THE IRISH Hotels Federation (IHF) has called on the Government to ensure that tourism businesses can secure seasonal credit facilities from banks and that local authority rates are kept under control.

IHF chief executive John Power said the Government had an obligation to “provide leadership” on issues such as the availability of cashflow to the tourism industry, which is suffering under the twin burdens of the Irish economic recession and unfavourable currency exchange rates for visitors from outside the euro zone.

“We need to show the leadership along the lines that Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling are doing in the UK to encourage consumer spending,” he said.

With some 70 per cent of room rates generated by domestic travellers, the fortunes of hoteliers depend more on the spending habits of Irish consumers than on the influx of overseas tourists. With international business sliding earlier this year, domestic revenues are now beginning to follow suit.

Mr Power, who was speaking to the Irish Times on the launch of the IHF’s 2009 Be Our Guest accommodation guide, condemned the recent decision by Dublin City Council to increase commercial rates by 3.3 per cent as indefensible in the current economic climate. “What they’re doing is driving businesses to the wall. This sector is sick and tired of being the target of any shortfall in local authority funding,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Irish Travel Agents Association said yesterday travel industry jobs were under threat from out-of-date “red tape” and the economic downturn. Chief executive Simon Nugent said the outlook for 2009 was “not good”.