Reports from Committees and other Bodies

Marketing Committee
Mailo Power

The Marketing Committee worked on a number of existing and new marketing initiatives during the year.

Once again there was a new Design for the Be Our Guest guide which went to print in November 1999. Feedback to date on the new cover has been very positive both from the trade and consumers. Other new features in the guide include dual pricing - the Euro equivalent rate is featured on all entrants. Also for the first time the Be Our Guest guide has its own dedicated Freephone Reservation Number -+800 36 98 74 12.

Once again this year saw huge growth in the guide with 1,063 premises. 400,000 copies of the guide have been printed the majority of which have already been distributed to both trade and consumers both overseas and in the domestic market. Once again Guinness were the main sponsors of the guide. Work has already commenced on the 2001 Be Our Guest Guide.

The Be Our Guest Guide has already been distributed at a number of promotions, these include:
The World Travel Market, London Nov '99 The Holiday World Show, Manchester Jan '00 The Holiday World Show, Belfast Jan '00 The Holiday World Show, Dublin Jan '00 The Holiday World Show, Cork Feb '00 The Holiday World Show, Glasgow Feb '00 The Irish Hotels Federation will also be
represented at:

Consumer Promotion, Belgium Mar '00 Consumer Promotion, The Hague Mar '00 TUR 2000, Gothenburg, Sweden Mar '00 Consumer Show, Munich Feb '00

The Federation is also looking at the possibility of representing members at Conference and Incentive Market shows such as EIBTM in Geneva and IT& ME in Chicago.

In order to make the Be Our Guest more readily available to the public the Federation have entered into an agreement with a distribution company in Britain which will distribute the guide to all major bookstores both in Britain and in Europe and later in the year in the United States.

The Marketing Committee was also represented on a number of liaison groups; with Gulliver, the NIHF and the Regional Tourism Association, which met a number of times throughout the year. The Federation is also represented on the OTMI Board and on all its market groups. It is also represented on the Regional Tourism Marketing Initiative.

A number of improvements were also made to the Be Our Guest web site which was updated in December 1999. An initiative is being put in place currently in order to further improve how the Federation markets its members through technology.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Marketing Committee for their hard work during the year and particularly commend the Federation's Marketing Executive for her professionalism and dedication.

CERT Council
Mary Fitzgerald

Hospitality 2005, the first study to address the future strategic direction of the industry, was published by CERT in July. It predicted the hotel and restaurant sector would need an additional 105,000 workers by 2005 if the current high growth rate continued. To maintain profitable growth in the face of growing labour shortages, the report recommended greater efforts to retain existing staff, the adoption of international best practice standards to improve productivity, the removal of barriers to people wishing to return to work and the strengthening of the industry's image as a route to a rewarding career.

Recruitment continued to be a top priority. CERT in conjunction with the Irish Hotels Federation and the Restaurant Association of Ireland co-ordinated and sponsored the second National Tourism Careers Roadshow which visited 36 venues around the country to promote careers in hospitality and tourism to students and school leavers. The roadshow was supplemented by a promotional campaign on breakfast TV and national press.

More than 3,200 transition year students and school leavers applied for career training in the industry as a result of the 1998 careers roadshow and a follow-up advertising campaign.

In November, a special campaign was launched to promote careers in the industry to adults. A mobile information centre visited 15 towns around the country, providing information about training and careers and conducting on-the-spot interviews for courses starting in January 2000.

A pilot Return to Work programme for women proved highly successful. The multi-skilled course, held in the Curragh and Kilmallock, Co Limerick, provided training on a flexible/part time basis to allow participants to combine training with family responsibilities. It is planned to extend the course to about 15 centres in 2000 and provide training for up to 500 women.

Expansion of training facilities continued. The bar, restaurant and reception area at the training centre in CERT House in Dublin were upgraded to provide additional training space. CERT will shortly re-locate the training centre at Raheen in Limerick to larger premises, a move that will significantly boost training in the region.

The Trainers in Industry programme exceeded expectations with 2,250 in-house instructors trained and registered by the end of 1999, substantially above the original target of 2,000. The instructors will provide CERT accredited training in the workplace.

Places on day-release courses for chefs expanded by 27 per cent to meet soaring demand from industry. Sixty places for chefs have now been created in CERT House. A full review of day release training has also begun.
A new operating structure was put in place within CERT as part of the programme for Change. The new structure will allow CERT to expand the research function, strengthen regional activity and provide a more comprehensive approach to recruitment.

