Annus horribilis for tourism industry as revenues down 85%, says ITIC

The Cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland's popular tourist destinations. Picture: PA

Revenue from the tourism industry is down 85% this year, a representative body has said.

The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has said that the fall in revenue is due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ITIC said that “carnage” had been visited upon the industry and they do not expect it to recover fully until at least 2024.

"It’s difficult to over-state the carnage visited upon Ireland’s tourism and hospitality businesses this year and all through no fault of their own,” said CEO Eoghan O’Mara Walsh.

“The industry has been disproportionately hit by the pandemic and ends the year back in Level 5 lockdown”.

The ITIC said that 2020 began with “real hope of consolidating tourism’s strong performance of recent years”.

However, it is predicting that by the end of the year, 150,000 jobs within the industry will have been lost.

It said that international tourist arrivals – which form the significant majority of the Irish tourism economy – all but stopped overnight the domestic market has since faced a series of yo-yo lockdowns, despite, a brief respite in the summer months.

Mr O’Mara Walsh said the industry was going to be in survival mode for some time.

“Tourism businesses are made up largely of SMEs, the majority of which are in regional Ireland, and government financial support will be needed throughout 2021.

“Businesses have spent millions in adapting their premises to ensure the highest standards of health and hygiene, and thankfully data shows little infection rates or clusters within the tourism sector, and yet each time, government closes the sector down unilaterally.” 

There is cautious hope for next year in the industry thanks to the vaccine roll-out and the Brexit deal.

However, a survey of ITC members showed that they do not expect to see signs of recovery in tourism numbers until Q2 2021.

Next year is likely to only deliver 50% of 2019 numbers, the group said. The ITIC stated that full recovery will not materialise until 2024 or 2025.

“With 75% of Ireland’s tourism economy made up of international visitation, the Irish Government must introduce a comprehensive and scalable pre-travel testing regime urgently to allow international tourism to recommence safely,” said Mr O’Mara Walsh.

“As an island nation on the Western Coast of Europe international connectivity is imperative not just for the tourism sector but for the wider economy including FDI and exports.” 

The domestic market will be critical to any success the industry has next year and the ITIC has called for the Stay & Spend scheme needed to be redesigned and relaunched.

“The domestic market needs to be stimulated with a consumer-friendly voucher scheme for every household to be redeemed against any tourism and hospitality business operating throughout the country.”