Hospitality sector ‘handcuffed’ as businesses fight for survival

And while some city bars pivoted their business to allow them to continue to trade through the three-week restrictions, publicans have warned that many pubs may not survive Winter.

Separately, as city eateries switch to takeaway-only to survive the latest lockdown, their representative body said that saving the Christmas season was vital to saving the hospitality sector.

The new restrictions permit hotels to remain open but guests from outside Galway are not allowed to travel; hotel bars and restaurants are for residents only, and functions such as communions are all postponed, while weddings are restricted to 25, and that includes staff.

Level 3 was already having a “hugely significant impact” with a “massive” number of cancellations that was “quite disastrous really”, according to John Ryan, chairperson of the Galway Branch of Irish Hotels Federation, and managing director of Ardilaun Hotel.

“The level of cancellations has just flooded in. Speaking to fellow hoteliers, it’s going to have a significant knock-on effect on employment. Even in the bust, 2008 and 2009, you could still find a way to trade. Now we’re just handcuffed,” he said.

“From what was looking like a better-than-expected October, although not as good as normal, has now gone to a disastrous occupancy level. I’d say a lot of hotels are now looking at their ability to stay open.

“Level 3 is no man’s land for us. We’re not required to close but people can’t get to us. Locals can’t come in for food and drink, it is residents only. There’s so much uncertainty now, and people are just postponing until next year and hoping for the best,” he said. This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week's Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.