Hoteliers and restaurateurs need to rein in excessive prices – Noone

Dublin Senator and Fine Gael candidate for Dublin West Catherine Noone, has said hoteliers and restaurateurs should rein in their excessive prices and start offering value for money again.

“Despite the Government’s decision to cut VAT to 9% for the tourism sector, we have seen restaurant prices and hotel prices surge across the capital right throughout the year, whether at peak times or otherwise. It’s clear that consumers are not getting value for money.

“It is a real shame, as the VAT cut was one of a number of initiatives from this Government aimed at helping tourism grow and stamping out price gouging by hotels and restaurants, which was a big problem for Ireland during the Celtic Tiger years. Now we are once again reaching a point where tourists and locals alike simply feel like they are not getting value for money, and many venues have started to chance their arm when it comes to pricing.

“The Web Summit loss highlights this issue and I am calling on the representative bodies in these sectors to take responsibility. They need to start speaking to their members in an honest way, and outline why this kind of short-term thinking will, ultimately, lead to problems for the restaurant sector, the hotel sector and the tourism sector in years ahead, unless it is addressed soon.

“The loss of the Web Summit isn’t the end of the world, but it is a canary in the coalmine that shows we need to ensure that Dublin retains its competitiveness and continues to attract conferences and tourists”.