Ukrainian refugees in hotels 'not good for refugees or tourism', warns Fáilte Ireland boss
Ukrainian citizen Oleksandra Keshkeval, who is originally from Odessa but has lived in Dublin for a decade, holds the Ukrainian flag outside Leinster House ahead of President Zelenskyy's address to the Oireachtas on Wednesday. Photo : Brian Lawless/PA
Ukrainian refugees remaining in emergency hotel accommodation heading into the summer season “is neither good for refugees nor good for tourism”, Fáilte Ireland boss Paul Kelly has warned.
Speaking before an Oireachtas Committee on Tourism on Wednesday, Fáilte Ireland’s CEO said that if core summer tourism accommodation stock is taken out of the system to house Ukrainian refugees, there will be “significant knock-on impacts elsewhere”.
He said that currently, 4,000 hotel bedrooms are being used to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, about 5% of total stocks, with the number of refugees in need of accommodation set to become “an awful lot larger”.
“For every euro that a visitor spends on accommodation, they spent two-and-a-half euros in other parts of the economy. If you have significant tourism accommodation stock coming out of the market across the summer… it will make it very difficult for pubs, restaurants, activity providers and visitor attractions that rely on that visitor. If they can't get a bed, they won't come,” he said.
Those in the tourism industry are looking to this summer as crucial to the post-pandemic recovery, as Mr Kelly said summer air travel is set to return to 93% of what it was in 2019, and overseas visits are projected to return to 100% of pre-pandemic levels by Q3 of this year.
The conflict in Ukraine poses a threat to the recovery of the tourism and hospitality sector not only by way of accommodation shortages but also through soaring costs of operations for businesses.
President of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, Mark McGowan, who is also the Managing Director of Scholars Townhouse Hotel and Peggy Moore’s Pub in Drogheda, said that the outlook is currently “bleak” among business owners for the months ahead.
He said:
“We're very, very concerned about rising energy costs in particular, but everything that needs to run a business like a hotel, all the costs have been exasperated. Most are trying to just keep their head above water until the summertime to see if there's an increase in business, but obviously, then there's a concern that they’re going to be able to staff it when the summer does come along… we’re going to have an awful time,” he added.
Research from Fáilte Ireland estimates that there is currently an “unprecedented” skills shortage of 40,000 people in tourism and hospitality.
A quarter of vacancies are for senior positions, and a loss of skills post-pandemic is evident from the fact that a third of people now working in the tourism industry are new to the sector. Of the 1,000 businesses surveyed in 2021, 30% said they face closure if recruitment challenges are not resolved.
The Restaurant Association of Ireland recommended to the committee as a “matter of urgency” that the government and Fáilte Ireland engage with the industry on targeted recruitment drives both within and outside the EU for hospitality and tourism staff “to save the summer season”.
Tim Fenn, Chief Executive of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) added that the “dysfunctional” and slow system of granting work permits for non-EU workers needs to be improved “absolutely immediately”, as “there's no way the domestic market can help us completely fill the job requirements we have”.
Eoin Quinn, Director of Member Services at the IHF, told the committee that they are currently in the “early stages” of exploring how Ukrainian refugees with appropriate skills could be matched with employers to meet skill shortages in the tourism and hospitality sector, and allow them to integrate more into society here.
