Ms Elaina Fitzgerald Kane:

Tourism Ireland monitors customer sentiment overseas. Ultimately, €7 billion of our €9 billion in tourism revenue in 2019 came from overseas. There has been no flagging of any reputational damage. Nobody wants to see it happening. The focus is probably more on the domestic aspect, but, again, nobody wants to see domestic reputational damage.

It is important to flag at this stage that the restoration of employment in the tourism sector after the pandemic has lagged behind that in other sectors. ITIC data suggest tourism recovery is not expected until 2006, which is a long time away. The current repurposing of much hotel and other tourism bed stock to meet the needs of Government contracts to address the humanitarian crisis will really stall the recovery we are hoping for in 2026. The biggest challenge we will have in this regard concerns talent and skills. We emerged very vulnerable as an employment prospect after Covid because we are always very close to the turn-off switch. The vulnerability definitely impedes us. I would be very worried about repurposing the accommodation and the impact it will have on our recovery.

ITIC has called for business continuity grants for businesses affected in these areas, be they gift shops, restaurants or bars. There is evidence of 100% take-up of hotel and tourism accommodation in some parts of the country.

The impact that is having on other local businesses that would traditionally have spun up is significant and it is time to address that.