Jobs.ie welcomes ‘stay and spend’ voucher support for hospitality and tourism as part of the Government July Jobs Stimulus package.
Responding to the publication of the July Stimulus Package, Chris Paye, General Manager of Jobs.ie says
“Jobs.ie welcomes the Government’s July Jobs Stimulus Package, including the €125 ‘stay and spend’ voucher, the €10 million Tourism Restart Fund and the extension of the temporary wage subsidy scheme (TWSS) announced this evening. However, unfortunately, the supports announced for the hospitality and tourism sector may not be enough to enable many businesses in the sector to keep their doors open between now and the end of the year.
“Covid-19 has created unprecedented challenges for many industries, but none more so than hospitality and tourism. Overnight we saw thousands of hospitality businesses temporarily close their doors, resulting in over 180,000 workers being either temporarily or permanently laid off, many of whom remain on the Government’s temporary wage subsidy scheme or pandemic unemployment register.
“According to CSO figures published this week, nearly two-thirds (63%) of hospitality businesses still remain closed. These same businesses will be required to invest €10,000 on average to ensure their premises complies with Covid-19 regulations before they can reopen their doors.
“Hospitality is worth €7.6 billion to the Irish economy and contributes €1.16 billion to the Irish Exchequer. Yet, while other sectors are beginning to experience a pick-up in business, the challenges facing hospitality are today more acute than ever, with industry groups including the Irish Hotels Federation and Vintners Federation of Ireland predicting that it will be 2025 before the sector sees a return to 2019 levels of activity.
“Last week’s decision to push out Phase Four of the economic roadmap and the ambiguity around inbound and outbound travel guidelines continues to fuel uncertainty and undermine the ability of business owners to plan for the present and future.
While today’s announcement will help many businesses bridge through this current period of uncertainty, it is important that the Government remains steadfast in its long term commitment to the hospitality industry as it turns its attention to October’s proposed three year National Economic Plan.”
