With the two-week Easter break now coming to an end, has it been a case of returning to 'business as normal' in Westport hotels - as they welcomed visitors back to the popular holiday destination with open arms following the two long years of covid paralysis? This week the Mayo Advertiser spoke to Irish Hotel Federation (IHF ) Chair in Mayo, Westport hotelier Darren Madden, whose hopes for a bumper summer remain somewhat muted, as he describes the mood within the hospitality sector as 'cautiously optimistic' for 2022.
"Westport has always punched above its weight and I feel summer 2022 will be a decent season - but really, we are cautious about what the season will be like. In terms of demand, there is plenty of availability there at the moment, so there is a sense of cautious optimism."
Commenting on the Easter holiday break now just ending, the Mayo IHF Chair continued: "Easter was nice, but it could have been better. It's two weeks off in terms of a break for people, and there were rooms around the town everywhere, plenty of rooms.
"It is fair to say we had more international tourism and that was good to see; plenty of Americans, and the tour buses are beginning to flow around the county again. The numbers are probably down slightly though, as the PCR test the US tourists must take on their way back home is a real worry, because they are afraid of their lives they may have to wait an extra week in Ireland, which they have not budgeted for. But that is out of our control, as it is US government policy - but it can pose a problem.
"At the same time, the reports are that Dublin airport is busy with a lot of Irish people wanting to take foreign holidays, so that is affecting our numbers. It is understandable people are on the move again. At the same time, there is a level of fear out there about the economy, and older people are still cautious about covid and going away.
"There is also stifled demand due to inflation, which we hope won’t be a long-term issue, but it is putting pressure on our ability to offer better value rates, what with energy and food prices soaring. We don’t want to price ourselves out of the market, but you will find a similar problem in every country regarding the supply of holidays. It will get more expensive, in line with other rising costs. We are very aware of that and are trying to keep value in our domain, but ultimately, there are pressures there; energy prices particularly are a huge issue, because everything costs, whether it is just to turn on the light or the oven."
Staffing is also a difficulty for hotels, although the situation is getting better, Darren added. "When the season kicks in, there will be more places trying to ramp up their businesses but we are already nearly at full employment, with just 5% unemployed. So it's a challenge, and without staff, businesses will be having to curtail their offering. Even students who could always be depended on for seasonal work - a lot of them are now trying to get out of the country as well to take their own J1s and holidays this summer; a lot of kids and college students I know are just looking to head away and travel. I don’t see too many CVs coming in to the Clew Bay Hotel from college students at the moment, but on the other side, I have a lot of TY students with me from last year and coming back this year; this is a younger staff we would not have engaged with in the past, but they have been great and are the mainstay of our peak season staffing.
"In terms of staffing in general, getting visas and work permits for non-Irish staff does bring difficulties, while housing of staff is a huge issue, because there isn’t a functioning housing market out there at the moment. So anyone who comes in the door looking for work, you nearly need to be providing accommodation with the job, which puts a huge pressure on us, as we are not a housing agency; we had two airbnb properties we used to run but now we have staff staying in them. More hotels are having to look to rent properties for staff as a result, on top of which we have more refugees coming into the country, all added to regular people looking for properties to rent, which is just more pressure. It is all affecting employment and our ability to employ because - what can you do if you want to employ staff but they have nowhere to live?."
Does Darren believe the good-times as we knew them before will ever return then?
"I think what we are going through is just a new cycle, and what needs to happen is short, medium and longterm strategy planning. That is the reality. We need to sort out our own problems and get support from government to help us with this, as we are part of the economy and the exchequer. We want to make money, on which we will pay taxes, that will go back into turning the economy. Even in this inflation situation, we need government to look at the 9% vat issue again as a long-term measure, because if it returns to 13.5% as planned in August, that will make it the second highest in Europe, which just makes us uncompetitive. This is the one thing government can do to help us. As it stands, we are unable to contract for future bookings with international tourist operators because we don't know if there will be a vat hike of 4.5%, which would mean a price per room booking fee increase of €100 to €105. That is just unacceptable. People want to know what your prices are, gross rate, for future dates."
Darren added that for Westport to succeed, tourism must be a year-round industry for all involved.
"Westport tries to stay open 12 months of the year and if we want to keep people employed here, it must not be seen as just a seasonal hub or destination. The government too needs to understand that it isn’t a matter of flipping a switch and everything coming back to normal. People are worried at the moment when they see the price of oil and the cost of filling a car with petrol. The extra costs are making everyone more cautious about spending. We need the government to step up and support the sector. Other than that, we are looking forward to a busy season."
