Mr. Cian ? Lion?in:

I do not know if I would go so far as to call it a hang-up but there is certainly some background noise internationally in terms of international travel and tourism planning in the long term, whereas prior to the pandemic people would be already planning for 2023. We have found that the timescales within which people are planning their travel and tourism are much more truncated. If we follow that through to what is happening on the ground, it would probably be a reasonable assumption that there is a certain carefulness in planning to be a tourist or to work in the sector.

Having listened to the committee's conversation with the VFI, I was heartened to hear that employers are now focusing on the employees, on making the sector a good place in which to work and on working with employees to ensure a long-term employment relationship is built. That is where the focus needs to be. Fáilte Ireland is doing its excellent employer programme to ensure we produce a generation of people who will view this as a sector they really want to work in because they can stay in their own communities and can do really meaningful and interesting work. It is a very important economic sector but it should always be viewed as a valuable place in which to work and to have a meaningful career. That is what we are trying to push.