Marketing

Covid-19 could cost our tourism industry €3.5 billion

The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation has made an initial assessment that Covid-19 could cost Irish tourism as much as €3.5 billion this year.
The April to June quarter income could fall by €1.286 billion estimates ITIC.

The April to June quarter income could fall by €1.286 billion estimates ITIC.

According to the ITIC, “Assuming Q1 has a -60% impact (March wiped out and no Saint Patrick’s Festival), Q2 sees a -85% impact (when little international business of any serious note happens) and then slow recovery occurs in Q3 (-70%) and Q4 (-50%), the overseas earnings element of the tourism economy for 2020 could amount to as little as €1.58 billion, a Covid-19 cost to Irish tourism of €3.52 billion”.

This means that for the January to March period tourism values could fall to €305 million from €763 million while the April to June period could see some €227 million in value compared with 2019’s €1.513 billion in 2019.

And the July to September quarter could be down by as much as €1.3 billion to €547 million from €1.824 billion while the October to December quarter could see values fall from just over €1 billion last year to just €500 million this year.

If the fares paid to Irish air and sea carriers by international visitors are included then the total cost of Covid-19 amounts to over €5 billion, states ITIC’s initial estimate.

Such an exercise for Irish tourism poses a number of significant questions.

“Will Irish tourism be fully open for business this Summer?” asks the ITIC, “Which source markets might visit? How badly-impacted will the air access situation be post Covid-19?

“The domestic market is likely to recover faster than overseas markets but it is the latter that is the main contributor to Ireland’s tourism industry,” concludes the report.

 

 

 

 

 


Sign Up for Drinks Industry Ireland

Get a free weekly update on Drinks Industry trade news, direct to your inbox. Sign up now, it's free