Staff shortages and Brexit threaten hotels boom

International tourists brought in just under €6.5bn last year, up 8.5% from 2015 but a shortage of qualified staff could stall the momentum of the hotel industry, an AIB report has suggested.

AIB’s hotels outlook for 2017 said that while a record 9.6m visitors visited Ireland in 2016 in the midst of the hotel industry performing well, the dropoff from UK visitors and a shortage of chefs could impact negatively.

Director of hotel tourism and leisure at Crowe Horwath, Mairea Doyle-Balfe said in the report that the more “immediate challenges” facing the sector include staffing, currency fluctuation, increased operational costs and the need for some hotels to invest in their premises.