The Government has left small tourism businesses by the wayside according the owner of a popular Athlone attraction.
Colm Wright runs Elevate Entertainment in Athlone Town, providing a range of activities such as electric go-karting, VR and laser tag.
According to the CEO, sky high energy bills and a lack of accommodation are major issues facing local tourism providers.
He believes the Government have not done enough to help small business owners in the sector.
Speaking to Let's Talk today, Colm says businesses are struggling under huge cost increases while energy providers record historic profits:
"We're all hearing about businesses closing down because energy costs are so high. I mean my last electricity bill, i'm still crawling along the floor after getting it! It was such a high increase and November/December would've been our busiest 2 months because of the Christmas period and we had January/February and I got my electricity bill at the end of February and I said "I can't sustain this". It has to be sorted out but I feel Government are not doing anything to help small businesses like myself".
