Irish tourism enjoying 10-year high in hotel occupancy

Driven largely by a boom in the number of tourists visiting the country, the occupancy rate stood at 70% — up from 64% in 2014. More than €7.2bn in revenue was generated by tourism last year, as more than 7.9m tourists visited the country — up 798,000 on 2014.

The number of North American visitors grew 13% to 1.3m in the last year, while visitors from mainland Europe were up 14% to 2.84m.

Visitors from Britain, Ireland’s main tourism market, were up by 8% to 3.25m.

Speaking on the eve of the Irish Hotels Federation’s (IHF) annual conference, chief executive Tim Fenn said the hotels sector has benefited from an 11% increase in overseas visitors over the last year, coupled with a strengthening in consumer confidence.

“Tourism has been the shining light in Ireland’s economic recovery, and there’s a real sense of optimism in the sector following last year’s strong performance,” he said. “The upturn in visitor numbers is continuing, which bodes well for the outlook over the next 12 months.”

The IHF pointed out that more than 33,000 new jobs have been created in the tourism and hospitality sector since 2011.

The tourism industry as a whole now supports approximately 205,000 jobs — equivalent to 11% of total employment in the country, with more than 57,000 of these jobs in the hotels sector.

Some 85% of hoteliers are reporting increased levels of business this year from the home market, with people taking more trips at home and spending more money in the local economy.

Mr Fenn said tourists were returning to Ireland as a result of the country now offering better value for money.

“We’re making enormous strides in growing market share thanks to highly effective marketing and a competitively-priced product,” he said.

“This is reflected in recent research by Fáilte Ireland showing 95% of holidaymakers saying they are satisfied in terms of value for money which is a significant factor. Irish hotels are among the most competitively-priced in Europe, and significantly lower than our key competitors.”

Mr Fenn said the strong focus on the marketing front has reinvigorated Ireland’s tourism brand and image as a holiday destination.

“We continue to make significant strides in developing our tourism product and in giving holidaymakers new and compelling reasons to visit,” he said.

“Examples include the recently launched Ireland’s Ancient East trail and, of course, the Wild Atlantic Way, which is proving to be an enormous draw. Targeted investment in initiatives such as these is vital to the long-term success of our tourism product.”