Inbound and domestic tourism representative group, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has warned that Irish tourism is set for a challenging year; with mixed demand levels and “enormous” concerns surrounding cost, capacity and competitiveness levels.
In its pre-Budget submission to Government, which was launched recently, ITIC said: “All evidence points to a very mixed year on the demand side for Irish tourism, with enormous cost, capacity and competitiveness pressures.”
It pointed to recent Fáilte Ireland research showing that 57% of tourism businesses expect their profitability to be down on last year, with 23% expecting it to be only the same as last year.
As announced last week, ITIC’s 3 key Budget asks are: a restoration of the 9% VAT rate for hospitality businesses; an increase in funding for tourism services from €167m to €200m; and a reduction in capacity blockages – including lessening dependency on hotels for humanitarian use and the removal of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
ITIC said, in its pre-Budget submission, that Irish in-bound/domestic tourism is at a “tipping point” and needs real support.
“Competitiveness is critical to the continued recovery and sustained growth of Ireland’s tourism industry and it is very evident that, due to high costs and capacity constraints, competitiveness has been sharply eroded.”
