A VOUCHER scheme has been proposed by Sinn Féin to kickstart Ireland's tourism industry this summer by encouraging the public to go on staycations.
Under the new proposal, every adult will be given €200 and every child €100 to spend on hotels, restaurants, zoos, theme parks and other recreational amenities, according to the Irish Mirror.
The voucher scheme could be vital for local businesses, who are set to suffer for the second summer in a row, as it's highly unlikely international tourists will be allowed into the country en masse.
As such, the tourism and hospitality sectors will be relying on the Irish public to keep them afloat.
Sinn Féin's voucher scheme would replace the Government's Stay and Save tax rebate scheme brought in last year.
As part of that scheme, which was deemed by many to be a flop, €200 million was set aside, but less than €10 million of that was claimed by holidaymakers - although repeated lockdown severely impacted the chances to book anything last summer.
The newly proposed voucher scheme would operate via a smartcard system and would be up and running by next month, potentially.
"We are launching our stimulus initiative for the tourism and hospitality sector," said Sinn Féin enterprise spokesperson Louise O'Reilly.
"It's a sector that has remained effectively closed since the start of the pandemic and we want to see people back once it's safe to do so.
"Once the public health allows it, we want to see people being able to get back out and start spending money in the tourism and hospitality sector.
"We believe that this stimulus package is essential to kickstart the sector, to get people back out."
See More: Hospitality, Sinn Féin, Staycations, Tourism, Voucher
