News

'Stay and Spend' may return

The Government may consider bringing back the Stay and Spend scheme later this year, according to the Finance Minister. visitors

The initiative allowed people to claim tax back on money they had spent on accommodation or indoor dining. It was shut down after only a few weeks as Covid-19 case numbers surged.

Paschal Donohoe believes the scheme is not needed this summer due to pent up demand but says it could return when business dies down.

Mr Donohoe said that when people are able to go on international holidays and we reach the off-peak season for tourism in Ireland, there may be a case for looking at ways to encourage people to spend time and money in Ireland.

Meanwhile, the Taoiseach has said he will consider having an extra bank holiday this year as a boost to tourism.

Former Minister Brendan Griffin has called on the government to approve a new bank holiday at the end of September.

Varadkar forecasts July indoor dining

Indoor dining may be back in July and “vast” lockdown restrictions will be lifted by August, according to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. leovaradkar0520

Mr Varadkar said that he is “confident” that indoor dining will be able to return by July, provided the vaccine rollout goes as scheduled and the epidemiological situation keeps improving.

However, he said that the decision on whether to allow restaurants and pubs to open indoors will be decided at the end of June.

“I’m still hopeful and on the confident side of hopeful that we’ll have indoor dining in pubs and restaurants in July,” he said.

“It’s just that July is quite far away. And we can’t really make that call until the end of June. Cases are stable, hospitalisations, ICU are falling and every day, tens of thousands more people being vaccinated.

“If I was in the hospitality business, I’d be planning for outdoors in June and indoors in July, subject to all the usual caveats,” he added.

Temple Bar plans 3,000 Outdoor Seats

Restaurants, cafes and pubs in Dublin’s Temple Bar are devising plans to seat almost 3,000 customers outside their premises when restrictions on outdoor dining are eased nex templebar0320

t month.

Plans for outdoor tables and chairs on 17 streets in the city’s cultural quarter will shortly be submitted to Dublin City Council, which last December refused to permit street furniture in parts of Temple Bar.

Preliminary plans, drafted by business group the Temple Bar Company , propose the use of pedestrian squares and loading bays, as well as footpaths where space allows, but also the requisitioning of road space for tables and chairs to accommodate a potential influx of diners.

The largest number of diners is expected on Fleet Street, where 820 seats are proposed on the footpaths, loading bays and the roadway on both sides of the street, which has low levels of vehicular traffic.

The next largest number of diners is proposed for Parliament Street, currently a main thoroughfare for vehicles coming from the north quays and Capel Street. Here, 548 diners could be accommodated if paths, loading bays and the roadway were used, with traffic reduced to one lane.

Gavin steps up at Adare

Adare Manor has appointed Gavin Couper, as Deputy General Manager. gavincouper

Gavin moved from London to join the Adare Manor team in May 2019 and since then has led the Food and Beverage operation, overseeing The Manor House, The Carriage House, Banqueting and the estate-wide Food and Beverage offerings.

Having studied Hospitality Management at Westminster University, followed by leadership positions with Dorchester Collection in London, New York, Los Angeles and Ascot before joining One Aldwych in London, Gavin has a wealth of experience to date.

In his new role, Gavin will continue to oversee the Food and Beverage division with the expanded responsibilities of strengthening Adare Manor’s organisational culture with their purpose, values and behaviours at the forefront, enhancing the guest experience, quality of product and services across the resort.

Trinity plans Tour app

Trinity College Dublin is set to spend €150,000 on the development of a new app for self-guided tours by tourists of the historic city centre campus. trinity

About one million people visited the campus each year before the Covid shutdown, to view the Book of Kells exhibition, generating €12.7 million in revenues. Of those, 87 per cent were overseas visitors.

During the pandemic those revenues slumped by €9.8 million to €2.9 million in the 12 months to the end of September last.

However, looking beyond Covid-19 and the return of overseas visitors, the college – as part of a campus-wide tourism strategy – is looking to increase the spend by visitors through an app that will have free and paid-for content.

The tender for the app states that it will include a paid-for self-guided immersive tour through the Trinity campus “that will surprise and delight visitors with fascinating stories and interactive prompts”.