It’s been argued the lowering of the hospitality VAT rate is crucial to the survival of Clare’s tourism-dependent businesses.
The raising of the VAT rate for hospitality, hotels and tourism to 13.5% last September has been a consistent source of controversy, and the Restaurants Association of Ireland has estimated that its partially responsible for close to 300 restaurants closing their doors in the last number of months.
Data from the Central Statistics Office meanwhile has revealed that 433,300 people visited Ireland last month, with 46% coming from the UK and 11% travelling from the United States.
Owner of Hotel Woodstock in Ennis and Clare Tourism Advisory Forum Chair Sean Lally believes tourism-dependent businesses that are reliant on labour are particularly under pressure.
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