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Govt scheme:20% off hotels, restaurants. October to April 2021

24

Comments

  • #32
    JimmyVik
    Registered Users Posts: 5,368 ✭✭✭JimmyVik


    jams100 wrote: »
    I don't think this is going attract much extra tourism business. Considering a fair amount of people are too lazy to claim back any overpaid tax at the end of the year why would they do this?
    It's quite clunky too, you have to possibly download an app, take pictures of possibly multiple receipts all for max €125 which you won't physically see (tax credit). It's fine if you were going to be going on holiday during winter anyway but families will have kids in school etc. I don't think its acts as enough motivation.
    I'm not suddenly going to go down the country because there's 20% off a hotel, maybe that's just me though, overall I can't see this stimulating the domestic tourism sector.


    I might wait til October before I visit anywhere too :)


  • #33
    GerardKeating
    Registered Users Posts: 7,517 ✭✭✭GerardKeating


    is_that_so wrote: »
    Well they are getting the VAT cut anyway so less justification for that.

    Are they? Only the 23% rate is cut, most hospitality would be on 13.5% VAT


  • #34
    bobbyg
    Registered Users Posts: 600 ✭✭✭bobbyg


    chasm wrote: »
    So, those who are excluded may as well holiday abroad so.

    Those that are excluded probably shouldn't holiday at all this year.


  • #35
    dulpit
    Registered Users Posts: 10,226 ✭✭✭✭dulpit


    bobbyg wrote: »
    Those that are excluded probably shouldn't holiday at all this year.

    Why not? If you are on carer's you don't deserve a holiday? If you are on a state pension you don't deserve a holiday?


  • #36
    odyssey06
    Registered Users Posts: 27,784 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    dulpit wrote: »
    Why not? If you are on carer's you don't deserve a holiday? If you are on a state pension you don't deserve a holiday?

    I think the implication is not that they don't deserve a holiday but rather that the holiday might present extra risks for them (or the person they are caring for) - more likely to be in vulnerable group.

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



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  • #37
    bobbyg
    Registered Users Posts: 600 ✭✭✭bobbyg


    dulpit wrote: »
    Why not? If you are on carer's you don't deserve a holiday? If you are on a state pension you don't deserve a holiday?

    If you are a carer you definitely should not go on holiday due to the extra risk. I think most people deserve a holiday but not everyone can afford one and if you are not paying enough tax to benefit from this scheme you may not be able to afford a holiday this year.


  • #38
    dulpit
    Registered Users Posts: 10,226 ✭✭✭✭dulpit


    odyssey06 wrote: »
    I think the implication is not that they don't deserve a holiday but rather that the holiday might present extra risks for them (or the person they are caring for) - more likely to be in vulnerable group.

    I took it that the implication was that he felt that only paid salary workers deserve holidays, and anybody on social welfare are spongers, but maybe I'm reading too much into it.


  • #39
    JimmyVik
    Registered Users Posts: 5,368 ✭✭✭JimmyVik


    dulpit wrote: »
    I took it that the implication was that he felt that only paid salary workers deserve holidays, and anybody on social welfare are spongers, but maybe I'm reading too much into it.


    I think they were saying that the people who pay for this scheme should be the ones who get the benefit of it.


  • #40
    dulpit
    Registered Users Posts: 10,226 ✭✭✭✭dulpit


    JimmyVik wrote: »
    I think they were saying that the people who pay for this scheme should be the ones who get the benefit of it.

    That's the progressive Ireland we want to live in... :rolleyes:


  • #41
    um7y1h83ge06nx
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,029 ✭✭✭um7y1h83ge06nx


    dulpit wrote: »
    That's the progressive Ireland we want to live in... :rolleyes:

    But is it not progressive? It's a stimulus package designed to help boost the struggling tourism industry, keep businesses viable and people in jobs.

    It's also good to give something back to the people who fund our public services etc. by paying income tax.