A survey conducted for Cert found that employment of the Hotel and Restaurant sectors in Ireland has increased by 16% and 20% in the last year alone.

Employment Committee
Joe Quinn

1999 was again a very busy year for the Employment Committee. A number of key areas were addressed during the year.

1. As in the last two years the main focus of the Committee has been the development of the Quality Employer Programme (QEP). We have had some success this year with the current figures at 620 applications, or almost 70% of membership showing its commitment to the programme and of these 300 properties have been fully accredited, just over a third of membership. Some new facilitators were appointed and have made a significant impact on the programme.
In previous years the emphasis has been on getting the applications in while in 1999 and indeed 2000 will see the emphasis shift to processing these applications to accreditations. The Committee has presented a strategic plan to Management of the Federation for the development of the QEP over the next two years.

2. The Committee developed a Code of Practice for Recruitment Agencies operating in our sector to follow. This Code was circulated to all such agencies which signed a statement of compliance to adhere to its principles. The committee facilitated the implementation of this code and would like to thank all agencies which participated in its development. We can report that from an initial 7 agencies the number of signed up agencies stands a 17.

3. To assit members with the difficulties they are experiencing in recruitment the Committee put forward a proposal to Management to set up a placement division for the IHF. The facility is a completely new departure for the IHF. The facility is open to all QEP accredited properties to join for a small annual fee plus a placement fee per staff member placed. The programme will therefore be totally self financing, Initially the division will concentrate on placements from overseas, with an emphasis on offering work experience placements to students, for a minimum of 6 months.
In addition to the establishment of this division the IHF held recruitment drives in Sweden and the Czech Republic which both proved to be very successful and will be further developed in 2000. Finland and Canada will also be targeted in 2000.

4. In an effort to attract young students to careers in this industry a number of events were attended during the year:

5. A new placement criteria for the allocation of CERT students was agreed with CERT.

6. A standard wage structure was agreed with CERT for their students on placement.

7. The Trainee Manager Development Programme (TMDP) committee meetings were attended which has overseen the development of the curriculum for this programme and the enhancement of it for the future requirement of management in our industry.

8. The Transition Year Programme continued to go from strength to strength and we receiver great assistance in this from CERT and we are grateful for their input.

9. The Committee had presentations from FCC on addressing the image of careers in the industry and to develop a strategy to counteract this and with CERT on the development of a careers video to be used in all recruitment drives.

Committee Members included - Anne O Carroll, Deirdre Clohessy, Margaret Davern, Philip Gavin and Richard Hurley who all gave freely of their time during the year to ensure a number of projects were successfully completed. I would like to thank each of them for their hard work and effort.

HOTREC
John Power

HOTREC is the Confederation of the national associations of hotels, restaurants, cafes and similar establishments in the European Union and European economic area. Based in Brussels, it serves as a focal point for the transmission of the industry's views to the EU. It also monitors European developments and keeps the member associations informed. Two General Assemblies of HORTEC are held annually and in the year under review, General Assemblies were held in Helsinki and Quinta do Lago. These locations coincide with taking up of the Presidency of the EU by Finland and Portugal.

Under the Chairmanship of DGV of the European Commission, a joint declaration for the promotion of the European hotel and restaurant sector was signed by HOTREC and SETA-UITA (European Union of Catering & Hotel Workers and related branches). particular situations favourable to creating and protecting jobs, such as lower taxes and non-wage costs. SETA-UITA and HORTEC recognise that the creation of new full-time jobs remains the priority. Flexible working hours must be applied within the framework of agreements between the Social Partners and must adapt to the needs of companies and employers.

HORTEC continues to lobby that a reduced level of VAT should apply to hotel and restaurant services within any common EU VAT system.

It also lobbies that hotel and restaurant costs be treated as inputs by VAT registered businesses. HOTREC had lobbied that countries, which do not presently have a reduced rate of VAT for restaurants, should be allowed to carry out such an experiment in their countries.

