Louth hoteliers urge Government to tackle unsustainable Increases in cost of doing business

• A permanent restoration of the 9% VAT rate on hospitality food services. This is key to supporting the viability of our tourism food offering.
• A meaningful reduction in Employers’ PRSI for labour-intensive indigenous industries such as tourism and hospitality.
• Measures to tackle excessive business costs, which are amongst the highest in Europe, including insurance premiums and energy pass through charges.
• Increased investment in training, skills and development, leveraging the enormous un-tapped surpluses in the National Training Fund.
• Measures to support enhanced air access for Dublin and our regional airports.
• Increased funding for Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland to support sectoral growth, marketing and development.
• More targeted measures to support sustainability initiatives within our sector in line with Ireland’s national climate action goals.

The Irish Hotels Federation says that having these measures in place would go a long way towards ensuring the long-term success of Ireland’s tourism and hospitality industry.