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Pubs to re-open as Restaurants

More than four out of 10 pubs in Dublin are planning to reopen as restaurants at the end of June, according to the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA).

All pubs, including hotel bars, were asked to close in March in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. pub

Under the Government’s road map for easing lockdown restrictions, restaurants can reopen on June 29 but pubs are not due to reopen until August 10.

The figures were revealed in a survey conducted by the LVA on Monday and Tuesday, with 44% of pubs confirming their intention to reopen on June 29.

Dalata can survive lockdown

Dalata Hotel Group, could burn through €12m of cash per month in the second half of the year if the Covid-19 disruption lingers and the business fails to generate any revenue, clayton Goodbody has claimed.

However, it sees this as being an unlikely worst-case scenario - with the majority of hotels being able to reopen on July 20 - but a manageable one, given Dalata’s ample cash resources.

Hotel deaths file submitted

Police investigating the deaths of three teenagers in a crush outside a St Patrick’s Day disco have submitted an interim file of evidence to prosecutors.

Lauren Bullock, 17, Morgan Barnard, 17, and 16-year-old Connor Currie died in the incident outside the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, last year.

Detective Superintendent Richard Campbell, from the PSNI’s major investigation team, said the file contained a “substantial” amount of material.

“This is a significant milestone and over the coming months we will be submitting further material for inclusion,” he said.

'Uncertainty' tops hotel challenges

Dealing with uncertainty and reconciling opening and operating costs with significantly reduced demand are the stand-out concerns of hoteliers in the Great National hotel group. collinsdavid0520

Research undertaken by the group shows that other major concerns include social distancing, handling groups, operating profitably, re-engaging and motivating staff, implementing safety guidelines, reassuring guests, paying suppliers and managing cash-flow.

According to Great National's David Collins (pictured)The poll of hoteliers also revealed that

* 53% of hotels have seen a 50% or more cancellation of business for 2020.

* 44% of hotels reported that over half of these cancellations requested a refund rather than postpone to a later date.

* 56% of hotels indicated that they had laid off all their staff.

In terms of liquidity supports, 90% of hotels availed of a wage subsidy scheme, followed by creditor rescheduling (35%), a payment holiday on business loans (32%) and a bank overdraft (29%).

The supports for business survival favoured by the hoteliers were ranked as 1) zero-rated VAT, 2) 2020 commercial rates to be waived, 3) business grant availability, 4) State debt forgiveness, 5) increased domestic marketing and 6) a government-backed travel insurance scheme.

Distance and Price issues face hoteliers

Hotels face issues of social distancing, technology and pricing as the industry moves towards re-opening, three prominent hoteliers have said. vaughan0520

Sean O’Driscoll (INUA Hospitality, Enda O’Meara (TIFCO) and Pat King (Doyle Collection) were speaking to Clare hotelier Michael Vaughan on his IHF 'Web Chat'

With branded and independent hotel properties the hoteliers agreed that they face multiple challenges re-opening their hotels to a purely domestic market. Pat King commented that it is going to be a 'slow burn' as the Asia and China markets are showing some recovery, he is looking at a 30-40% occupancy for October.

New technologies will play a large role, the arrival and check-in experience will be in the hands of the guest using their mobile to interact with room service and hotel services.