Mayo hotelier says NAMA hotels, JLC rates threaten industry

Mayo hotelier says NAMA hotels and JLC rates threaten industry


Trevor Quinn

John Raftery, vice-president of the Mayo branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has said the new coalition Government is making significant strides in improving the environment for tourism in Mayo. However, several issues, such the NAMA hotels and JLC (Joint Labour Committee) rates have yet to be resolved, he said.
Raftery, who is the proprietor of the Downhill Hotel, Ballina, was speaking after a meeting with Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Michael Ring at Hotel Westport last week. Twenty Mayo hoteliers attended the meeting.
Speaking to The Mayo News Mr Raftery said, “There have been significant moves by the Government in recent months in relation to the reduction in airport departure tax and the decrease in the VAT rate on food and accommodation. The decrease in the VAT rate has allowed us to make a commitment to pass on these savings to our guests and to become more competitive.”
Raftery said concerns and anxieties were discussed with Minister Ring. “The concerns we outlined were issues such as the high level of local authority rates and the water rates. We urged the Minister to ensure Tourism Ireland is run effectively. We asked him to market Ireland abroad and in particular Mayo and the west of Ireland and to maximise the potential of the airport.”
Raftery said that the east coast has predominantly attracted a high proportion of Ireland’s tourists, with Galway and Kerry also attracting high numbers. He said a strategic plan should be put in place to attract more tourists to Mayo, and the benefits of Ireland West Airport Knock should be promoted more in order to achieve this.
Raftery said that hotels in Mayo had every chance of encouraging more British tourists despite an 18 per cent market decline last year. “In relation to the British market we are considerably behind where we were in 2007 so we have to rebuild and use our marketing budget effectively and ensure it is maintained.”
The Ballina hotelier said the much-maligned NAMA hotels have been given a competitive advantage due to their connection with the banks and receivers, and that this was wrong. “They don’t have to repay loans and it creates an unfair playing field which needs to be addressed. Family-run businesses are being pushed to the wall and a lot of these new NAMA hotels are not familiar with ‘the céad míle fΡilte’.”
Speaking on the NAMA hotels issue, Minister Ring said that he was in regular dialogue with Minister of State, Environment, Community & Local Government Willie Penrose TD, who was working hard with his department to come up with solutions to the problem. “Minister Willie Penrose is looking at it with his department and he is examining the situation with NAMA hotels and ghost estates. Discussions are taking place at government level to see how we can deal with it.”
Raftery also called for the abolition of the JLC rates on Sundays. He said these rates were making it more difficult for hotels to provide reasonably-priced food on Sundays, and many were choosing not to as it was not economically viable.