    I would guess your bug-bear is that this will not necessarily be open to every citizen such as the long-term unemployed. But I would imagine most if not all that are ineligible for this are already receiving regular money from the State in the form of Jobseekers Allowance, Disability Benefit/Pension etc. which dwarves the amount that can be claimed back through this initiative.


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  • #42
    Scoondal
    Registered Users Posts: 883 ✭✭✭Scoondal


    JimmyVik wrote: »
    I think they were saying that the people who pay for this scheme should be the ones who get the benefit of it.

    Yes. And prices have not gone up yet in the place that I am eyeing up. I need to book it tomorrow.


  • #43
    Scoondal
    Registered Users Posts: 883 ✭✭✭Scoondal


    Maybe some people think that the citizens who do nothing should be given a €500 voucher. Eh, that does not encourage spending and money circulation. That's basic economics.


  • #44
    dulpit
    Registered Users Posts: 10,226 ✭✭✭✭dulpit


    Scoondal wrote: »
    Maybe some people think that the citizens who do nothing should be given a €500 voucher. Eh, that does not encourage spending and money circulation. That's basic economics.

    Carers do nothing? Pensioners do nothing? People on disability do nothing? People who may have worked for years who have hit a rough patch do nothing?


  • #45
    Scoondal
    Registered Users Posts: 883 ✭✭✭Scoondal


    dulpit wrote: »
    Carers do nothing? Pensioners do nothing? People on disability do nothing? People who may have worked for years who have hit a rough patch do nothing?

    Those people of course should have a holiday scheme. But this scheme is only for tax payers. That is what the government decided.
    They have excluded people who do not pay income tax.
    But people who do nothing, are already looked after.


  • #46
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 14,344 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    It's a shoddy 'do something to be seen doing something' scheme. Very few people will care enough to bother their asses taking photos of their receipts. A saving of €125 that you won't see, off a spend of €625, spent over the course of 6 months? I mean come on, the amount of people likely to bother their hole is very small and it's done nothing to make me feel like I should be giving my money to hotels when I'm not sure if the country will be on it's knees come april, with every second person predicting a slobberknocker recession coming over us.

    I feel sorry for the hotels and restaurants, but I wouldn't be pushing to the front of the queue for this, myself.

    Also, i did hear on the news that hotels are booked solid at the moment, and they're price-gouging already? Hard to have sympathy. I do think the restaurants will be harder hit, as it's tougher for them to price gouge.


    Oh, and I also heard about the 2% being taken off VAT for retail.. another offering of nothing. It's more of an insult than a scheme to assist.


  • #47
    Former Former
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,728 ✭✭✭Former Former


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    It's a shoddy 'do something to be seen doing something' scheme. Very few people will care enough to bother their asses taking photos of their receipts. A saving of €125 that you won't see, off a spend of €625, spent over the course of 6 months? I mean come on, the amount of people likely to bother their hole is very small and it's done nothing to make me feel like I should be giving my money to hotels when I'm not sure if the country will be on it's knees come april, with every second person predicting a slobberknocker recession coming over us.

    I feel sorry for the hotels and restaurants, but I wouldn't be pushing to the front of the queue for this, myself.

    Also, i did hear on the news that hotels are booked solid at the moment, and they're price-gouging already? Hard to have sympathy. I do think the restaurants will be harder hit, as it's tougher for them to price gouge.


    Oh, and I also heard about the 2% being taken off VAT for retail.. another offering of nothing. It's more of an insult than a scheme to assist.

    If the rebate was higher, you'd be giving out that the government was just giving more money to those that don't need it.

    Hotels are pretty solidly booked now, but not for the periods when this scheme will operate. That's the whole point.

    There is a recession on the way but the idea of things like this and the VAT cut is to stimulate spending to lessen the effect. If people don't bother claiming their rebate, then even better - they've spent the money and the exchequer keeps the 20%, let's hope lots of people are too lazy to do it.

    You've such a massive chip on your shoulder that nothing would please you, but just be aware you don't understand the first thing about it.


