Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 June 2021
100. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she has engaged, met or corresponded with organisations (details supplied) in recent weeks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33237/21]
View answerI regularly meet with and remain open to engaging with all tourism representative bodies. The Hospitality and Tourism Forum, was established by the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and I, to provide a platform for structured engagement between the Hospitality and Tourism sector, the tourism agencies and relevant Government Departments.
Its purpose is to allow key issues of relevance to the sectors to be discussed, with a view to identifying practical actions which could be taken by government (national or local), or by industry itself, to support the sectors.
The Forum enables the Tánaiste and I, to engage with a wide spectrum of industry stakeholders, including the tour operators and conference sectors, in order to assess the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also helps improve understanding and responses to the crisis and to discuss ideas for recovery measures, thus assisting the Government in formulating its on-going response to the crisis.
The Forum will meet four times each year, but may convene more frequently by agreement. The forum has met four times to date i.e. in October 2020, December 2020 , March 2021 and most recently on the 2nd June 2021.
Representatives from the Hospitality and Tourism sectors on the Forum include:
- Irish Hotels Federation
- Restaurants Association of Ireland
- Vintners Federation of Ireland
- Licenced Vintners Association
- Drinks Ireland
- Association of Irish Professional Conference Organisers
- B&B Ireland
- Event Industry Ireland
- Irish Self Catering Federation
- Irish Tourism Industry Confederation
- Incoming Tour Operators Association
- Coach Tourism & Transport Council of Ireland
- Association for the Visitor Experience and Attractions
- Irish Congress of Trade Union
