Irish hotels have pleaded for an emergency Government support package after warning that tough new Covid-19 control measures have seen winter occupancy rates collapse to below 9pc in some areas. Average October occupancy rates are now just 26pc, falling to a mere 9pc in November. Room occupancy rates were 51pc in September but have more than halved in the space of four weeks. Irish tourism attracts 10.9 million foreign visitors each year with the sector accounting for 4pc of GNP. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Irish tourism supported over 260,000 jobs - one in ten jobs within the entire Irish workforce.

Source: Irish Independent September 29, 2020 09:56 UTC