By Sean Moriarty

Killarney hotels and hospitality sector businesses are preparing for a bumper season after the majority of pandemic-related restrictions were lifted this week.

The news, which came late on Friday, gave hoteliers and publicans little over 12 hours to prepare.
The Government announcement ended the 8pm closing time for pubs and restaurants and allowed nightclubs to open for the first time in nearly two years.

“It has been all go since the announcement and it's very positive,” Bernadette Randles, Chair of the Kerry branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), told the Killarney Advertiser.

"It is great news and now we are getting ready to rebuild our businesses, this is really positive news for hotels and tourism in Killarney.”

Despite the short notice Ms Randles said there were large numbers of people out enjoying themselves since the 8pm curfew was lifted.

She was full of praise for her staff at her family run Dromhall Hotel who had to cope with yet another change in work practices.

“For us in Dromhall it was good. People did venture out after 8pm and the best thing was to see our teams motivated and to see a renewed buzz about the place,” she added.

She said that Kerry can look forward to a busy season but warned that it could take years to recover after two years in some form of lockdown or restrictions.

“We are seeing a big increase in bookings, however there is a lot of ground to be made up and it will be a long road to recovery. Overall we remain very optimist but we cannot take anything for granted and it may take more time for some businesses to recover.”

Last summer Irish people were encouraged to holiday at home and she is hopeful this will continue this year, however the international market may take some time to recover.

“One of the positive impacts over the last couple years is that people have rediscovered Ireland as a holiday destination and we feel this will stand to us as people rediscover the beauty and what Ireland has to offer and they can travel Ireland at their ease,” she added.

“We are hopeful of overseas visitors, but it will be a number of years before they get back to pre-COVID levels. This means ongoing Government assistance is going to be essential.”