“€40,000 of cancelled bookings so far this month” Dublin hotel manager speaks of difficult Christmas period

This comes ahead of the new NPHET recommendations for Christmas.

General manager of Buswells Hotel, Paul Gallagher, took to Twitter last night ahead of NPHET's recommendation. His tweet states:

"€40,000 of cancelled bookings so far this month and it's only the 16th December. Society is restricting itself so this year my business is not being shut down due to restrictions but it feels as if we are."

https://twitter.com/PaulGall186/status/1471607526718427145?s=20 This Christmas many have taken it upon themselves to enforce personal restrictions, which has had a knock on effect of cancellations. Earlier in the month, The Journal reported "3,400 cancellations in 3 weeks" in restaurants as Christmas parties were postponed. These figures indicate society taking extra precautions in the lead up to Christmas, amid the spread of the Omicron variant. However, it is having disastrous consequences for the hospitality sector. With the latest news from NPHET, these cancellation figures are only set to rise, as pubs and restaurants could be forced to close at 5pm from Monday 20th. What was once hospitality's busiest time of year is now set to be their quietest. Header image via Shutterstock READ ON: "You could not make this up” Irish business owners react to the prospect of 5pm curfew on hospitality