The European Commission is currently working on a draft regulation on hygiene and foodstuffs. This text will revise and bring together the 1993/43 Directive on hygiene and foodstuffs and some 13 Directives relating to specific health rules affecting the production and placing on the market of specific products. A white paper on food safety was issued in January 2000, the aim of which is to assure the EU has the highest standards of food safety and that this be a key policy priority for the Commission. A suggestion within the white paper is the creation of a European Food Authority and interested bodies such as HOTREC, have been invited to submit their views. This authority would be entrusted with a number of key tasks in embracing independent scientific advice and all aspects related to food safety, operation of rapid alert systems, communication and dialogue with consumers on food safety and health issues, as well as net-working with national agencies and scientific bodies. The ultimate aim is that consumers are well informed on relevant aspects of food safety and have the right to expect information on food quality of constituents in a manner that is helpful and clearly presented. This would include proposals on labelling of foods built on existing rules and the importance of a balanced diet and its impact on health

In September 1999, the International Hotel & Restaurant Association and the Universal Federation of Travel Agents Association signed a code of practice between hoteliers and travel agents, which applies whenever no contract has been concluded between the hotelier and travel agent, or to complement contracts in respect of any provisions, not included therein. This is intended to serve as a directive for the resolution of disputes between hoteliers and travel agents, whether amicably, judicially or in arbitration. HOTREC has a working group, which is presently drawing up guidelines on contracts between hotels and tour operators, be they for a group or individual bookings, and this, in the absence of a contract would also operate as a guideline in such relationships and could be used to influence the drafting of such contracts. The Commission Department in charge of consumer policy, DGXXIV, is launching a study on an initiative intended to achieve improvement of consumer safety, also in certain service sectors. HOTREC has been invited to discuss this project and the possibility of developing for the hotel sector, a voluntary pilot system for safety management.

The 1992 Ecolabel Regulation established a scheme for setting up EU wide Ecolabels for products. Ecolabels are voluntary i.e. manufacturers are not forced to apply for an Ecolabel, but to be awarded the label, products must comply with strict environment criteria. This regulation is currently being reviewed and the European Parliament has suggested the possibility of the Ecolabel system being extended to services.

Tourism and especially tourist accommodation, has been identified as a priority for the possible development of service related Ecolabels. A feasibility and market study, for the development of a 'product group' in tourism accommodation, for the EU Ecolabels scheme, has been commissioned. Its tasks will include the analysing of the nature of the European tourist market, characterising the different main types of services, grouping them and analysing options of product groups, assessing best environmental practices and environmental impacts, and setting up an indicative priority list for feasibility and action by identifying which sub-sectors of accommodation should be developed and also which other future tourism product groups would be relevant to consider. The Commission plans to set up a new ad hoc working group in tourism, composing of day courses for representatives of member states during the course of the feasibility study. HOTREC will participate in these discussions.

HOTREC has recently issued a lobbying brochure on copyright issues, with the sub-heading 'Did you know that when you have a beer with friends you also pay for the music?' The brochure was endorsed by such bodies as the European Hotel Management Association, European Federation of Leisure Parks, European Association of Craft SMEs, ECTA representing national travel agents and tour operator associations, European Modern Restaurant Association, Euro-toques, European Federation of Camping Site Organisations, European Tour Operators Association and the Music Users Council of Europe. While the levels of fees and copyright and neighbouring rights as well as the criteria and procedures for collecting these fees vary greatly from country to country, all member associations of HOTREC send the same clear message. Their establishments, hotel restaurants, cafes, bars, discotheques are over-burdened with fees for copyright and neighbouring rights. The European Commission has decided to tackle this problem of lack of transparency and has commissioned consultants to study the function of the collecting bodies. HOTREC made a submission to the consultants carrying out the study. The objective of the HOTREC brochure and copyright is to explain, in terms easily understandable to the non-initiated what users pay for the use of music. It calls that it is time to review a system, which is quite simply anachronistic. The authors and performers deserve some remuneration but collecting bodies do not. Normal market forces should govern the relations between authors, performers and users. This is why HOTREC calls for a new model for the organisation of the collection of fees. This system should be market-driven, should be developed and fully negotiated, between the users and the copyright owners. Copyright and neighbouring rights should be collected only once at the source of transmission and payment should never be requested up front but only for services effectively used. The EU is presently developing a proposal for directive and copyright and related rights in the information society and HOTREC is watching closely the developments of this project.

Irish Tourist Industry Confederation ITIC
William Power

The Federation continues to play a major role in the activities of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, the umbrella body that represents the united views of 22 major industry sectors in negotiating with Government, the EU and Tourist Boards. Throughout the year, ITIC participated in the various discussions under the auspices of Partnership 2000 and is currently representing the tourism sector in the social partnership discussions relating to the new national agreement. These discussions have taken place under five headings, vision for the future, economic policy, social inclusion, and successful adaptation to continuing change and the renewing of the Partnership.

