Tourism wants clarity over recovery strategy

Irish Tourism Industry Confederation said the Government must clarify its vaccine rollout and a usable travel testing regime

Airlines are being tipped for recovery this year, but tourism chiefs remain nervous about prospects of an upturn.

Tourism bosses have warned immediate clarity over Ireland’s roadmap out of the Covid crisis is needed in order to save the industry.

The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) said the Government must clarify its vaccine rollout and a usable travel testing regime.

ITIC has written off in-bound tourism for the first half of the year, but is hopeful of some recovery in the second half. 

But for bookings by overseas visitors to be made from June onwards, it said the Government must now instil confidence that Ireland is safe to visit.

Chief executive Eoghan O’Mara Walsh said last summer’s lost business was catastrophic.

Losing two summers in a row would be terminal for many businesses. Around €1.3bn was spent by in-bound visitors in Munster, alone, during 2019. That disappeared to zero last year and we can’t afford a repeat of that this year."

The Irish Travel Agents Association has noted only a "minimal" increase in out-bound holiday bookings so far. 

It said this "trickle" of bookings is due to the slow rollout of vaccines and lingering consumer fears around Covid. The ITAA said higher levels of vaccinations were needed before a safe return to international travel would be viable, warning that air travel disruption is still “a fluid situation”.

Meanwhile, the airline sector has been tipped to recover more quickly than currently anticipated.

Irish-founded aircraft leasing firm Avolon has said vaccine roll-out, fiscal stimulus and monetary easing measures will drive recovery this year and said passenger numbers will be more healthy than current industry estimates suggest.

It also anticipates more start-up airlines materialising this year than failures occurred last year, with low-cost carriers best positioned to succeed.

Avolon's optimism contradicts the outlook from other industry sources, however.

Airline representative group the International Air Transport Association – IATA – has predicted the industry will have ended up losing $118.5bn (€98bn) in 2020 and will lose a further $38.7bn this year.

Earlier this week, PwC said airlines would have to rethink their finances, fleets and business models to survive, with the industry set to need ongoing access to emergency funding – including Government aid – to withstand another tough year.

“Vaccines offer the spark that will reignite the recovery of the aviation industry; 2021 will be challenging, but we are now looking to recovery,” said Avolon’s Jim Morrison.