Continued from page 8.

Irish hotels, says Mr Bourke, currently bear the fourthhighest VAT charge in Europe, the secondhighest in the euro-zone, over double France and Portugal and almost double that of Spain which, he explains, “makes it very hard for us to be competitive”. The IHF also wants the Government to allow VAT as a business input like most of the industry’s competitors in the EU.

In the UK and Northern Ireland, for example, VAT on convention, conference and hotel and restaurant costs incurred on business is allowable as a VAT input and the business incurring the cost can set it off against its own VAT liability. “I’m at a 13.5% disadvantage competing for that business,” he says with his Jurys hat on.

“This industry creates revenues of some ¤5.4bn a year and the Government takes ¤2.3bn of it,” he points out. “Such a valuable industry needs constant attention from Government”

But it is not just the tax take that is bugging the industry, it’s the fact that so little of it trickles back into marketing and promotion. Mr Bourke says the State gives Tourism Ireland a miserly EUR41m for the promotion of this country.

Richard Bourke, who says the IHF is continuously endeavouring to get this message across, is arguably one of the best-known figures in Ireland’s hotel industry, having worked all his life in the hospitality sector. From Tipperary, he studied hotel management in Shannon straight from school. On qualifying he worked in the UK, Zurich, then the Shelbourne in Dublin before moving to Thurles and Galway.

He then took 13 years out from direct management to become regional training manager of CERT, based in Limerick. He returned to management at Parknasilla and returned briefly to Galway before joining Jurys back in 1988. His first job for the Group was as manager of Jurys Cork. Pat McCann, now Chief Executive of Jurys Doyle Group, had also joined the Group around the same time and it was into his position of General Manager in Ballsbridge that Bourke moved nine years ago.

The IHF, he says, also wants a Government re-think on excise duty, suggesting that the trade is being unfairly blamed for rising beverage prices when 50% of the take ends up in Government coffers.

The smoking ban remains a concern for the industry but it is going ahead so it is just a matter of living with it, Mr Bourke suggests. He accepts that those operating in border areas will be worst affected. The Federation wants the focus to be clearly directed at smokers who are breaking the rules, not at the industry.

The licensing legislation, prohibiting under-18s being with their parents or adults past 9 pm, continues to annoy the Federation. “We have two million family holidays – of which some 600,000 come from abroad – and the Minister for Justice is saying to these people you can’t allow your children remain in the bar after 9 pm while on holidays, as they would in other countries. It’s familyunfriendly legislation, and it is not where the under-age drinking problem is coming from.”

The trading outlook remains quite tough says Mr Bourke. While volumes are generally holding up, rates are under pressure as people are tending to stay for shorter spells. Surprisingly, though, good positive sounds are coming from the US despite the weak dollar.

A ‘Day of Welcomes’ should be organised by hotels and guesthouses nationwide on May 1 as a gesture of goodwill towards citizens of the new European Union accession countries, according to the new IHF president Richard Bourke.

An official welcome to citizens of the 10 countries due to join the EU on May 1 would acknowledge the contribution made by employees from these countries to the Irish tourism industry.

The Federation will be issuing a range of event ideas to all its 1,000 members in the coming weeks. A large number of hotels and guesthouses already employ people from the accession countries, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus and Lithuania.

“There is significant potential for Ireland’s tourism industry to benefit from people from the accession countries, who will undoubtedly travel to Ireland to seek work,” according to the new president, who is general manager of Jurys Ballsbridge and The Towers.

“Already we have in the region of 2,500 to 3,000 people from the 10 countries working in Irish hotels and guesthouses throughout Ireland, where they are proving themselves highly motivated and dedicated employees. With the accession, our sector can expect an increasing number of high calibre workers to become available to them,” he said.

Cork City was officially unveiled as the European Capital of Culture for 2005, by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O’Donoghue TD at a ceremony in Cork City Hall, who commented that Cork winning the honour of this title represents “a rare opportunity for this country; Ireland will not be eligible to seek it again until 2031.”

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Colm Burke, said he was proud to accept the challenge and opportunity that comes with being the European Capital of Culture and Cork 2005 Director, John Kennedy, confirmed that the first significant commercial sponsorship package had been agreed with AIB Bank.

