Hoteliers warn politicians: Don’t take us for granted

Brian Lawlor, Chair of the Kerry branch of the Irish Hotels Federation, with Taoiseach Simon Harris during a visit by the FG leader to Killarney.
Picture: Eamonn Keogh

Hotels and guesthouses in Kerry today called on all political parties and candidates in the general election to commit to policy measures aimed at staving off the commercial crisis facing the wider tourism and hospitality industry, particularly food service businesses.

Brian Lawlor, Chair of the Kerry branch of the Irish Hotels Federation, said an urgent change in direction is now required to ensure the future viability of the industry as Ireland’s largest indigenous employer.

Tourism and hospitality businesses throughout Kerry are facing enormous challenges as a result of unsustainable cost increases, driven by the Government’s own economic policies, he stressed.

At the same time, there has been a worrying failure to offset these increases and provide meaningful measures to assist struggling business within the sector.

Some of the key concerns of the hotel and tourism industry raised with Finance Minister Jack Chambers (fifth from left) who recently met members of the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce executive, from left, Niamh O’Shea, Pat O’Leary, Mike O’Carroll, Johnny McGuire, Co-President, FF general election candidate Linda Gordon Kelleher, Pádraig Treacy, Co-President, Paul Sherry, Bernadette Randles, Senator Mark Daly and Cllr Niall Kelleher

“These businesses are the backbone of our tourism economy, supporting over 270,000 livelihoods nationally, including 16,000 in Kerry,” Mr Lawlor stated.

“Our message to all political parties and candidates in the general election is that tourism and hospitality should not be taken for granted. Much more needs to be done to safeguard and prioritise our industry,” he remarked.

A key priority for the sector is the need to tackle the cost of doing business, which is getting out of control.

Mr Lawlor maintained that there has been an alarming deterioration in the commercial model of hospitality food services in particular as a result of the increased VAT rate coupled with a raft of large cost increases.

“Businesses are now at a cross-roads requiring immediate action. We are calling for a commitment to reinstate the nine per cent rate of VAT for hospitality food businesses, which have been disproportionately impacted over the last 18 months,” Mr Lawlor said.

Other sector-specific measures are also required including a local authority commercial rates waiver and employers’ PRSI rebates to offset the impact of policies that place labour-intensive industries such as tourism and hospitality at a disadvantage.

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