‘I don’t think the Department of Finance have any respect for the tourism industry’

This week Inside Business is looking at tourism. Data from the Central Statistics Office earlier this year suggested that the number of visitors to the country had fallen off a cliff.

Not so said the industry, while acknowledging that the market was a bit soft compared with the past two years of trading.

Joining host Ciarán Hancock in studio to discuss this is Paul Gallagher, chief executive of the Irish Hotels Federation and Sean O’Driscoll, chief executive of iNua hotels, one of the biggest hospitality groups in the country.

They tease out the issue of the 9% Vat rate, with some strong criticisms of the Department of Finance from Sean.

They also talk about the slow death of food and beverage in the country, the Dublin airport passenger cap, AI’s increasing use in the business and hotel prices around the Oasis concerts.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.