IHF Comments on Hospitality Reopening Timelines

​Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, President of the Irish Hotels Federation, has commented regarding the likely reopening timelines for Ireland’s hospitality sector.

She said: “Public health must always be the number one priority and we recognise the difficult balance the Government has to achieve. However, our tourism community is devastated to learn yesterday in a radio report that the hospitality sector is unlikely to reopen before mid-summer. 

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This has resulted in acute frustration and anxiety. Prior to this pandemic, 270,000 people’s livelihoods were supported by Tourism and 70% of these were outside of Dublin. In some cases, whole communities are built around tourism.

“We are calling for an urgent review of the existing supports for the tourism and hospitality sector. If the all-important summer period is being eroded, additional supports are now required to safeguard businesses and the livelihoods they support until society reopens and the sector and wider tourism industry can recover.

​We also ask the Government to intervene with the banks to ensure they have appropriate supports and engagement processes in place for our businesses and team members until Covid – 19 has been suppressed.

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