Revellers ready to tighten festive belt

SPENDING on Christmas travel, trees and nights on the town will be greatly reduced this Yuletide, according to a shopping survey.

But, the recession is unlikely to spoil the outlay on booze, cakes and other traditional holiday foods, the TNS mrbi Christmas shopping survey found.

With consumer confidence faltering, it can come as no surprise that shoppers have every intention of tightening their Christmas belts this year, the research conducted in late November indicates.

With the exception of donating to good causes, shoppers expect to spend less this year than last.

Hardest hit will be the trimmings associated with the holiday, with 46% of shoppers cutting back on decorations for the house and 43% intending to save on Christmas trees.

But there is unlikely to be too much scrimping on Christmas dinner, with the majority of shoppers — 68% — planning to spend as much this year as last.

Almost one in two, 48%, expected to spend less on holidays or going away and three in four, 74%, will spend at least as much this year as last on presents for the family.

Some 43% of shoppers plan to spend less cash going out; and a similar proportion, 40%, are pulling back on buying presents for friends and colleagues.

Meanwhile, consumers have plenty of money but are afraid to spend it, it has been claimed.

Retailers said shoppers are being discouraged to spend because of a combination of fear, the air of depression, and high taxes.

The Fashion and Footwear Federation said the logjam to loosening the purse-strings has got to be removed before the whole country is affected.

Jim Whelan, federation chief executive, said shops are suffering from the recession and the increase in the VAT rate. He urged the Government to cut VAT so retailers could compete with stores in Northern Ireland.

“We appeal to our Government to take immediate action to protect Irish businesses and jobs by reducing our VAT rate to give us a better chance of competing on more equal terms,” said Mr Whelan.

The Fashion and Footwear Federation represents around 3,000 outlets including retail, wholesale and agencies selling fashion, footwear, household and textiles.

Mr Whelan, who has written to Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, and Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, claimed the 6.5% difference between VAT rates will kill off many distributors south of the border.