During the year, ITIC launched a programme "People & Place"on behalf of the Overseas Tourism Marketing Initiative, which is aimed to generate awareness of the core tourism values of people, spontaneity and unspoiled environment of Ireland. Actions are being organised to protect these values which are so important to the future of Irish tourism. This is part of a pilot initiative on tourism and the environment launched by the Minister for Tourism, Sport & Recreation and funded through his department by the European Regional Development Fund and also by the OTMI, Bord Failte, CERT and Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The Irish Hotels Federation is an important artery through which this important message will be communicated to the Irish tourist industry.

ITIC has acted as the umbrella organisation representing the tourist interests in seeking a strong commitment from Government under the National Development Plan 2000-20006. The allocation of almost £400m, for tourism under the National Development Plan was welcomed. The focus of ITIC in this area will now be to ensure that mechanisms are put in place to monitor the implementation of this plan and to ensure that a transparent partnership structure is in place to oversee its delivery.

ITIC has been involved in discussions with the Department of Tourism, Sport & Recreation on the evolution of structures as a result of the North/South arrangements. It has had discussions on the development of a joint platform with its counterpart body in Northern Ireland, The Northern Ireland Tourist Industry Confederation. Both organisations have committed to participate fully in the activities of any new North/South tourism body. ITIC has recommended a range of criteria for the new body including; adequate funding, appropriate representation of the industry on the Board, involvement of the industry in the developing strategies in relation to marketing, product development and training and the transition arrangements allowing the OTMI programmes to be integrated into the new body.

Unfair Competition
Kathleen O'Regan Sheppard

As we enter the new millennium our resolve to obtain equality in our trading environment for our members is stronger than ever. This Government, our own Minister and our Senior Civil Servants are now in position long enough to know fully how unfair it is to have neighbouring premises competing on an unfair basis. We are constantly reminding them of this issue, not just from an unfair competition viewpoint, but from a control of safety, fire, hygiene and quality standards viewpoint which are vital for our tourism industry's survival.

Earlier in the year the Chief Executive raised the issue of enforcement of the control of standards equally on all tourism accommodation providers with the Minister for Tourism Sport & Recreation, Dr. James McDaid T.D. and with John Dully, Chief Executive of Bord Failte. We are strongly supported in this lobby by the Town and Country Homes Association. Their Chairperson, Vera Fenney, is on record as saying, "We need a licensing scheme similar to the one in Northern Ireland whereby anyone who takes in paying guests pays their local authority an annual licence fee and is open for inspection. The absence of mandatory licensing is putting the tourist industry at risk". The Irish Farmhouse Holidays Association also support our lobbying efforts on this issue.

The long awaited Valuation Bill is expected to be issued soon and we have had indications that this will address the rates issue. We hope that, following the passage of this Bill through the Oireachtas all commercial tourism accommodation providers will be levied for commercial rates on an equal basis. We have also highlighted the unfair competition arising from B.E.S. funded hostels operating as hotels and called for the removal of financial incentives for the building of new tourist accommodation in areas where there is an adequate supply - whilst making the case for the retention of financial incentives for existing hotels & guesthouses so as to remain viable.

During the year the President requested that the Unfair Competition Committee carry out a review of the existing Registration and Classification criteria for hotels and guesthouses. These are very dated and in need of change to keep up with the operating environment in which we now trade in. He has asked for our recommendations to be made to Council as soon as this review is complete. Our committee has already had 3 meetings to review these requirements. It is an arduous task but one which is very important for our members. We hope to make our recommendations to Council in June and, following their consideration, to meet with the relevant authorities later this year.

On your behalf I would like to thank my committee for their hard work during the year - Mary Britton, Gerard Hanratty, Annette Devine, John Ryan, Donal O'Meara and Monica Friel from Jurys Doyle Group who has joined us for the registration and classification review. I would especially like to thank Donal O'Meara, IHF Secretary/Treasurer for his commitment and dedicated service.

