Tackle high prices, warns tourism watchdog

HIGH prices and a lack of competitiveness continue to dog the tourism sector, despite action by the Government and the industry to tackle the problem, a tourism watchdog warned yesterday.

While publicans and hoteliers have blamed factors like the smoking ban and the 9pm ban on children in pubs for a fall-off in business, the high-level group charged with implementing the Government’s tourism plan said price competitiveness needs to be tackled urgently.

Backing up that view, inflation figures yesterday showed that the cost of living fell slightly to 2.6% last month, but the price of hotel accommodation soared by 10% in the past year, while hotel and restaurant prices together went up by 4.5% over the same period.