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By Sean Moriarty

Fáilte Ireland will cut some of its annual charges to members to help offset some of the financial burdens caused by COVID-19 restrictions.
The hotel and hospitality industry was one of the first to take a hit when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar closed all pubs on March 15.

Hotels and bars in Killarney were forced to close their doors and lay-off thousands of staff.

Tourism in Kerry directly employs almost 16,000 people and it contributes over €600 million to the local economy. The Kerry IHF branch has over one hundred hotels and guesthouses as members.

Each job in the sector is responsible for half of another job in associated trades like the food supply chain and taxis.

A conservative estimate suggests that over 25,000 people in Kerry are affected by the tourism industry shutdown alone and this figure does not include third-party trades like garages who would supply repairs and fuel to the car hire industry.

Fáilte Ireland has triggered a number of initiatives that will deliver almost €3 million back to Irish tourism businesses.
These include refunds of accommodation registration charges and trade show participation fees, as well as the abolition of a range of other promotional fees and charges for the remainder of 2020.

The tourism body is working closely with hotels to ensure staff are getting the correct welfare payments and that employers are aware of a range of Revenue schemes put in place to help them survive the current crisis and be ready for reopening.

Fáilte Ireland is also working on a host of health and well-being projects and is launching educational and training material for hotel management and staff.

“I appreciate that as businesses are closed, there will be very little, if any work for many employees. With this in mind, we will be developing and publishing a range of employee training and engagement resources to help employers and employees make positive use of time during this difficult period,” Paul Kelly, CEO of Fáilte Ireland, said.

“It is also very important that we look after our physical and mental well-being at this time. You will also find some new guidelines in the HR Risk section of our online support hub on how to engage with your employees during this time to support their well-being. We are here to help so if there is an area of support you think the tourism industry urgently needs, please don't hesitate to contact the Business Supports team.”

Fáilte Ireland’s Business Supports team can be contacted by email on business.supports@failteireland.ie or call our support desk on Lo Call 1800-242 473, Monday – Friday 9am–5pm.