Covid Tourism 4bn €13 The To Sector Cost Priced Irish At

Covid cost to the Irish tourism sector priced at €13.4bn — Loss Of Inbound During Estimated The The Irish An Covid Tourism, 4bn Has €13 Cost Tourism Crisis,

Mon, 06 Sep, 2021 - 17:25

Geoff Percival

Tourism bosses have estimated the Covid crisis has cost the industry more than €13bn and have branded next month’s budget as being “make or break” for the sector’s chances of a meaningful recovery.

In its pre-budget submission, the sector’s main representative group, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), said a full recovery of the industry and overseas visitor numbers is possible by 2025.

That would equate to overseas tourists spending around €5.4bn in the country, with 240,000 people employed in the sector. Fáilte Ireland has already estimated that 23c of every euro spent by a tourist here is returned to the exchequer in direct tourism-related taxes.

'Government needs to bet big on tourism'

However, ITIC said, recovery will be dependent on a pro-tourism and pro-aviation stance being taken by the Government, and no new Covid surges or variants spiking in Ireland or overseas. The last 18 months of lost business has cost the overall tourism sector €13.4bn in lost revenues, it said.

“Government needs to bet big on tourism — give us the right enabling policies and restore international connectivity and we’ll recover, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the process,” said ITIC chief executive Eoghan O’Mara Walsh.

ITIC CEO Eoghan O’Mara Walsh and chairperson Ruth Andrews — photographed shortly before the pandemic hit — are calling for Government support for 'Ireland's largest indigenous industry'. File Picture: Maxwells

ITIC wants the October budget to include certainty on maintaining the 9% Vat rate for the tourism and hospitality sectors, an extension to the employment wage subsidy scheme (EWSS), and a doubling in tourism investment.

'Boost the budget, extend EWSS, and don't change Vat'

It wants the EWSS to remain in place until June of next year for the tourism and hospitality sectors. The Vat rate needs to stay at 9%, it said, with no review of it until 2025. And, the €180m tourism budget for this year needs to be doubled to €360m for 2022, it said.

The Government’s own tourism recovery taskforce called for this level of tourism funding as long ago as last year. The ITIC said:

For an industry the size of tourism, with such labour-intensity and regional penetration, financial support is needed now to allow the industry recover and contribute meaningfully to the broader economy.

ITIC chairperson Ruth Andrews said Ireland’s tourism industry has been “mauled” by Covid and faces “a steep climb” back to health if nothing is done.

“Pre-pandemic, we were Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer but since March 2020 we have lost 100,000 jobs and seen very little international tourists who are the traditional bedrock of the sector,” she said.

As much as 75% of the Irish tourism economy is made up of international visitors:

The domestic market is important to us but it can never make up for the loss in overseas earnings. International travel has been allowed again since mid-July but tourist numbers are very modest and expected to be so right into next year due to the loss of connectivity to key source markets.

Regarding aviation, Mr O’Mara Walsh said: “Without a sharp increase in routes and frequencies Irish tourism will struggle to recover.

"As an island nation we are critically dependent on air and sea access and government must incentivise carriers and stimulate demand.”