Hotel owners facing into 'gale' of spiralling costs that threaten recovery

The Irish Hotels Federation said certainty over the hospitality Vat rate is 'vitally important'

Irish Hotels Federation president Elaina Fitzgerald Kane is urging the Government to scrap plans to return to a higher hospitality Vat rate in the autumn.

Hotel owners are facing into a “gale” of spiralling operating costs that are putting the sector’s already “fragile” recovery at risk, it has been warned.

The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has used the launch of its annual conference, in Cavan, to urge the Government to scrap plans to return to a higher hospitality Vat rate in the autumn. The Government lowered the Vat rate for the hospitality sector from 13.5% to 9% in November 2020 as a Covid support measure, but it is set to return to 13.5% later this year.