4,400 Midlands tourism jobs "at imminent risk"

Hotels in Westmeath and Longford are in a battle for survival with up to 4,400 jobs at risk of being lost in the two Midland counties over the coming weeks, according to a statement from the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF).

The scale of the unprecedented crisis facing the hotel sector in Ireland due to Covid-19 was starkly outlined today (Monday) with hotel occupancy rates in the Midlands/Mid East region projected to plummet to an all-time low of just 22% for the September/October period.

Nationally, hotel occupancy rates reached just 49% for July and August of this year, compared with 90% occupancy during the key summer months last year.

In the face of such a catastrophic drop in revenues, the IHF have called on the government to provide a wide range of additional stimulus measures to save the hotel sector, and have pointed out that the lack of consultation with the hotel industry remains “a major challenge.”

Chair of the Midlands branch of the IHF, Dara Cruise, said the hotel industry is operating in “a quasi-lockdown” and described the existing supports as “totally inadequate.”

Mr. Cruise said that prior to the Covid crisis, tourism supported 6,000 jobs in Westmeath and Longford, contributing €87m to the local economy. “With a predicted loss of €65m, 4,400 of these jobs are now under threat” he added.

Among the measures which the IHF would like to see the government implement as a matter of urgency are:

1.A review of the 6-person limit indoors in hotels

2.An increase in the rate of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme and its continuation until the impact of Covid-19 restrictions has fully abated.

3.Additional liquidity measures.

4.Local Authority Rates Waiver.

5.A reduction in tourism VAT to 9%

6.A restoration of international travel, and an effective tracking, tracing and testing regime.