Bord Failte Liaison
William Power

Throughout the year many meetings took place with the Chairman, Chief Executive and senior executives of Bord Failte. A system of quarterly meetings has commenced at which discussion takes place on the major issues facing the tourist, hotel and guesthouse industries. Through these meetings we expressed their views on such issues as the structure of the Regional Tourism Authorities, the difficulties faced by smaller businesses within our sector, the risks of increasing access costs and the absolute necessity to have in place a reliable and credible system for the production of tourism figures.


Bord Failte continued to provide a major channel for the distribution of the Be Our Guest guide. In 1999 distribution of this guide through Bord Faitle offices in the U.S., U.K. Germany and France amounted to approximately 200,000 copies. It is anticipated that a similar number of the 2000 guides will be distributed this year. Bord Failte, in conjunction with the tourist industry is currently reviewing the Tourism Brand Ireland initiative and the material used to promote this brand. Gerry O'Connor represents the Federation on the Review Committee. It is of concern to us that in some markets the image being portrayed of Ireland is creating confusion. It is so important that notwithstanding our substantial economic success, the core values of the Irish holiday experience, which are people, spontaneity and the unspoilt environment, are clearly communicated. The pictures and videos necessary to communicate this message have got to be top class and we understand that this review of the brand will ensure that this material is available.

We have had discussions with Bord Failte on its likely role in the context of an all-Ireland tourism marketing body and we expressed our concern that the gains already made in marketing Irish tourism overseas should not be lost. Bord Failte also has a role to co-ordinate the domestic marketing activities of Regional Tourism Organisations.

The contract, with TQS, to carry out the registration and classification expires in 2000 and tenders will shortly be sought for the continuation of this function. The Federation has clearly expressed the view that the hotel and guesthouse sector must always have confidence in the body carrying out these important functions and frequent changes of the designated contractors is not conducive to building this confidence.

Licensing Committee
Billy O'Carroll

This Committee had a very heavy workload. Proposed new legislation in the areas of liquor licensing, copyright and employment issues were the focus of our attention.

We lobbied to ensure that the interests of our members, particularly those involved in the nightclub and disco business, were protected in any forthcoming review of the licensing legislation. We made a particularly strong argument on the necessity to protect the viability of the small family owned rural hotel, which depended, for its livelihood, on the income from admission charges to nightclubs and discos. We welcomed most of the proposals for change indicated by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, when he announced forthcoming changes in the licensing laws, particularly the abolition of the distinction which currently exists between summer and winter trading hours, the removal of the restriction on obtaining special exemptions for any time on a Sunday, the abolition of the 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. closing times on Sundays and the removal of the obligation to provide a meal as a condition for obtaining an extension.

We expressed major concern at the damage which the extension of the normal bar closing times to 12.30 a.m. with a half hour drinking-up time, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, would have on the attendance at night-clubs and discos. The focus of our lobbying is now on getting assurances that special exemption orders will ensure a minimum extension of two hours after normal bar closing time. We believe that this is the minimum necessary to ensure that the viability of many discos and nightclubs on which survival of many small rural hotels depend.

The Copyright and Related Rights Bill 1999, which was introduced during the year and is presently in the process of going through the Dail, raised very serious issues from our members who use recorded music or have television and radios in bedrooms. As introduced, and up to committee stage in the Dail, this Bill classed the use of radios and televisions in hotel bedrooms as public performances and therefore subject to copyright charges. The Bill also gave to record companies the same status, as primary copyright holders, as it did to authors and composers and it sought to confirm the provisions of the Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1998 which gave presumption of ownership in copyright to collecting agencies claiming it. Jointly with the Irish NightClub Industry Association and the Vintners Federation of Ireland, your Federation allocated substantial resources to employing the best available legal advice to make a submission outlining our serious concerns regarding the Bill. In our submission we called for the maintenance of the present position under which hotel bedrooms were deemed to be private and therefore having available radios and televisions within them should not be subject to copyright. Our submission also maintained that record companies and their collecting agencies should not have the same status as collecting agencies acting on behalf of authors and composers and thereby reaffirming the position adopted by the then Minister for Industry & Commerce, the late Mr Jack Lynch T.D. when introducing the current ruling legislation in 1963. We called for the maintaining of the position confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1995 when it ruled the equitable remuneration, to which the PPI may be entitled, need not be paid in advance.

