Opinion

Hospitality industry faces strong headwinds as winter looms

For various reasons, hotels, pubs and restaurants have enjoyed a lucrative 12 months – but all that may be changing very soon, even if there are grounds for cautious optimism

Over the past year, hotels have seen their trade buoyed by staycations from families who were nervous about travelling abroad

In general, we can say that on a macro level the hospitality industry fared well during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Government supports such as the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), a cut in the Vat rate to 9 per cent, the warehousing of corporation tax, loan schemes and the waivers and rebates on commercial rates were just some of the benefits that were bestowed to the industry broadly without any assessment of individual need or necessity.