Hoteliers accused of damaging country's reputation with high prices
The cheapest hotel in Dublin for one night during the first two weeks of July is €379, while a four-star hotel in Madrid was €120, and a four-star hotel in Lisbon €140.
Hoteliers have blamed high energy costs, supply shortages, and 'pent-up' demand for the soaring hotel prices that are "damaging Ireland's reputation internationally".
At the Oireachtas tourism committee on Wednesday, TDs from across the political spectrum lined up to castigate the hotel industry for the current cost of staying here.
Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin said the room rates are "really damaging to our reputation internationally".
Sinn Féin TD, Imelda Munster, said she found that the cheapest hotel in Dublin for one night during the first two weeks of July is €379, while a four-star hotel in Madrid was €120, and a four-star hotel in Lisbon €140.
The hiking of hotel prices when large events are staged here was also highlighted.
Irish Hotels Federation chief executive Tim Fenn linked the overall high prices to energy costs, supply shortages, and pent-up demand caused by the pandemic.
He said that during April, Dublin had the highest occupancy rate of any European city at 83.6% and that there are "significant levels of media and political commentary and misperceptions around the overall value for money in the market in Dublin".
Average prices for one night in a Dublin hotel during April was €154, he said.
The IHF chief executive said one hotelier reported their energy bill jumped from €14,000 in March to €42,000 in April for the same quantity of energy units.
Referring to the spiralling room costs, he added: "[There has been a] significant jump undeniably, but that's largely driven by inflationary costs and a supply shortage."
He said he was not there to defend prices, adding that the IHF legally cannot ask hotels to reduce their costs.
He also called for a pro-development policy to increase the number of hotels in Dublin, not least as there has been a 15.2% decrease in supply due to providing accommodation to Ukrainian refugees.
Mr Griffin also criticised high prices for car rentals here as "economic treason".
The committee heard that 40% of Ireland's annual holiday visitors need cars, and that high car-rental prices will be "detrimental" to the revival of the tourism sector post-pandemic.
Fáilte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly said high VAT and VRT rates are making the car rental model "exceptionally more expensive", and that the industry has fed back to him that if there is not a change in that tax model, "it's still not going to be economical for car-rental companies to significantly increase their seasonal stock".
Meanwhile, Irish holidaymakers planning to fly with Ryanair to Italy, Portugal, and Spain could face flight cancellations amid the threat of strike action.
Italian unions have now called a 24-hour strike for June 25, with a three-day strike already planned in Portugal that week. A six-day strike is planned for Spain up to July 2.
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