The final programme and calendar of events for Cork 2005 is expected to be published in October 2004 and will incorporate events such as Relocations, a major series of European outdoor theatre to take place in Cork city in the summer of 2005, and Oceans to City, the largest rowing race ever planned for Ireland, which will see vessels race from the coast of Cork right into the city centre.

Pictured at the Heineken reception at the IHF conference from left to right are Donie O’Brien, Heineken, Michael Rosney, Chairman of the Kerry Branch, IHF, Donal O’Meara, National Treasurer, IHF, Pat Chawke, Aghadoe Heights Hotel and Pat Galvin, Quality Hotel, Killarney.

The Irish Hotels Federation has called on the Government to start re-negotiating the current Ireland/US air agreement to remove constraints on US route expansion into Ireland for the coming tourist season. A new deal on increased routes from the US would bring almost 100,000 additional US visitors to Ireland yearly and generate a further Û64 million in revenue to the Irish economy, the Federation believes.

The IHF also called on the Government to sanction an independent competing terminal at Dublin Airport to facilitate quick-turnaround for low cost carriers. John Power, IHF chief executive said increased access was imperative if the national objective to increase the number of visitors from 6 million to 10 million by 2012 was to be achieved.

“The current situation whereby there is restricted access for airlines to fly into and from the US, and the lack of a second terminal at Dublin Airport has constrained potential for growth. The opportunity for US visitor market growth is critically reliant on increased air access,“ he said.

The US market is vitally important to the Irish tourism sector, accounting for some 890,000 overseas visitors last year who contributed EUR750 million in revenue.

Overseas visitors from the USA represent 15% of the total visitor market. This would increase to nearly 20% under a change to the air agreement, generating a total of 1 million US visitors per annum within the next five years.

Dallas, Orlando and San Francisco have large untapped populations. Between 1989 and 2002, over half of all US visitors flew directly to Ireland, while 46% came via Britain and mainland Europe. Power said the average US visitor spend at EUR840 in 2002 is far higher than other overseas visitors at EUR470, and they also tend to travel extensively throughout the country.

The Minister for the Environment and National Roads Authority were also urged to fast-track the upgrading of intercity road networks to ensure a better regional dispersion of overseas and domestic visitors.

Former president Jim Murphy described the state of Irish roads as “abysmal compared to other EU countries“, and called for the speedy upgrading of key routes, such as the Dublin to Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford roads, to dual carriageway status.

“It is deplorable that millions of tourists arrive in Ireland by sea and air efficiently and safely – only to find that once they leave the ferry terminal or airport they will have an inordinately long journey time to reach their final destination,“ he said.

Delegates pictured during the IHF’s 2004 AGM in Killarney.

Business costs have been a constant concern during the two-year tenure of former president Jim Murphy, the IHF annual conference in Killarney heard. In his valedictory address, Murphy said that input costs continue to squeeze margins and affect competitiveness. “The only slight relief being that insurance premiums are reducing slightly but have yet to get back to pre- 2000 levels.“

The new liquor licence bill has resulted in a “ridiculous scenario whereby children are banned from pubs after 9pm. In a country that relies so heavily on tourism this law is nonsense,“ the former President told the conference.

While the Federation had some success in modifying the Smoking Ban in the Workplace Bill in relation to bedrooms, the Minister’s “unwillingness to consider any argument was frustrating“, he said.

The recent High Court hearing in the ongoing dispute with Phonographic Performance Ireland Ltd to arrive at an equitable remuneration for the public use of recorded music, shows how the IHF effectively defends the interest of its members, according to Murphy. “The outcome of this case, which is due shortly, will have a major impact on the fees members will pay in the future for the use of copyright protected music,“ he said.

The former President paid tribute to the IHF’s members for their commitment to the organisation, and to the “real heroes“ of the organisation in head office. “John Power has to be the hardest working person I know. He is also recognised in political circles as one of the best lobbyists in the country,“ he said.

Murphy said the website www.irelandhotels.com was “going from strength to strength and with its new easy to use booking engine now in place I predict that we will see this site become even more important going forward“.

He welcomed the agreement on new hotel registration criteria with Fáilte Ireland, allowing hoteliers and guesthouse owners to run their businesses more efficiently. “The benefits to our industry will be enormous for many years to come as a result of these changes,“ he said.

