Budget due to be announced next month.”

Prior to Covid, tourism supported 270,000 livelihoods, one in ten of all Irish jobs. An estimated 100,000 jobs of these have been lost so far this year and a further 100,000 are at immediate risk without substantial sector specific supports being put in place.

The survey was carried out at the start of this week (21st September) and results are based on the response from 298 properties accounting for a combined stock of 32,100 guestrooms spread throughout the entire country.

Hotel room occupancy rates across the country are at 40% for September, 23% for October and 12% for November based on business currently booked. This compared with rates of 89% last September, 81 % last October and 82% last November.

Breakdown of occupancy results for October / November 2020:

• National room occupancy: 23% Oct / 12% Nov
• Dublin City and County: 12% Oct / 10% Nov
• Border region: 31% Oct / 14% Nov
• Mid-West: 19% Oct / 10% Nov
• Midlands / Mid East: 23% Oct / 12% Nov
• South East: 40% Oct / 21% Nov
• South West: 26% Oct / 9% Nov
• West: 31% Oct / 15% Nov

**see note below for description of regions

Ms Fitzgerald Kane said that the stark figures highlight the requirement for additional sectoral specific measures for tourism. This situation is nothing short of disastrous for our sector with serious implications for the tourism industry and wider economy. We are calling on the Government to implement sector specific measures as a matter of urgency. These should include enhanced employment subsidies, a reduction in tourism VAT, extended waiver of local authority rates and greater access to banking finance.”

Urgent Government measures required to safeguard Irish tourism:

• 1. Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) – if jobs are to be retained, the EWSS rates of support must be increased to the previous TWSS levels of €350/€410 per week for businesses that can demonstrate a 50% reduction in turnover for a 12-month period to 31 March 2021. The Period for calculating the existing 30% reduction should also be extended on a similar basis. This would make it possible for employers to retain staff during the difficult winter/spring months ahead and to facilitate training and upskilling structures designed to allow employees get personal benefit from this challenging period and to help the industry prepare for post Covid-19 recovery opportunities. Payments should be made on a weekly basis to assist with cashflow. The scheme should be continued until the impact of Covid-19 restrictions has fully abated.
   
• 2. Reduction in tourism VAT to 9% – permanent restoration to 9% to assist recovery and secure a viable and sustainable future for tourism. Reducing VAT will not only provide a stimulus in the Irish economy but also improve our competitiveness as an international tourism destination. VAT on Irish Hotels is currently the second highest in Europe and higher than 30 European Countries.
   
• 3. Liquidity Measures - Additional liquidity measures are required to help fund hotels during the coming months as a result of the cash flow lost out due to Covid-19 restrictions, including extension of the moratorium on bank term loans from 6 months to 12 months.
   
• 4. Local Authority Rates Waiver - The waiver period should be extended for tourism businesses to coincide with business interruption due to Covid-19 and for a minimum of 12 months. After that, payment of local authority rates should be based on reduced levels of activity due to the crisis and until the industry has recovered.
   
• 5. Testing Regime – As an island nation with an open economy, we have to restore international travel safely as soon as possible. This requires an urgent alignment of national travel policy with the framework being adopted by the EU. This should be backed up by an effective tracking, tracing and testing regime must be introduced to facilitate this and to protect the health and livelihoods of all.