Tourism operators are calling for a longer term vision for all parts of the industry to ensure businesses survive past 2021.
It comes as the Chief Medical Officer has said that people can’t expect to visit beaches that aren’t in their own localites this summer.
Yesterday Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said he expects the numbers of people flying with the airline to increase in the summer months.
This prompted the Chief Medical Officer to warn that advice relating to non-essential travel will still be in place.
Dr Tony Holohan says it isn’t realistic to expect a holiday abroad in the coming months.
In 2019, Ireland’s tourism businesses benefitted to the tune of 9 billion euro from international travellers, with domestic tourism accounting for 2 billion euro worth of spending.
But while the domestic market was relatively strong last summer, the plummetting in international visitors led to a difficult year for most within the tourism sector.
Recognising the need for continued supports, Failte Ireland this week announced a 55 million euro fund for tourism businesses which were not eligible for previous grant schemes, such as ferry operators, operators of outdoor activities and those involved in caravan and camping.
It doesn’t cover the tourist Chauffeur businesses, and Newmarket and Fergus Operator Pat Keogh hopes funding will be made available in the second phase in March.
