The Irish hotel industry may not return to pre-Covid levels of business until at least 2022 as it awaits vaccination programmes to end lockdowns and allow the return of international guests, according to leading executives.
The industry was thrown into fresh turmoil over the festive period after level five restrictions were phased in earlier than planned amid a third wave of Covid-19. From December 27, hotels were only allowed open to essential workers.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has warned that restrictions may well last for the first two months of 2021, depending on the speed of vaccinations.
Professor Brian MacCraith, chair of the Government s vaccine rollout taskforce, last week said he hoped that everyone who wants to be vaccinated will have received a vaccine by the end of August.