But a worst-case scenario, it says tourism may not recover to 2019 levels until 2029.
“Tourism is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer, and Government must support it during these difficult and dark days,” said ITIC Chairperson Ruth Andrews, launching its ‘Tourism Roadmap for Recovery’ at a virtual conference.
To do that, measures such as offering future visitors free Covid insurance, extending the 9pc VAT rate to 2025, doubling the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) for tourism businesses and replacing the ‘Stay and Spend scheme with a staycation voucher are critical, ITIC says.
‘Stay and Spend’ was “flawed from the outset” and should be redesigned and relaunched as “a consumer-friendly, upfront household voucher”, said its CEO, Eoghan O’Mara Walsh.
Surge in demand for staycations in the West as people urged not to travel abroad this Summer Published: Wednesday, 03 February 2021 12:53
There is a surge in demand for bookings for this summer as holidaymakers seek alternatives to travelling abroad due to fears about Covid-19.
This should bode well for tourism operators and providers in popular holiday locations along the Western seaboard.
However, industry experts say it is a misconception that Irish tourism will thrive because people have been advised by NPHET not to fly overseas for their holidays.
Eoghan O Mara Walsh, CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, says that - in a normal year -75% of the spend on tourism in Ireland comes from international travel.
“We do think that the ‘staycation’ is probably the best hope for the Irish tourism business, and one of the few positives from the Covid situation is that people are discovering our country, but the domestic market is not big enough to sustain the country’s 20,000 tourism and hospitality businesses,” he said.
“We just hope that in the latter half of the year international travel can start to recommence safely, but public health is first and foremost.
“Really the Irish who are holidaying in Ireland will keep the popular spots like coastal destinations busy during the short few weeks of July and August. Irish people don’t holiday in Dublin, so it was like a ghost town last year. And if matches and concerts in the capital are cancelled it compounds the problem because the people that would have travelled from rural areas to them will not be doing so this year.
Western Correspondent
Fáilte Ireland says there has been an 80% reduction in tourism revenue as a result of the pandemic.
The agency s CEO, Paul Kelly, says this amounted to a €6 billion loss in 2020.
Addressing a virtual industry event for those involved in the sector, Mr Kelly said the nature of the virus meant forecasting the future outlook was nigh on impossible .
However, Fáilte Ireland is hopeful that some kind of domestic tourism activity could start in the summer.
The outlook for international tourism is less clear.
In the short-term, Mr Kelly advised businesses to plan on the basis that the domestic market would be the primary source of revenue in 2021.
Global tourism saw its worst year on record in 2020
Updated / Thursday, 28 Jan 2021
12:54
International arrivals dropped by 74% last year, according to the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
The chief executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation has said that while there is no inbound tourism at the moment, he is hopeful that there will be a safe resumption of air travel in the latter half of this year.
Eoghan O Mara Walsh said the sector is heavily dependent on international travel.
He said there must be a government focus on rolling out the vaccine as quickly and urgently as possible so air travel into Ireland can be resumed.