Traffic management and the problems recruiting staff are the biggest post-pandemic issues facing businesses in Killarney, a major new survey has found.

A total 20.2% of respondents to a business sentiment survey undertaken by Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce cited traffic as a major concern and an identical number said finding staff was their main issue.

Other post COVID-19 challenges identified included providing adequate parking (15.5%), attracting international visitors following the various lockdowns (13.1%), cost issues (11.9%) and remaining competitive with online offerings (7.1%).

Interestingly, 57.8% of businesses surveyed said they had identified new business channels as a result of COVID-19 with some reporting a percentage turnover from the new sources to be as high as 27.1%.

Not surprisingly, 71.8% said business levels decreased during the pandemic, 20.4% said it stayed the same and 7.8% reported an actual increase in business throughout the crisis.

Local businesses who participated in the survey said they were confident about business performance following the pressures of the pandemic, with 54.4% describing their outlook as optimistic, 21.4% as very optimistic, 19.4% as somewhat optimistic and just 4.9% saying they were not at all optimistic.

Killarney’s strong reputation as a tourist town and the range of things to do was the number one reason respondents believe it is a good place to do business.

The result was gathered from extensive online research conducted in late 2021 – including a business sentiment survey, a separate visitor sentiment survey and a third and very important community sentiment survey – commissioned by Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce and conducted by professional independent marketing consultants Repucon.

A convincing 92% of those that responded to the business sentiment survey insisted that Killarney is a good place to do business with just 8% disagreeing.