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“Yes, 0% VAT, I am in favor of that,” says Shane Ross.
Reland’s tourism industry is “on its knees,” adds the Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sport, speaking exclusively to Irish Independent, and “dramatic measures” are needed to save him.
One such measure should be a reduction in VAT for Irish tourism and hospitality companies from 13.5 percent to 0 percent. Ross says this is something he and State Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin agree on.
“I made it clear in the cabinet … I found myself [Finance Minister] Paschal Donohoe several times, and we’ve made it perfectly clear that that’s what we’re looking for. “
“I mean, 0pc of 0pc is not much right now … but when things start to improve, the tourism industry will need a boost, and I think that would send a very strong signal that we have their interests at heart.” .
A tourism recovery working group will also be unveiled this week, reveals the Minister, with an independent chairman and around a dozen members, including representatives of Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, as well as companies and stakeholders from the industry “who have worked on the surface of the coal and are recognized as winners.”
“It will be up to them to come up with a plan,” he says.
That recovery plan will be published “hopefully in eight weeks,” Ross adds. Interim reports are possible, but will not be prescriptive: the working group “will be able to develop its own agenda in many ways.”
The deadline is unlikely to satisfy tourism and hospitality companies that have been closed since mid-March and are issuing increasingly desperate calls for guidance and support.
The industry faces “a catastrophic prospect,” said the Irish Hotel Federation (IHF). In addition to reduced VAT rates, both he and the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) have called for immediate liquidity measures, continuity grants and other sector-specific support.
Ross says he hears the urgency, but adds that the government has already introduced substantial support and that it has been fighting in its corner in talks with insurance and bank representatives. Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland will also carry out “very sophisticated” visitor research to inform recovery plans, he says.
“I don’t think it’s too late because, honestly, the tourism industry will start slowly. It won’t be the first to get out of the traps … I don’t think the eight-week time is too late for that.”
Holiday coupons and a ‘Pickup Part 2’ …
Holidays are likely to recover first, the minister says, fueled by pent-up demand, cautious travel abroad and Ireland’s “open spaces”, beaches and greenways.
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Performers at the 2012 NYE Dublin Festival help ring at The Gathering, an annual calendar of meetings, festivals, and events that celebrate Ireland. Photo: Leon Farrell / Fáilte Irlanda
“Ireland has a great holiday where there is a lot of space. You don’t have to go to a crowded place … There is a lot of space in Connemara and Killarney and places like that, and I think people will come to Ireland with open arms .
“There will be a holiday in Ireland this year, I hope and trust that … Let’s make the Irish go to Ireland and appreciate Ireland, it would be a good start.”
The state-sponsored idea of ”vacation vouchers” has been discussed by ITIC as a stimulus measure to start vacations at home, but this is not under active consideration, Ross says.
“Basically it’s signing up for a holiday right away … I’m not sure it’s necessary at this stage.” The other measures will be very strong and extremely valuable. But I wouldn’t rule it out. “
What about the idea of a ‘Meeting 2’, to restart tourism?
“We have thought about it and I think it is a very good idea,” he says. “But it would have to be absolutely airtight in terms of health regulations. There is no point in having a Meeting 2, unless it is airtight in those terms, and it would have to have full and absolute authorization from NPHET (the National Emergency Team for Public health).
“In fact, we could wait a few years.”
Ross, 70, is an outgoing minister who lost his seat in the February 8 general election, so he will not be part of any future government. Being acting minister in a pandemic is a strange position, but he says there are advantages in that he no longer has to “think politically.”
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Shane Ross remains behind Katie Taylor when she returns home to the Dublin airport. Photo: Frank McGrath
Given the magnitude of the challenge tourism faces, the 260,000 jobs and € 7.5 billion revenue it provided last year, according to Fáilte Ireland, should the next cabinet include a dedicated minister?
“I don’t see any need for change. Right now it has two tourism ministers, indeed. If we start creating ministers for each sector that stands out or has big problems, I think it would be appropriate maybe today, but in a few years, I would be another minister and you would have to move again. “
‘My message is: don’t give up …’
The coronavirus is “such a moving story,” he says.
“Anyone who says they know when this or that thing is going to open, or when it is going to happen, just doesn’t know.”
“We just have no idea where the virus is going to be on a given day and at a certain time. We have a prediction, but it is not an exact science … we have to be quite flexible, but absolutely determined.”
Given this, Ross is “very concerned” about the future of tourism. But he is also hopeful because the sector is full “of energetic and enterprising people who have faced disasters before,” he says.
“I was there for four years, and it was a really positive experience in terms of tourism, the numbers kept going up and up.”
“It was a real joy … due not only to the prosperity of the nation, or even the government, if I may say so, it was due to the fact that we had a good spirit, a good product and we were selling very well.”
“And all of this has been completely wiped out by six by this virus.”
However, he says the same people are there now “with the same hunger to do something very patriotic for Ireland … these people have fires in their bellies. They are not depressed. They are just looking for ways to return.”
Your message to the small businesses that fight for their lives?
“My message is not to give up. You have done it before; you will do it again … we are fighting for you.”
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