  • #48
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 14,344 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    Former Former wrote: »
    You've such a massive chip on your shoulder that nothing would please you, but just be aware you don't understand the first thing about it.


    Clearly i know a lot more than you, if you think this will be the saving grace of any business.


    I know plenty about it, and enough to know it's a stimulus package in name, and name only. It won't stimulate anything. Most of the people I know haven't a notion it even exists.

    The only people that will benefit from this were going to be booking anyway. It's a non-scheme that does nothing to benefit anyone except those who would have happily booked a break away and not cared about claiming money back. It's clearly the government trying to avoid spending as much as possible. They shouldn't have bothered.


    The only upside to it is that at least it is a scheme that disproportionately benefits the working public... at last.


  • #49
    odyssey06
    Registered Users Posts: 27,784 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    Deleted User wrote: »
    It's a shoddy 'do something to be seen doing something' scheme. Very few people will care enough to bother their asses taking photos of their receipts. A saving of €125 that you won't see, off a spend of €625, spent over the course of 6 months? I mean come on, the amount of people likely to bother their hole is very small.

    Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people already do this for claiming MED1 receipts.
    And have done so for years.

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • #50
    coolshannagh28
    Registered Users Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭coolshannagh28


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Clearly i know a lot more than you, if you think this will be the saving grace of any business.


    I know plenty about it, and enough to know it's a stimulus package in name, and name only. It won't stimulate anything. Most of the people I know haven't a notion it even exists.

    The only people that will benefit from this were going to be booking anyway. It's a non-scheme that does nothing to benefit anyone except those who would have happily booked a break away and not cared about claiming money back. It's clearly the government trying to avoid spending as much as possible. They shouldn't have bothered.


    The only upside to it is that at least it is a scheme that disproportionately benefits the working public... at last.

    The scheme is more of a reflection of government finances than a stimulus .


  • #51
    Dempo1
    Registered Users Posts: 26,916 ✭✭✭✭Dempo1


    Anyone deluded enough to think they'll be getting 20% off on a staycation need to understand how this will really work. Gouging as already commenced, so Hotels will quietly raise their prices, announce fantastic offers and some will bite, in essence you'll spend more than 20% with gouging to claim a rebate from spending more.

    Let's assume the offer is taken up, use a dingle hotel currently offering a family room for over €2400 per week, would anyone be crazy enough, I'd sooner buy a tanning machine and wait till next year for a sun holiday at a fraction of that cost.

    And can we assume Vat reductions will be passed on? Not in a month of Sundays I'm afraid.

    It's the most convoluted hair brained idea of a scheme, wait till 2022 to get a rebate, just silly beyond belief, like this governments green list notions, I dispair....

    Is maith an scáthán súil charad.




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  • #52
    johnb25
    Registered Users Posts: 503 ✭✭✭johnb25


    Dempo1 wrote: »
    , use a dingle hotel currently offering a family room for over €2400 per week,

    Is that for now, or the October - April duration of the incentive scheme?


  • #53
    Dempo1
    Registered Users Posts: 26,916 ✭✭✭✭Dempo1


    johnb25 wrote: »
    Is that for now, or the October - April duration of the incentive scheme?

    Currently advertised, but wait, there's a holiday rent just outside kenmare, at a snip, €21,000 for the week, not sure if you get the keep the house :)

    Is maith an scáthán súil charad.




  • #54
    eclipsechaser
    Registered Users Posts: 876 ✭✭✭eclipsechaser


    Definitely picking reasonable examples there...

    By the way, if they're asking unreasonable prices, people always have the option not to pay those prices.


  • #55
    Dempo1
    Registered Users Posts: 26,916 ✭✭✭✭Dempo1


    eclipsechaser wrote: »
    Definitely picking reasonable examples there...

    By the way, if they're asking unreasonable prices, people always have the option not to pay those prices.

    For enough but with 35 years experience in the business, since retired, I now how it will work, not withstanding the fact the word "hospitality" has long departed this industry, the last boom and bust recession being mainly the cause. Sadly I predict with massive cost cutting necessary over the coming months, people's expectations will be somewhat diminished.

