AIPCO urgently call to open Ireland *safely* to international tourism. That means pushing for alternatives to quarantining and ‘green lists’. Irish Tourism Industry urges Government to address safe international access for visitors.
Tourism people are at the heart of the Céad Míle Fáilte. 1 in 9 Irish jobs are in tourism/hospitality. We need to keep our talent and knowledge capital in tourism. The EWSS is insufficient and needs urgent revision *now*.
Catastrophic impact of Covid on visitor numbers means tourism businesses may change permanently unless business grants NOWl enable us to keep trading. We must emerge from Covid with vibrant tourism offering to win and welcome visitors.
Ireland is an outlier with 13.5% VAT rate on tourism services, higher than nearly all other EU countries. Reducing VAT to 9% and waiving rates will inject competitiveness and ease our cashflow crisis.
In 2019, Ireland welcomed 10m int’l visitors. We will be ‘off the map’ unless we communicate that we are open and ready with our ‘Céad Míle Fáilte’. We call for doubling of marketing and tourism budgets #Budget.
