Ireland's €200 million conference industry is under threat

The Association of Irish Professional Conference Organisers (AIPCO) represents ten companies which organise international conferences in Ireland, and which between them employ 230 event professionals.

AIPCO says its members organise an average of 96 conferences per annum which are attended by over 32 thousand delegates from across the world. As Ireland has begun its reopening process, 90% of international conferences between now and summer 2021 have already been cancelled.

Taking into account that these events can be planned years in advance, there is mounting concern within the sector that the industry will be one of the worst affected as a result of the pandemic.

Global travel was one of the first industries to be Impacted by the coronavirus. Most companies placing immediate bans on foreign travel by staff and events worldwide being cancelled to reduce opportunities for the virus to spread.

AIPCO members say they face substantial financial challenges or company closures due to no revenue being delivered into their business for a 12 month period. They also have to address huge expenditure in terms of resources and deposit payments for future conferences.

Chair of AIPCO, Ronan Flood said such international conferences deliver business tourism worth €74 million to the Irish economy every year. "The benefit of that spend is enjoyed far beyond the immediate conference venue," he said.

"We believe the value of the industry supports 20,000 jobs, not to mention the direct jobs created by our members. With little or no events between now and next summer, we are concerned that our industry could collapse, and there will be no infrastructure left to enable these events for at least the next three years."

The association is appealing to the Government to listen to their concerns, and consider a range of proposals they say will save the sector.

These include; a reduction of social distancing from 2m to 1m for conferences; increased resources to Fáilte Ireland to secure new leads for 2021 and beyond; an extension of the wage subsidy scheme until the end of March; a 0% vat rate for business tourism to allow Ireland compete with other countries who are offering this incentive; and a dedicated task force for the conference sector to contribute to the work of the Tourism Recovery Taskforce.

AIPCO said every 1,000 additional overseas tourists support 20 jobs in the tourism industry, and every euro spent on tourism generates 23c in VAT. The organisation is seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to highlight their concerns.

"We are not alone in facing significant challenges, but failure to address our concerns will result in lost revenue and lost jobs. We appeal to the Minister to hear our concerns," Mr Flood said.