News

Hoteliers welcome June Re-Opening

The Irish Hotels Federation has welcomed the Taoiseach’s announcement that hotels and guesthouses can reopen on 2nd June. elaina0421

Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, IHF President said the news was a much-needed confidence builder for guests and businesses alike. 'Guests can now book a well-deserved break or holiday, knowing they will get to enjoy it, while the hotel and guesthouse community can plan properly for a sustainable reopening for their businesses and employees.'

With the significant progress of the vaccination roll-out across the country, the IHF is calling on the Government to adopt the proposed EU Covid-19 Travel Certificate as well as developing plans to facilitate other vaccinated international travellers particularly from North America.

“The clarity given by the Government today is critical and should give a much-needed confidence boost to consumers who are planning a break or a staycation over the coming months. The domestic market was a real positive last year and will be very important for the hotel sector again this summer. While booking levels have been low so far, we expect that will change now and I would encourage anyone planning a break to book early. There is excellent value and availability right across the country at present. I would also urge people to make direct contact with hotels, so they can be sure of getting the most suitable and best available packages for them.

McCann warns on price gouging

Outgoing Dalata ceo Pat McCannhas warned fellow hoteliers against price gouging over the summer. mccanncrowley

He also said the Government needed to extend wage supports in the sector beyond June when hotels and guesthouses are expected to reopen for business.

“If you damage those relationships [with customers], you tend to damage them forever, [hotel managers] will make sure what they are doing is fair and reasonable,” said Mr McCann..

“The idea that everything is going to change and prices are going to go through the roof, that’s not going to happen,” he said.

Dalata does not expect much business in terms of international leisure tourism back into Ireland this year. Instead, it will focus on attracting domestic tourists.

Dermot Crowley, who is taking over as head of Dalata, also said that “when demand is high, prices tend to go up and when demand goes back down there is great value to be got”.

Donal films Irish Food series

Tourism Ireland is teaming up with celebrity chef Donal Skehan, to create a new food travelogue series, which will air on PBS in the United States later this year.

Working with Inproduction TV, Tourism Ireland is co-funding the production of an eight-part TV series, all about an ‘active foodie’ holiday in Ireland. Viewers will see Donal work up an appetite by hiking, kayaking and cycling his way around Ireland – before stopping off at various food trucks, gastropubs and restaurants to meet with young chefs, baristas, chocolatiers and local food producers.

Publicity and broadcasts like this are a key element of Tourism Ireland’s programme of activity, to keep Ireland front and centre in the minds of future travellers around the world – in order to capitalise on the demand for travel, once Ireland is open again for overseas visitors. Through this new series with Donal Skehan, Tourism Ireland aims to connect with a young and active audience – reminding them about some of the many great reasons to visit, when the time is right.

Shannon Group loses €28m

State-owned Shannon Group lost €28 million last year as Covid restrictions cut airport passenger numbers. bunratty0120

The group, responsible for Shannon Airport along with property management and other businesses, said passenger numbers fell 79 per cent to 352,000 last year.

Mary Considine, chief executive, said the group lost €28.2 million in 2020 against a profit of €21.6 million the previous year.

She pointed out that Shannon found itself facing an “unprecedented” crisis last year instead of the expected growth in passengers and visitors to its heritage sites.

Visitors to the heritage sites, which include Bunratty and Malahide castles, fell 69 per cent to 302,000.

Ms Considine warned that a clear framework was needed to restart air travel to the Republic.

DAA posts €284m loss

The daa which operates Dublin and Cork airports recorded a loss of €284m last year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. dublinairport0421

Passenger numbers at its two Irish airports fell by 78% to just 7.9 million last year, compared to 35.5 million in 2019.

The daa also operates businesses in 15 overseas markets and almost all of the airport retail outlets in Ireland and overseas were closed for extended periods during the year.

Turnover declined by 69% from €935m in 2019 to €291m last year, as the reduction in passengers across all daa’s markets led to a €644m fall in business activity.

“Dublin and Cork airports lost 27.6 million passengers last year, which is more than 5.5 times the population of the State," daa Chief Executive Dalton Philips said.

"The last time that Dublin and Cork airports had fewer than 8 million passengers in a calendar year was in 1994.”