Tourism industry asks Taoiseach for 'personal involvement' in EU travel proposals

Failure to fully implement the proposed traffic light system would likely kill any chances of a potential recovery, the ITIC said

The letter, co-signed by daa, Shannon Airport, Aer Lingus and Irish Ferries amongst others, states that public health must remain the priority but “saving lives cannot be seen as mutually exclusive to saving livelihoods”. Picture: Eamon Ward

The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has today published an open letter to the Taoiseach calling for his “personal involvement” in ensuring Ireland fully implements the European Commission’s free movement proposal, due to be discussed by EU Council later this month.

The letter, co-signed by daa, Shannon Airport, Aer Lingus and Irish Ferries amongst others, states that public health must remain the priority but “saving lives cannot be seen as mutually exclusive to saving livelihoods”.

The ITIC says the current situation pertaining to international travel is “akin to a closed sign above Ireland” and, if maintained, could result in up to 300,000 job losses.

“Failure to fully implement the European Commission’s proposal would likely kill any chances of a potential recovery,” the letter states.

The European Commission’s proposal centres around a “traffic light” system, based on Covid infection rates. It would allow for the free movement of people travelling from both green and orange coded areas with a testing regime to be considered for those countries coded red.

In the letter, the ITIC also noted its support for the introduction of an appropriate travel testing regime for passengers coming from high risk or red zone areas.

“This should form part of a multi-layered approach to risk management which is vital to assuage public health and provide public confidence," they said.

"Such a testing regime (whether it involves pre-departure or arrival testing) needs to be rapid, scalable, accurate and ideally be publicly financed or made available at an affordable cost for passengers."

ITIC CEO Eoghan O’Mara Walsh. Photo: Fennell Photography

Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, ITIC CEO, said the absence of international tourists has cost the Irish tourism industry €27 million per day over the summer months.

“The travel and tourism sector accounts for more than 10% of European GDP and 27 million jobs and is at the heart of European economies,” he said.

“We stand ready to immediately assist and work with the Irish Government and the European Commission to discuss the way forward and plot a safe roadmap out of this crisis.”