Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) CEO Tim Fenn has said that tourism is the "only show in town" for many areas in Ireland, and that he believes that tourism will play a key role in revitalising the Irish economy when the COVID-19 crisis ends.
According to The Irish Independent, Fenn said that the IHF is not seeing the same kind of fallout in the hotel sector at present that the sector experienced during the last recession, but warned that if banks repeat the same wave of hotel repossessions that they undertook during the last recession, a "race to the bottom" will begin.
The Irish Independent quotes Fenn as saying, "It's going to bring down the value of all our assets, and that's not going to be sustainable."
"A Whole Level Unknown"
Fenn said that all of the hotel capacity in the Irish market may not be available for some time because hotels may be required to introduce social-distancing rules, and stated, "There's a whole level of unknown in all this."
He also said, "We want the government to restore the 9% [VAT] rate on a permanent basis.
"We understand the Exchequer is in serious trouble. We just want them to recognise that there are 28 countries in Europe that have lower VAT rates than we have."
© 2020 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
