Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 2 July 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Impact of Covid-19: Tourism, Arts and Entertainment Sector

Mr. Paul Kelly:

I will pick off some of those. Then I will bring in my colleague, Jenny De Saulles, whose team has headed up the operational guidelines.

First of all, we estimate the overseas tourism revenue for this year will be less than €1 billion. That compares with €5 billion last year. That is really because January and February were in the bag before this happened. There is no overseas tourism at the moment. I hope we will get something back before the end of the year but because of the lead-in times involved we do not imagine it will be significant. We hope to have something in.

The Chairman asked about the domestic tourism season. Importantly, domestic tourism makes up of approximately 30% of tourism revenue.

Irish people tend to take short breaks in Ireland throughout the year. People who are not tied in to the school calendar, whether it is before or after the time they might have school-age children, are waiting until September. We will, I hope, see a stronger September from the domestic tourism market.

With regard to restaurants, pubs, substantial meals and so on, it is important to say that, currently, pubs are not allowed to open. What is allowed to open are pubs that are food-serving, because of the blurred distinction between a restaurant and a pub. The requirement for a substantial meal, and the minimum cost of €9 as set in legislation, both of which apply per person, is an indicator that the pub is acting like a restaurant and serving food like a restaurant. That is in place until 20 July. Ms De Saulles might expand on that.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.