    Is maith an scáthán súil charad.




  • #56
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users Posts: 19,609 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    Another scheme running in UK & Northern Ireland that might be of use to anyone travelling up there for shopping anyway or people living in border counties.

    Runs from today until August 31st but only on Mondays to Wednesdays. Eat out in a participating restaurant (over 1,500 in NI alone) and get 50% off your food bill (alcohol is excluded from the discount). Maximum discount is £10 per person so order £20 of food and it costs you £10 at the till, order £15 and it will cost you £7.50 and so on.

    Scheme is called 'Eat Out to Help Out'
    1,500 NI restaurants signed up as Eat Out to Help Out scheme opens

    Over a thousand restaurants in Northern Ireland will be offering discounted meals from Monday to Wednesday as part of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme which launches on Monday.
    The number does not include chain restaurants which are also taking part in the scheme. You can find out which outlets are taking part near you by searching your postcode here.
    Restaurant bills are being slashed by as much as 50% as part of the government scheme. The discount applies to all food and non-alcoholic drinks, to the maximum amount per person of £10. It could save a family of four up to £40 per meal.

    https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2020-08-02/1500-ni-restaurants-signed-up-as-eat-out-to-help-out-scheme-opens


  • #57
    coolshannagh28
    Registered Users Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭coolshannagh28


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Another scheme running in UK & Northern Ireland that might be of use to anyone travelling up there for shopping anyway or people living in border counties.

    Runs from today until August 31st but only on Mondays to Wednesdays. Eat out in a participating restaurant (over 1,500 in NI alone) and get 50% off your food bill (alcohol is excluded from the discount). Maximum discount is £10 per person so order £20 of food and it costs you £10 at the till, order £15 and it will cost you £7.50 and so on.

    Scheme is called 'Eat Out to Help Out'


    https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2020-08-02/1500-ni-restaurants-signed-up-as-eat-out-to-help-out-scheme-opens

    Was pleasantly surprised when paying my bill in a NI restaurant today .


  • #58
    Red Silurian
    Registered Users Posts: 8,306 ✭✭✭Red Silurian


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Another scheme running in UK & Northern Ireland that might be of use to anyone travelling up there for shopping anyway or people living in border counties.

    Runs from today until August 31st but only on Mondays to Wednesdays. Eat out in a participating restaurant (over 1,500 in NI alone) and get 50% off your food bill (alcohol is excluded from the discount). Maximum discount is £10 per person so order £20 of food and it costs you £10 at the till, order £15 and it will cost you £7.50 and so on.

    Scheme is called 'Eat Out to Help Out'


    https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2020-08-02/1500-ni-restaurants-signed-up-as-eat-out-to-help-out-scheme-opens

    Yes and that's actually per person so £20 off for you and the wife


  • #59
    uli84
    Registered Users Posts: 1,666 ✭✭✭uli84


    colmtheperson wrote: »
    Yes and that's actually per person so £20 off for you and the wife

    That’s decent, would welcome that here...


  • #60
    garrettod
    Registered Users Posts: 2,420 ✭✭✭garrettod


    This thread shouldn't be in Bargain Alerts, IMHO.

    There's no bargain available anytime soon and most of the last two pages would be better suited in After Hours or elsewhere.

    Thanks,

    G.



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  • #61
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users Posts: 19,609 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    colmtheperson wrote: »
    Yes and that's actually per person so £20 off for you and the wife


    or a family of 4 could get up to £40 discounted. Would definitely encourage me to eat out if I was living in NI. Pity we dont have similar here

    garrettod wrote: »
    This thread shouldn't be in Bargain Alerts, IMHO.

    There's no bargain available anytime soon and most of the last two pages would be better suited in After Hours or elsewhere.


    You do know many people book their weekends away months in advance? Theres no point waiting until October if you want to go to Centreparks in October and you find its fully booked up.


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