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Tag: tourism

NO CHANGE TO 9% VAT RATE FOR TOURISM PRODUCTS

 
Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar has said the lower 9% VAT rate for tourism products will remain in place next year.

Speaking at the official opening of the Good Food Ireland conference, Minister Varadkar said: “I can confirm that the 9% VAT rate will apply throughout 2012. This rate is significant because it principally benefits home-grown employers which are based in Ireland. Many operators moved quickly to pass the VAT cut on to their customers following its introduction. Even where the rate was not passed on, it still benefited the tourism industry by helping businesses to expand”.

TAX ON TOURISM

New government: same practices. In case there was any doubt about the retention of the back of an envelope as the favoured calculating tool of politicians and the Department of Finance, the latest working paper by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) should allay the fears of those Luddites who shun change.

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PASSING ON THE VAT REDUCTIONS

Fáilte Ireland chief executive Shaun Quinn has written to tens of thousands of tourism businesses across the state urging them to cut their prices with immediate effect from Friday, the day when the Vat rate on goods and services in the sector falls from 13.5% to 9%, The Sunday Business Post reports.

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OBAMA IN CROKE PARK

Anyone who didn’t realise the centrality of Croke Park to life in Ireland will assuredly be left in little doubt come next month. Not only will the queen of England be paying a visit to the hallowed ground but now the GAA has been asked to reserve the stadium on May 22 for a possible rally there by the visiting US president, Barack Obama.

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B&Bs TO BE STARRED

Guesthouses and B&Bs will be rated in the same way as hotels from next month, when stars will be given as part of a new classification system, The Sunday Business Post reports.

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WINNING SMILES FOR SMALL FIRMS

While cost cutting has been central to the survival of many Irish firms during the economic downturn, a wide variety of companies have looked at their businesses afresh and rebranded. In a survey of small companies around the country, the Sunday Business Post cited Nugent Engineering in Naas as an example. The company, whose core activity is

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UP IN ASHES

Even direr than all manners of plague and pestilence, the ash cloud from the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano is literally overshadowing the entire Irish economy, particularly the tourism industry.

Given the continued uncertainty, all of the Sundays give the cloud prominent coverage.  The Sunday Times reports tourism executives will meet the Government tomorrow amid fears the chaos could create a crisis for the €5 billion industry.

Inward tour operators are already reporting thousands of cancellations and the continuing unpredictability of flights is doing nobody any favour. Abbey Travel, Ireland’s biggest inward operator, said it had already received 1,000 call-offs – mostly from France and Germany.

“This is probably the greatest threat that has faced our sector – it’s more threatening than foot and mouth or swine flu,” said Jane Magnier, Abbey Tour’s managing director, who called for a co-ordinated response to the crisis.

The Sunday Business Post reports the disruption is costing tourist firms €20m a day – €11m for Ryanair and Aer Lingus and €9m in lost revenues elsewhere in the sector.

Outbound tourism operators are hoping for a silver lining amid the gloom, arguing that people will travel regardless. Tanya Airey of Sunway believes more people will opt for a bonded package experience rather than the DIY approach.

“After the first episode, we got a huge number of emails and thank-you cards from holidaymakers for putting them up – an extra week in some cases. People who booked their own accommodation and flights had no comeback,” she said.

For those determined to travel abroad Blue Insurances – an Irish firm that provides about 70% of the cover in the Irish market – is in talks with its underwriter about providing volcano cover.

“We are expecting a big rise in people looking for insurance and ash cover,” the company said.

DROP IN TOURISM NUMBERS DESCRIBED AS “COLOSSAL”

Fine Gael spokesperson Olivia Mitchell focused on the dire state of the tourism industry in a keynote speech at her party’s annual conference in Killarney on Saturday afternoon. It is not hard to understand why – tourism was a mainstay of the economic boom and its failures are representative of failures in the wider economy.

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