Tour operators seek goverment help: "Companies are staring into the abyss"
Adare Manor will host the Ryder Cup in 2027
Ireland might be preparing to welcome thousands of international golf fans for the 2027 Ryder Cup but the industry experts fear there will be no-one left to organise their trips unless they receive urgent help from government.
The Irish Golf Tour Operators (IGTOA) which looks after the interests of some 16 major Irish firms in the golf tourism business, directly employing 1,100 people as well as indirectly supporting some 20,000 jobs, believes it is in danger of disappearing completely over the next 12 months.
While golf tourism regularly attracts around 270,000 high spending visitors annually, the Covid-19 pandemic has decimated the business this year.
As a result, incoming golf tour operator's business is on a knife-edge, with the entire 2020 season wiped out and the outlook for 2021 uncertain.
"We held an emergency meeting of the IGTOA in Doonbeg last week with most members attending remotely due to the travel restrictions out of Dublin and the situation is that a number of companies are staring into the abyss," said Carr Golf's Marty Carr, a founder member of the IGTOA.
"Collectively they are down anywhere from 97 to 100 per cent year on year. So while there was a very successful staycation market in terms of getting Irish people to holiday at home, it didn't really help the operators, many of whom are staring over a cliff."
The IGTOA is calling on government to support the industry by reinstating the Wage Subsidy to €350 per week through to the end 2021 to stem significant redundancies.
It also wants government to budget for direct grant support through Fáilte Ireland for Inbound Tour Operators so they can deal with deferred travel arrangements for the thousands of customers who rescheduled for 2021 but are now likely to defer to 2IGTO022.
"The difficulty for us is that the brainpower and the relationships that had been built up for 30 years is in dire risk of just disintegrating through redundancies and people moving into other areas," Mr Carr said.
"When it does come back, which is more likely to be 2022 that 2021, a lot of these small companies will be gone. They can't afford to run with two years of costs and 10 per cent of two-year revenue.
"Hopefully golf tourism will be remembered in the budget when they are writing a €30 billion deficit cheque next month.
"I spoke to a club in the southwest and they did €2.4 million in revenue in 2019 but having pivoted to a GUI rate in 2020 this year's income is €430,000. That's a €2 million shift in their revenue stream, which if that continues into next year, you are going to see massive impacts on those trophy venues, which are the venues that attract the high-level tourist."
Disruption to the travel industry could play a major part in Dubai Duty Free's decision on its sponsorship of the Irish Open after the current deal ended on Sunday.
The Sunday Independent reported that the event will not have its Rolex Series status restored in 2021, but according to sources close to the European Tour, "no definitive decision on the Irish Open losing Rolex status had been made and that "the Irish Open will be maintained to a good level regardless of the DDF discussions."
Meanwhile, Irish golf was in mourning following the death yesterday of former Irish international Tom Corridan (62).
The Ballybunion and Castletroy talent won the 1983 Irish Amateur Close at Killarney, winning 21 senior caps between 1983 and 1992.
