To the Caribbean or to Connaught?

A Mayo hotel manager has welcomed the suggestion from European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen that US tourists vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to visit the EU in the coming months.

Niall Rochford, general manager, Ashford Castle and The Lodge at Ashford, stated: “More than 1.8 million visitors from the US visited Ireland in 2018, contributing over €1.6 billion to the economy, and I urge the Irish government to give serious and early consideration to the possibility of allowing inbound travel from the US for fully vaccinated travellers.

“At the moment, tourists from the US are holidaying in the Caribbean. But if we are to have any hope of reviving Ireland’s overseas tourism market this year, we need fully vaccinated US tourists to come to Cong and Cork, Connemara and Carlow.”

Mr. Rochford added: “It goes without saying that all decisions must be made in the interest of public health but we have to start looking now at the reasonable and realistic measures that will allow our economy, our country and our hard hit hospitality sector to reopen safely.

“For many hotels across Ireland, the US market is critical to their business. We know what is required of us and we have already shown how capable we are of operating to the highest health and safety standards.

“So we ask the government to trust us and have confidence in our ability to welcome back the tourists we need to sustain our industry.”