Tourism Ireland Chief Executive, Niall Gibbons
By Irish Echo Staff
Ireland is moving to reopen its border to tourism and non-essential Travel from July 19.
And Tourism Ireland is counting the days.
"This will help protect thousands of jobs and livelihoods across the tourism industry. For the first time in many months, we can look to the future with optimism.," said Tourism Ireland Chief Executive, Niall Gibbons.
"We know from our research that there is significant pent-up demand among travelers in our overseas markets to return to the island of Ireland as soon as possible," Gibbons said acccording to an RTE report.
"However, we also know that there will be significant competition in the marketplace; every destination across the globe has experienced the impact of Covid-19 and will be seeking their share of the recovery."
The Irish Travel Agents Association has also welcomed the reopening announcement, saying it has been a difficult 16 months for its members.
The association said while travel agents have not been trading, they have remained open to assist customers with refunds and rescheduling bookings.
The ITAA is now calling on the government to provide added business supports for travel agents due to the delay between advance booking and travel, which means that travel agents often have to wait for a period of many months before they see any revenue from bookings.
