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Donohoe 'appalled' by hotel price hikes for Taylor Swift concerts

Some customers have said their bookings made for next June have been arbitrarily cancelled by hotels
Jack Quann
Jack Quann

20.28 4 Jul 2023


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Donohoe 'appalled' by hotel pr...

Donohoe 'appalled' by hotel price hikes for Taylor Swift concerts

Jack Quann
Jack Quann

20.28 4 Jul 2023


Share this article


It is not too late for hotels to reconsider their charging policy when Taylor Swift plays Dublin.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe was speaking amid criticism of a number of hotels for charging more for the period next year when the US singer performs at the Aviva Stadium.

Some customers have said their bookings, made at lower prices, have been arbitrarily cancelled by hotels.

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Minister Donohoe told The Hard Shoulder a small number of hotels are letting everyone else down.


"I'm appalled that a small number of hotels are doing this again," he said.

"The taxpayer made a massive amount of supports available to our hospitality sector.

"It is a wonderful part of our economy, the people who are in it work so hard, it's so important to how our country is perceived and how people feel when they come to Ireland.

"A very small number of hotels are really letting it down for everybody else".

He said people will be travelling from across Ireland, and other countries, for the concerts.

"The idea that they will have to pay such terrible prices, across that weekend, I think is terrible," he said.

"There's still time however to rethink, and I would urge those small number of hotels to do it," he added.

'Price gouging'

Consumer expert and host of The Home Show, Sinead Ryan, has called on the Government to step in.

"There's no doubt that there's an element of price gouging going on here," she said.

Sinead said it is 'particularly annoying' considering the lower VAT rate the sector has enjoyed.

"We have seen it with hotels, mainly in Dublin when there's gigs on, and it is happening now," she said.

"It's particularly annoying because the hospitality sector has enjoyed a reduced VAT rate during COVID, money to restore it after the pandemic.

"The Government, and Leo Varadkar particularly, [is] not hiding the fact that if they don't behave themselves that they will step in.

"I would like to see that happening sooner rather than later," she added.

Listen back here:

Main image: Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe speaking to the media in Dublin city in February 2023. Picture by: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie

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Aviva Stadium Hotel Prices Hotels Paschal Donohoe Sinead Ryan Taylor Swift The Hard Shoulder VAT

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