Hotelier John Brennan believes the market for people coming on luxury trips to Ireland from abroad will be the first to rebound within the sector once the economy reopens.
Mr Brennan says while he is positive about the hotel sector's prospects this year, he is worried about the impact of the lull between the resumption of long and short-haul travel.
There are some concerns that the domestic tourism industry in Ireland will be impacted in the time between when flights to destinations in Europe resume but international travel from areas such as the US are still halted.
The luxury hotel market here is a big draw for American tourists.
However, once we are permitted to travel abroad again, Irish people may be more likely to go on holidays in sunnier climes in Europe rather than stay in a five-star hotel here.
Mr Brennan is known for presenting At Your Service with brother Francis and the pair, who own the five-star Park Hotel in Kenmare, Co Kerry, have recently acquired the Lansdowne Arms Hotel in the same town.
Speaking on Down to Business with Bobby Kerr, he said: "The greatest black cloud on the horizon will be the lull between short-haul and long-haul coming back.
"The only thing from the Park Hotel point of view, and this is an extremely selfish comment, the five-star market on the long-haul will rebound quicker than the three-star market.
"They will get on the plane much faster than the coach and that's a focus for us.
"But there will be a lull in that and I wouldn't be worried about 2021 at all, I wouldn't lose a wink's sleep over 2021.
"2022 is going to be difficult because we won't have the long-haul back in the same numbers I believe and there will be a question mark over that.
"But we've survived all sorts of things that have been thrown at us over the years and we'll get over this, so I won't lose too much sleep either."
Mr Brennan said despite this, he is optimistic for the next six months and backs the Government's various supports which are in place for businesses during the pandemic.
"I think the Government have been hit with a juggernaut ten times bigger than we've been hit with as an individual business," he added.
"I think they've coped really well and the systems in place have been very supportive, we wouldn't have survived until now if those systems weren't put in place.
"They're not in place in every country around the world so we're very lucky to be in the position we're in."
