Tipperary hoteliers express concern over 'huge reduction' in guest numbers

Many hoteliers, including the owners of Hotel Minella in Clonmel and the Anner Hotel in Thurles, say their occupancy rate over Christmas will drop to approximately 27%, which is “a huge reduction”, Senator Garret Ahearn has stated.
Those hoteliers who had contacted him expect an occupancy rate of 5% to 8% in January and February, said Senator Ahearn, who made his remarks during a Seanad debate to discuss new measures to deal with Covid-19.
He said these figures would lead to “considerable worry over the coming months”.
Senator Ahearn described the hotel sector as “the lifeblood of many rural towns”.
“It is the heartbeat of everything that happens and there is a strong knock-on economic effect when hotels are performing well.”
Senator Ahearn said the number of measures introduced in the past year and a half to support the hospitality sector had been “phenomenal”.
“Over recent weeks, and certainly in the past two months, businesses in the hospitality sector such as pubs, restaurants and hotels have been really worried about what would happen at Christmas.
“There was almost a feeling that it was inevitable that they would be closed over the winter months.
“When the announcement came last week, many of the people I have spoken to were reassured that they would be able to continue and keep staff employed over Christmas.
“The sense I get from employers, in particular, is that they really appreciate the support that has been given to the sector over the past 18 months.”
He said that while hoteliers welcomed the announcement made the previous week regarding measures to tackle the spread of coronavirus, they have some requests.
“It will take time for them to see the results of the new measures that are being introduced, particularly under the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), to support them in keeping on their employees.
“Some of their requests relate to the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) and the qualification criteria.
“It has been requested that businesses that are eligible in December be allowed to requalify for EWSS supports in January.
“On the CRSS supports, hospitality businesses have requested that the criteria include automatic qualification for CRSS supports if they qualify for the EWSS.
“Many hotels have asked me to argue that the weekly cap on CRSS payments should be set at €25,000 to ensure that large hospitality businesses will not be disadvantaged by the scheme.”
He also stated that there were many tour operators, including golf tour operators and other small businesses throughout the country, such as Tourwise in Cahir, that created two, three or four jobs.
“They get the EWSS, which is very beneficial to keeping people employed. During 2021, however, a scheme was set up through the European Union, namely the Ireland-Based Inbound Agents, IBIA, business continuity scheme, to support businesses when it was clear that few or no tourists were going to be coming into the country.
“A total of €10 million in funding was provided by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
“As I think we are going to be in the same position next year, perhaps that scheme could be used again next year for these businesses.
“Their base has reduced by 99.6% and 93%, and a scheme like that would be very beneficial to keep them going,” said Senator Ahearn.

Booster appointments available to over 40s from next week