Hotel sector recovery to pre-Covid trading 'a number of years away', IHF warns

Irish Hotels Federation said while it was optimistic for the future, the pace of recovery in the sector was 'disappointingly slow'

IHF president Elaina Fitzgerald Kane addressing delegates at the Irish Hotels Federation annual conference at the Slieve Russell Hotel, Cavan.

The hotel sector is unlikely to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels of trade for “a number of years”, with occupancy levels this summer still set to significantly lag 2019 comparisons.

At its annual conference in Cavan, the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) said while it was optimistic for the future, the pace of recovery in the sector is “disappointingly slow”. 

It said the scale of the decimation of the hospitality and tourism sector, due to the Covid crisis, had been “unprecedented”.

Average turnover for hotels was down 48% last year compared to 2019 pre-Covid levels, while 9m hotel bed-nights were lost. 

Hotel room occupancy in the first two months of this year was 38%, compared to 63% for the same period in 2019. Summer bookings for this year are currently averaging 39%, versus 88% in the summer of 2019.

“The past two years have been the most challenging in the history of Ireland’s hotel and guesthouse sector,” said IHF president Elaina Fitzgerald Kane.

“IHF members, and indeed the entire tourism and hospitality sector, saw most of their business vanish overnight,” she said.

Hotelier Ciara O'Grady, The Gleneagle Group, Killarney at the Irish Hotels Federation annual conference in the Slieve Russell Hotel, Cavan. Picture: Don MacMonagle

Ms Fitzgerald Kane said green shoots of recovery were emerging across the sector, but warned recovery to 2019 levels was likely to be “a number of years away”.

She said the hotel sector was “resilient” and would recover “in time”. However, she said it “urgently” required support and interventions to control spiralling business costs.

“Notwithstanding the many challenges facing the sector, almost seven in 10 hotels and guesthouses are positive or very positive for the year ahead. Rebuilding tourism to pre-Covid levels is the singular focus of the entire industry, in partnership with State agencies and Government," Ms Fitzgerald Kane said.

The IHF has called on the Government to tackle rising insurance costs and to keep the hospitality Vat rate at 9%