We called in our submission that the sections of the Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1998 which dealt with the granting of the presumption of ownership to collecting agencies until the contrary is proved should be repealed. This is totally an inequitable provision, which may be unconstitutional in that it gives presumption of ownership to collecting agencies until the contrary is proven. It is an unfair imposition on the users of records to prove that the collecting agency does not own the copyright in a particular performance. As the records on which to base such claim are not available to the user, but should be within the control of the copyright collecting agency. To safeguard the users from unscrupulous or fraudulent operators, we suggested that all copyright collecting agencies should be registered with a state authority, having first demonstrated to that authority, that there were bone-fide collecting agencies that had ownership in the copyright for the benefit of which they sought to collect. To speed up the resolution of dispute between copyright collecting agencies and users of recorded material, we suggested the creation of a copyright tribunal, similar to the employment appeals tribunal which should speedily rule on such issues. At the time of going to press, these issues are being considered at Committee stage in the Dail. The Dail appears to have accepted our case for the exclusion of copyright liability of radios and televisions in hotel bedrooms and that the right attached to recorded music is a secondary copyright or neighbouring right.
We propose to continue to lobby on the other issues until this Bill finally completes is passage through the Oireachtas and is signed into law.

The Joint Labour Committee (JLC) met during the year and increased the basic wage rates by 4% with effect from 21 September 1999 and a further 1% from 1 May 2000. It was necessary for us to challenge the interpretation of the effects of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 on spread-over duty requirements. The result was that the maximum period for spread-over duties previously limited to 14 hours in any day is now removed with a provision inserted that compensatory rest allowances will be applied in accordance with the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. The effects of this is where there does not exist an 11 hour break between shifts, a compensatory the rest periods must be given. As we go to print the National Minimum Wage Bill 2000 has been initiated. n the lead-up to the introduction of this Bill we made a number of submissions supporting the following issues:

  1. That the Bill should include a provision that the Labour Relations Commission or the Labour Court cannot recommend in favour or endorse any claim if it is based on the restoration of a paid differential between an employee and another employee who has secured an improvement in pay arising from the provisions of the Minimum Wage Act
  2. We submitted that the rate of pay for employees within the hotel and catering sector should include the payment they received through service charge scheme and account be taken of the value of board and lodgings where provided.
  3. We submitted that reduced pay rates be applicable to under 18 year olds, first time job entrants and trainees.
  4. We also recommend that any review of the national minimum wage should include a safeguard that any increase should not exceed those of a national understanding between the social partners.
  5. We submitted that with the range of labour legislation now in force it is unnecessary to continue with the JLC system.

The Bill, as initiated addresses all, bar number 5, of the above issues and the national partnership agreement has agreed that £4.40 per hour will be the minimum adult wage with effect from 1 April 2000 (rising to £4.70 on 1 July 2001 and £5.00 on 1 October 2002). The Bill provides that persons under 18 years of age shall be entitled to minimum rate of 70% of the national minimum hourly rate. First time job entrants shall have a reduced rate of 80% in respect of their first year in employment and 90% in their second year with the full statutory minimum rate applicable thereafter. Where an employee over 18 years old undergoes a prescribed course of study or training authorised by the employer within the workplace or elsewhere during normal working hours the minimum wage rate applicable in respect of the first one-third period of training (but not exceeding 12 months) shall be 75%, in respect of the second one-third period (but not exceeding 12 months) 80% and in respect of the third one-third period (but not exceeding 12 months) 90%.

A preliminary view would suggest that employers have got to be careful to ensure that the courses of training are prescribed within the meaning of this Act and we will further advise you when this has been clarified. The Bill provides that, in addition to the basic salary or wage, the wage rate will be deemed to include such items as service charge, shift premium, unsociable hours premium, the monetary value of board and lodgings or board only or lodgings only (as this was prescribed by the Minister) and any amount distributed to the employee of tips or gratuities paid into a central fund managed by the employer and paid through the payroll.

In general, with the exception of our call to abolish the JLCs, the contents of our submissions have been taken on board by the legislation.

Convention Bureau of Ireland
Peter Mc Dermott

Convention Bureau of Ireland Peter Mc Dermott A major reorganisation of the Convention Bureau of Ireland took place during 1999 and this ensured that the Council of this body had better representation on the tourist industry. The Irish Hotels Federation has now got 4 representatives on the Council. Two industry sub-committees have also been established, one for conferences and the other for incentive travel. The function of the CBI council is to advise and guide Bord Failte in undertaking focused promotional marketing campaigns in partnership with industry to attract significant additional overseas business from the conference, corporate meeting and incentive market segments. The two industry sub-committees will act as working groups with Bord Failte in relation to overseas marketing activities. They will ensure a meaningful partnership approach by Bord Failte and the industry, which result in transparency in Bord Failte's marketing efforts in these two sectors.

