Urgent action needed to support hotels

A CATASTROPHIC crisis is facing hotel and guesthouse owners in Cork as a result of Covid-19, unless immediate support measures are introduced.

That’s according to chair of the Cork branch of the Irish Hotel Federation, Fergal Harte who said the time had come to address the need for people to have livelihoods after the pandemic. If immediate action isn’t taken, he predicts devastating implications, particularly for rural Ireland, that may take decades to recover.

He called on the government to urgently seek assistance from the proposed EU Recovery Fund being set up to combat the economic slump caused by Covid-19. He said a package of specific supports is required that recognises the unique challenges facing Ireland’s largest indigenous industry.

Among the measures the IHF are calling for are liquidity measures; a reduction in tourism VAT; a continuation of the job subsidy scheme and a three-month waiver on local authority rates and charges.