“It also gave me great pride to introduce to the Federation the idea for the Online Masters in Hospitality Management programme which was developed by Hibernia College and accredited by HETAC. The first students on this course are entering their second and final year. I wish them well and look forward to attending their graduation in the not too distant future,“ he said.

Recent figures from the Central Statistics Office confirm a 5% rise in the number of overseas tourists who visited the Republic of Ireland during 2003. Commenting on the Travel and Tourism statistics for Q4 2003, Tourism Ireland stated that this indicated a continuing recovery in visitor numbers, just topping the previous high of the year 2000. However, despite the growth in overseas visitor numbers, revenues grew by just 2.2%.

In the international context Ireland performed very well, according to Tourism Ireland. The war in Iraq, outbreak of SARS and a weak global economy all played a part in suppressing the demand for international tourism last year. Worldwide tourist numbers actually fell by 1.2% and Europe’s performance was at best flat according to the World Tourism Organisation. Only Eastern European countries grew tourism faster than Ireland, and that was from a much lower base.

Commenting on the results, Paul O’Toole, Chief Executive, Tourism Ireland said: “Obviously we are pleased to see that Ireland gained market share against many of our top European competitors, however that growth did not translate to the bottom line for many in the industry, particularly those on the western seaboard who are more reliant on the North American market. While that market started to recover last year, we are still a long way off the numbers recorded in 2000. There are a number of other global factors that also impacted on the flat revenue growth last year including weak source market economies and the trend towards shorter visitor stays resulting in lower levels of spend.”

Pictured at the First Rate stand is Linda Tobin, First Rate with Brian Whitelaw, Principal, Tourism College, Killybegs.

Pictured at the Eircom stand at the Showtel Exhibition are from left, Denise Brogan, Samantha Reilly, Donal Riordan, Wendy Reynolds and Keith O’Connor.

Pictured at the IHF Gala Dinner in the Killarney Great Southern Hotel are from left, Teresa and Richard Bourke, President, IHF, Geraldine and Michael Rosney, Chairman of the IHF Kerry Branch.

Pictured at the prizegiving to the winners of the Tullamore Dew Golf Classic 2004 are (l-r) Gerry Collins, Hugh Jordan; Anthony Palmer, The Brehon, Killarney; Chris Donohue, Regional Sales Manager, Grants of Ireland; Mary Bergin, Issacs Hotel Cork; Jim Murphy, outgoing President, IHF and Ralph O’Connell, President, Killarney Golf Club.

Members

1st Anthony Palmer, The Brehon, Killarney

2nd Pat Chawke, Aghadoe Heights Hotel

3rd Denis Kieran, Kieran’s Folk House

Guests

1st Gerry Collins, Hugh Jordan

2nd Michael Corcoran, National Linen

3rd Martin Mahony, Irish Distillers, Wines & Spirits Company

Ladies

1st Mary Bergin, Issac’s Hotel, Cork

2nd Theresa Bourke, Jurys Ballsbridge

Longest Drive

Dermot Hennessey, Clontarf Castle, Dublin

Nearest the Pin

Eoin O’Sullivan, The Heritage, Portlaoise

Hotels should maximise technology which works to attract customers 24 hours a day!

At the recent Irish Hotels Federation conference, John Fitzpatrick addressed the theme “Hospitality online” stating that the role the internet plays in generating bookings for Fitzpatrick’s Manhattan Hotel could not be overemphasized.

A well constructed website needn’t be expensive and provides a 24/7 sales channel. There are several packages available that will provide an e-booking facility, allowing hotels to go beyond brochureware.

Getting potential customers to visit a website requires thought and planning. Hotels should reference the site in all advertisements, letterheads and brochures. The site should be registered with all the major search engines and tryout a variety of descriptors to ensure that it appears high on the list of likely search questions. Banner advertising on a high traffic site such as eircom.net can also be highly effective.

It is less expensive to re-attract existing customers that it is to attract new customers. Few businesses today do not have e-mail. By recording the e-mail addresses of all customers when they are checking out, a hotel can collect thousands of e-mail addresses and send out a simple e-mail promoting its current special offers every few months. Through this e-mail a hotel can direct customers to its website and encourage them to book on line, a very cheap and effective approach to reattracting customers.