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THE IRISH TOURISM Industry Confederation (ITIC) has estimated that 7 million international tourists came to Ireland this year, a 73% recovery compared to the pre-pandemic peak of 2019.
Of the 7 million international tourists this year, ITIC estimate that 2.6 million came from Mainland Europe, down 28% on 2019, 2.4 million came from Britain (-30%), 1.5 million came from North America (-22%) while 0.46 million came from long haul markets (-32%).
With travel restrictions eased since March, the speed and strength of the recovery in travel to Ireland has exceeded ITIC’s expectations and the surge in demand surpassed most industry projections.
Chairperson of ITIC, Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, said: “2022 has thankfully been a stronger year than anticipated with pent-up demand, deferred bookings and accumulated savings all boosting business this year.”
“It is vital that the sector returns to sustainable growth”.
ITIC welcomed the growth in air access to the country but expressed significant concern that continued recovery would be threatened by soaring inflation, the energy crisis, and the impact of Government contracts with tourism accommodation suppliers.
Estimates for next year range from a dip on this year’s performance to single digit growth.
ITIC estimate that a full tourism recovery to 2019 levels is not likely to be achieved until 2026.
CEO of ITIC, Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, expressed concern that tourism government contracts for Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers in tourist accommodation would severely restrict the broader tourism economy’s recovery.
“We now estimate that at least 28% of all tourism beds in regional Ireland are not available to the tourism economy due to Government contracts,” O’Mara Walsh said.
“While hotels and guesthouses are part of the solution to accommodate refugees, they cannot be the only solution. If this level of tourism accommodation stock is not available next year for international visitors it could cost the broader tourism industry up to €1 billion in lost earnings”.
ITIC state that downstream businesses such as shops, attractions, pubs, restaurants and cultural experiences will be hit particularly hard. Fáilte Ireland data shows that for every €1 a tourist spends on accommodation, €2.50 is spent on ancillary tourism services.
ITIC has also argued that the government should retain the current 9% VAT rate, rather than reinstate the 13.5% rate which will come into effect from 1 March 2023.
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Wonder why that is? I can visit Italy, France, Spain or any other European country for 5 days for the price of 2 here..greed is why.
@Craig Clancy: Irish pricing is totally crazy. Yep, it’s even too expensive for Irish people to holiday in Ireland! Bring the prices down and they will come!
@Craig Clancy: There are some cheap places in Europe, Spain especially. Accommodation being the main thing, eating out is cheap but the quality of food isn’t great. I’m in France and it’s €9.90 a beer, and service here is terrible compared to at home.
Hotel rates at home are mad in places, it’s a supply and demand case, I know people that booked during COVID and got cancelled because the hotel started hosting refugees. They rebooked with limited choice and it was more than double to original price.
We have higher running cost compared to most of Europe, esb etc. Claims are down but insurance still goes up every year.
@Craig Clancy: the irish are setting up in the algarve portugal – e.g. dinner at the bold octopus.. prices are 3 times the local portugese prices.. they will ruin the algarve as well . Press up and huge groups are keeping and setting the restaurant and drinks prices so high in dublin – I am living in dublin and I cant afford to have dinner in town too often.
It’s too expensive pretty bad transport links and not likely to change anytime soon. Can get more value for money somewhere else in Europe.
Because we are shafted by our own
Maybe it’s because of the rip off price’s
Transport from the airport abysmal.
Hotel prices more suited to Monaco .
Food and drink extremely over priced .
Probably to do with the fact that the hotels are full of refugees
Where do you start on this one! I suppose our International Airport, a shocking place to have to deal with.
Ireland is recognised as one of the best places in the world to visit and holiday. If it wasn’t so expensive we would probably get many more tourists
When you holiday in what you thought was an expensive country with brilliant transport infrastructure and health care, it’s then you realise that, you live in an expensive country with a poor transport infrastructure and poor health care
The price of accommodation, food, drinks and car hire is exorbitant. Why would anyone cone to this County. We have priced ourselves out of the market due to pure greed. The price of a weeks holiday in a hotel in Ireland would pay my flight and good accommodation to Portugal.
Too expensive and at this stage hotels full of Ukrainians
One might as well be complaining about housing or the RTE player not working on live mode. Point being: No ones listening, no one cares.
@Keth Warsaw: One can shout and Hollar, walk respectfully or angrily in protest and even leave an intelligent (or not) comment in their little online paper. One might as well be shouting through the bars of ones 6×6 cell their innocence.
maybe if the government stopped the rental car companies from exploiting tourists by exorbitant pricing more tourists would come. I know many people who were thinking of coming to Ireland but changed their mind after seeing the cost of renting a car.
And it won’t, we’ve no hotels. Either packed with homeless people or refugees.
I got chatting to 2 Swedish people in Ballybunion at the end of the summer. They said rather than pay stupid prices in B&B’s or car rental they bought a second hand van here and stayed in that while travelling around the plan was sell the van before exit. According to them the prices here are crazy
Where does the plan to shaft AirBnB hosts fit in to attempts to increase tourist numbers?
Why is accommodation so expensive – what exactly drives up the prices? Shortage of hotels?
What you get for what you pay is also horrendous. Run down places in dodgy areas charging ridiculous amounts – really bad value for money.
Pre pandemic prices though.
Can we colour-zone Dublin city according to danger? ‘You are now entering the red zone….or the green zone’. Lol. And ya just know, you’d get those certain ‘thrill-seekers’ heading right for the red zone.
And it never will the Hotel and hospitality services have committed Hari Kari, I gor one will never stay in this country again when I can get a city break abroad for less than a night in Dublin. They actually did me a favour.. they will regret it Big Time.
The irish are setting up in the algarve portugal – e.g. dinner at the bold octopus.. prices are 3 times the local portugese prices.. they will ruin the algarve as well . Press up and huge groups are keeping and setting the restaurant and drinks prices so high in dublin – I am living in dublin and I cant afford to have dinner in town too often.
The problem is too many Irish people in films.
Why would you come to Ireland if you can just watch a film with an Irish person in it?
They’re even in Star Wars now.
Disgrace.
@Philip Cooper: I blame Colm Meaney personally cos he’s in everything. He even popped up as a pilot in Die Hard 2 the other night.
@Sean: The proper Christmas version of Die Hard. Not DH1.
’50,000 Ukrainians in hotels and probably another 50,000 homeless Irish and other illegal migrants.
So the remaining available hotel rooms for tourists are going to be overpriced and scarce.
Those tourists who come will sharing the hotel with these people so can’t believe it will be pleasent.
have your say