In The Irish Times for Tuesday July 15th, there is a story of a couple who tried to use a voucher for 440 Euro to book a hotel in Galway during race week. According to the Irish Times, the hotel in question tried to add on another 130 Euro a night, presumably because of the week that was in it.
This is no surprise in rip-off Ireland. Now that we are facing a serious downturn, some hotels are offering great value, but others see nothing wrong in continuing to squeeze those extra bucks from the punters. What may alarm some, however, is Failte Ireland's reported attitude. Apparently, FI do set maximum prices, but then allow these to be breached for special events such as Galway race week.
Perhaps FIs attitude is part of the problem. Why can't the Irish tourism industry and authorities work out a maximum prices - and then stick to them? We saw the same mindset at work in the Ryder cup in 2006. The then minister for Tourism, John O'Donoghue, criticised the hugely inflated prices being charged by hotels during the Ryder Cup, but received scant support from Failte Ireland, who made excuses for the hotels instead of backing up the minister.
Come on Fawlty Ireland - why don't you play your part in policing the sector more, and making Ireland a consistent, good-cvalue destination again!
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Many Hotels and Restaurants in Ireland are genuinely struggling with the downturn in the market.
The American tourists have not arrived this year, as US is in a recession, and Ireland is not a reasonably priced and easy option any more, and the quality of service received often leaves a lot to be desired.
Unfortunately the first place that hotels cut costs, is usually on staff training and the recruitment of good new staff. Hence it becomes a catch 22 situation.
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