Coronavirus: Tourism industry braces itself for 'crucial week'
The next week is being viewed as crucial for the chances of the Irish tourism industry withstanding the threat to business posed by the coronavirus.
Pat Dawson, chief executive of the Irish Travel Agents Association, said there remains up to 40% available overseas summer capacity still to be booked by Irish holidaymakers; and they, along with airlines and hotels are becoming increasingly nervous. Airline shares have already been rocked this week by virus uncertainty.
"One incident in Tenerife will not close down the Canary Islands, but if we're seeing four, five or six cases, things will change," Mr Dawson said.
No new cases being reported in Europe up to Friday of this week might indicate that this thing might be contained and people may become more relaxed. This week will be crucial.
The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) said it has not yet seen any cancellations of inbound overseas visitor bookings, but is "anxiously monitoring" the situation.
Inbound travel is worth around €7bn to the Irish economy, with most visitors coming from North America, mainland Europe and the UK. About two million North Americans visit Ireland every year.
ITIC chief executive Eoghan O'Mara Walsh said that market remains buoyant and demand for Irish visits has never been higher.
"Tourism is our largest indigenous industry, with 265,000 people employed, and is uniquely vulnerable to external factors. We saw this with 9/11 and the Icelandic ash clouds and the SARS epidemic in 2003. Global pandemics coming out of left field can damage the industry. But, traditionally, tourism bounces back very quickly," he said.
Mr O'Mara Walsh said that Irish people holidaying at home might become more important than ever, particularly if overseas markets soften.
The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has called on the next government to put the tourism industry front and centre of the economic agenda in the next programme for government.
"As an island nation, we are vulnerable to external shocks, given our exposure to the economic environment of our major source markets. Brexit demonstrated that clearly with the substantial fall in UK visitors over the past three years," said new IHF president Elaina Fitzgerald Kane.
"While it remains to be seen what impact the coronavirus will have on the global economy, we can expect to experience some reverberations here too. The economic consequences of threats such as these are largely outside our control so it is imperative that we mitigate the risks to Ireland’s economy where we do have some control," she said.
The Dalata Hotel Group, meanwhile, said it has not seen any material impact on its business from the coronavirus. The group - which owns the Clayton and Maldron chains - said it grew pre-tax profits by just under 3%, to €90m, last year, with revenues rising more than 9% to just over €429m. Its shares rose by over 3%.
Dalata said it is confident of withstanding staffing pressures in the UK if Britain's proposed tough new immigration laws are passed. It also said it expects an improved sterling and more budget accommodation in Dublin to boost UK visitor numbers to Ireland this year.
