Friday 10 th September 2004

HOTELIERS SEEK CLARIFICATION FOR INACCURATE IRISH INDEPENDENT HEADLINE

The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has today described as ‘inaccurate and misleading’ a headline published on the front page of today’s Irish Independent regarding the level of satisfaction amongst visitors with the value for money offered by the Irish tourism industry. The Federation states that there is no evidence whatsoever that visitors are ‘put to flight by our greedy hoteliers’ as the Irish Independent headline suggests. In fact, the Federations’ President states, the independently conducted Fáilte Ireland Visitor Attitude Survey for 2003 clearly shows that 81% of visitors to Ireland are either satisfied or very satisfied with the overall value for money here.

Richard Bourke states, “The front-page headline and the introductory paragraphs of today’s article in the Irish Independent are incorrect, misleading and seriously harmful to Irish tourism and in particular to the hotel industry. It is unfortunate that the Irish Independent should so readily word a main headline making such serious allegations without probably researching the facts. The Irish hotel industry has continuously advertised its products in the Irish Independent. The Federation considers this a serious insult to a sector, which is a major customer, without having been given the opportunity to express a view on the value for money figures before the article was published.”

The Irish Hotels Federation is today seeking a right to reply from the Irish Independent in regard to this article.

For information contact:
Siobhan Molloy/Niamh Boylan Tel: 01 6760168
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