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The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has welcomed the government’s new five-year National Tourism Policy, which aims to boost the sector’s economic and social contribution and expand its role as a major employer.
The plan sets out targets for revenue growth, regional development and lower emissions as part of a broader strategy to strengthen the industry.
According to the industry body, this strategy recognises tourism’s importance as a nationwide employer supporting one in 10 jobs, including more than 69,000 positions in hotels and guesthouses. The IHF has called its commitments on business support, employment and long-term sustainable growth “encouraging”.
News follows the transfer of the tourism portfolio earlier this year to a reconfigured Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment under minister Peter Burke, which the association said has provided “a more coherent and coordinated approach to policy planning” for the sector.
The federation also pointed to the decision in Budget 2026 to cut the VAT rate on food services, which hospitality businesses had sought amid rising costs.
Paul Gallagher, chief executive of the IHF, said: “By placing tourism at the heart of government policy, this new tourism plan will help ensure the right conditions are created to support the long-term development of our industry.
“As we look to strengthen competitiveness and sustainability, our hotel sector stands ready to play its role in helping to ensure Irish tourism lives up to its potential as a major engine of economic prosperity.”
Among the policy targets, the government is seeking to grow overseas tourism revenue to €9bn (£7.8bn) by 2031 – an annual increase of 6% excluding carrier fares – and domestic tourism revenue to €5.8bn (£5.07bn) by the same year, at 7% growth a year.
The plan prioritises increasing demand in the off-peak season from October to May, raising visitor numbers in less-developed regions by at least 7% annually and growing tourism employment by at least 9% compared with 2024.
Additional goals include reducing tourism-related emissions by 45% by 2030, based on 2018 levels, and achieving adoption of advanced digital tools by at least 90% of tourism small and medium-sized enterprises by 2031.
The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has welcomed the government’s new five-year National Tourism Policy, which aims to boost the sector’s economic and social contribution and expand its role as a major employer.
The plan sets out targets for revenue growth, regional development and lower emissions as part of a broader strategy to strengthen the industry.
According to the industry body, this strategy recognises tourism’s importance as a nationwide employer supporting one in 10 jobs, including more than 69,000 positions in hotels and guesthouses. The IHF has called its commitments on business support, employment and long-term sustainable growth “encouraging”.
News follows the transfer of the tourism portfolio earlier this year to a reconfigured Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment under minister Peter Burke, which the association said has provided “a more coherent and coordinated approach to policy planning” for the sector.
The federation also pointed to the decision in Budget 2026 to cut the VAT rate on food services, which hospitality businesses had sought amid rising costs.
Paul Gallagher, chief executive of the IHF, said: “By placing tourism at the heart of government policy, this new tourism plan will help ensure the right conditions are created to support the long-term development of our industry.
“As we look to strengthen competitiveness and sustainability, our hotel sector stands ready to play its role in helping to ensure Irish tourism lives up to its potential as a major engine of economic prosperity.”
Among the policy targets, the government is seeking to grow overseas tourism revenue to €9bn (£7.8bn) by 2031 – an annual increase of 6% excluding carrier fares – and domestic tourism revenue to €5.8bn (£5.07bn) by the same year, at 7% growth a year.
The plan prioritises increasing demand in the off-peak season from October to May, raising visitor numbers in less-developed regions by at least 7% annually and growing tourism employment by at least 9% compared with 2024.
Additional goals include reducing tourism-related emissions by 45% by 2030, based on 2018 levels, and achieving adoption of advanced digital tools by at least 90% of tourism small and medium-sized enterprises by 2031.
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It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution
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