Three-year marketing plans for conference and incentive products were approved and additional resources for marketing have been secured. The objective is to generate 24,000 extra high-spending visitors (from 99,000 in 1998 to 133,000 in 2002). Revenue is targeted to increase from £89m. to £130m. The successful conference ambassador programme is to be re-launched early in the year 2000. Under the programme, assistance will be given to Irish people who are in a position to make a bid for Ireland to be selected as a venue for international conferences and meetings. The overseas marketing strategy and action plan for Ireland's Incentive Product (2000-2002) also involves increased funding in human resources. The aim is to increase the number of incentive visitors from 40,000 to 57,5000 and revenue from £50m. to £71m.

The implementation of both marketing plans is under way; a full colour 128 page conference and meetings guide has been published This guide is designed to give overseas organisers of conferences and meeting the most useful information on Ireland's conference and meeting venues and professional organisers.

Clontarf Castle was the venue last October for a workshop which, for the first time, brought together incentive agents and meeting planners from the U.S. Mainland Europe and Britain. The 110 buyers met 95 members of the Irish Trade. The promotion entitled "Meeting of Mind and Spirit" was organised jointly by Bord Failte and the Irish trade. It included familiarisation visits by the overseas buyers, to product providers throughout the country. Plans are now at an advanced stage to launch conference incentive website. In view of the evolution of the product targeting this sector, criteria are being developed for attendance at conference and incentive shows overseas. In order to have better communications between the Convention Bureau of Ireland and the industry, a CBI newsletter will be launched in the early part of the year 2000 and further editions at regular intervals thereafter.

A date has now been set for the oral hearing of the appeal against the planning decision on the National Conference Centre and hopefully, this will lead to the uncertainty surrounding this project being removed in the first half of 2000.

Finance & Economic
Patrick Coyle

There were two submissions made to Government during the year which this committee had commissioned, the pre-budget submission and a submission on air and sea access costs. In our pre-budget submission we advocated a responsible long-term strategic approach to developing the Irish tourist sector based on consolidation and managed growth. It is now critical to focus resources on skills, training and international marketing and on a limited range of demand-generating facilities. Development policy should move away from incentives for accommodation provisions and, in view of the surge in the supply in all forms of accommodation, the emphasis must be placed on attracting sufficient numbers of visitors at the right time of the year to make these viable. Budgetary measures which; we identified to encourage such a shift would include:

Following the announcement of the budget and having considered its contents, we submitted a three-point list of items, which should be addressed in the forthcoming Finance Bill. These were the full indexation of the exemption threshold under Class 1 of the Capital Acquisition Tax, the increase to the realistic figure of £1.5m the Capital Gains Tax Retirement Relief and the Taxation Acts of a definition for guesthouses. Taken together, the Budget, the National Development Plan 2000-2006 and the new Programme for Prosperity and Fairness addressed the following key issues:

We are hopeful that measures will be included in the |Finance Bill to address the uncertainty that has arisen regarding the definition of a registered guesthouse and their entitlement to capital allowances.

Due to a serious concern that access costs to the island of Ireland should be as low as possible, we submitted, to Government, a paper stating that the IHF's policy is to support the provision of safe, efficient, reliable competitive and easy access to all parts of the country, This means having in place adequate capacity at airports and seaports to cater for projected increases in passenger traffic, competitive user charges at airports and seaports, reflecting the fact that Ireland is a peripheral location in a highly competitive market, solely dependent on air and sea services for access, fast efficient transport links from the airports/seaports to tourism locations whether they are city centre or rural resorts and pro-active marketing campaigns to open up new routes/services to our source markets. We called on the Government to seriously evaluate all alternatives which would facilitate an increase on low cost access to the country, and we expressed serious concern that privatisation of Aer Rianta, changing its position from that of a public monopoly, would not improve the manner in which its discharges what we consider to be its primary responsibilities which is the efficient management of the state's investment in the airport's infrastructure in the most cost efficient manner to provide maximum facilitation for passengers at a competitive price.

Home | News | Reports/Submissions | Member Info | Marketing | Events | About IHF | Associate Members | FAQ | Contacts/Links