Businesses banking on additional holiday boost

Galway businesses are banking on a holiday bonus to help them bounce back from Covid.

The addition of a second public holiday on March 18 extends the St Patrick’s Day celebrations this year into a long weekend from Thursday, March 17.

Hotels in particular – but all hospitality and retail in Galway City and towns around the county – will be hoping for a Bank Holiday bonanza to kick-start the domestic tourism season.

And with thousands of frontline healthcare workers with a €1,000 Covid-19 Pandemic bonus in their bank accounts to splurge on ‘staycations’, the local hospitality and retail sectors are hoping they can bury the January blues with a Spring bonus on the horizon.

“Overall the combination of an extra Bank holiday on St Patrick’s weekend, the momentum between it and Easter and May bank holiday in such close proximity, and flights coming back to Knock and Shannon, there is huge optimism,” said Kenny Deery, Chief Executive of Galway Chamber.

“It’s going to be brilliant. From chatting with some in the hospitality industry, hotels are coming up with creative packages. The way Paddy’s Day was falling, it was fragmented, whereas the addition of a holiday on the Friday, ties in nicely into a proper decent long weekend.

“I think we’re going to see significant uptake in bookings and occupancy in hotels which will of course drive footfall,” he said.

Galway Chamber rolled-out a powerful ad campaign in November, around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and it hopes to team up again with Galway City Council in the coming weeks to boost visitor numbers. They will also build retail campaigns around that, he said.

“We’re going to do more of that to try and get occupancy of hotels to 100%, if that’s acceptable and allowed, and from what we’re hearing it will be. That will give a great boost.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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