Tourism industry suffers with reduced bookings

A DISAPPOINTING level of bookings for July and August is adding to concerns about the 2005 tourism season among those in the industry in the South-West.

However, leading figures in the industry yesterday said there has been a growing tendency to book late, with many people leaving it until the last minute to make holiday arrangements.

They are hoping Irish people will again come to the rescue during the peak summer months when many hotels will be offering special deals.

Some guesthouses are currently reporting a fall of up to 50% in business. Fewer Americans are in evidence in Kerry this season, with the poor rate of exchange for the dollar against the euro regarded as a key negative factor.

Top golf clubs in the county, who depended hugely on the US market, are feeling the loss of Americans, in particular.

Kerry Irish Hotels’ Federation (IHF) branch chairman Pat Chawke said local authority rates and high insurance costs were among the biggest problems facing the industry. He said personal injury claims were far higher than those for similar injuries in Britain, while rates on hotels were calculated on the size of a property, not on the profitability of a business.

Mr Chawke, of the Aghadoe Heights, Killarney, called for a root-and-branch review of the impact of local authority charges, including rates, water and waste disposal charges and licence fees for erecting fingerposts signs.

Fianna Fáil councillor Norma Foley of Tralee, whose family are in the guesthouse business, said May and June had been disastrous months for North Kerry. ‘We have the tourist product, but people don’t know about it,’ she said.

’We must be pro-active in promoting North Kerry, but I still have reservations about North Kerry, which had been under Shannon Development, going into Cork/Kerry Tourism.’

Sinn Féin councillor Robert Beasley, Ballybunion, said Ballybunion had been going through a ‘terrible situation’ for a number of years and the situation was worse than ever this year.

North Kerry boasts some of the country’s finest beaches, including Banna, Ballyheigue and Ballybunion, as well as the famous Ballybunion and Tralee golf links and a host of heritage attractions.