The focus of the Tourism Business Continuity Scheme is to support strategic tourism businesses to offset fixed costs incurred in 2020, particularly those that are ineligible for the CRSS, and support them to continue operating through 2021. One of the eligibility criteria for the scheme is a minimum annual turnover of €50,000. The rationale for this threshold is based on the likelihood that, for businesses with a turnover of less than €50,000, non-payroll fixed costs will be sufficiently low to enable the owners furlough the business by availing of other state aids (namely income supports such as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS)), thereby enabling these businesses to re-emerge as public health restrictions ease.
I am committed to continuing support for tourism through this difficult period and to working towards reopening and recovery. As part of the National Economic Recovery Plan, Government will be outlining how it will help people return to work and further support sectors which have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Along with my colleagues in Government, I will consider more targeted measures to help reboot tourism, which will face particular challenges during the recovery phase when the economy reopens.
