The entire tourism and hospitality trade has changed completely since the Covid-19 pandemic and the night time economy isn’t as vibrant as it used to be, a Killarney councillor and hotelier has observed.
Cllr Niall O’Callaghan said there are plenty of people around but they are now going out earlier in the evenings and going home much earlier than they used to.
“It’s important to them where they spend their money and that they get value for money and people in the trade understand that,” he said.
But Cllr O’Callaghan, whose family has owned and operated the Fáilte Hotel on College Street since 1969, stressed that it is important that the hospitality VAT rate drops back down to nine per cent just to help people get through the winter as profit margins have come down and costs have risen.
He said his 88-year-old mother is running the family hotel and her worry – which is shared by many in the industry – is how businesses are going to get through the long winter this year.
“It’s an industry that’s changing and it’s an industry that has peaks and troughs but it’s how quickly you can get out of that trough that matters,” he said.
Speaking on The Hard Shoulder on Newstalk, Cllr O’Callaghan remarked: “There are challenging times for people in the industry right now but all you can do is roll up your sleeves and get on with it”.
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