Fáilte Ireland reports fall in number of registered tourist beds being used by refugees

New research carried out by the tourism body revealed that since November more than 4,500 extra beds provided by guest accommodation providers have potentially become available again for use by tourists. File picture

The number of registered tourist beds being used to house Ukrainian refugees and international protection applicants has fallen by over 15% in the past six months, according to Fáilte Ireland.

New research carried out by the tourism body revealed that since November more than 4,500 extra beds provided by guest accommodation providers have potentially become available again for use by tourists.

The latest figures show 77,315 beds remained under contract to the Government to house refugees and asylum seekers at the end of last month — down from 84,497 six months ago. They include over 25,079 beds located with accommodation providers registered with Fáilte Ireland, with the vast majority in hotels and guesthouses.

More than 52,200 beds in other establishments are also under contract with the Government — down from over 54,900 six months earlier. The overall number of beds sourced from all types of providers to house beneficiaries of temporary protection (mostly Ukrainians) and international protection applicants is down 8.5% in the past six months.

The figures are based on data provided by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The updated statistics mean the total stock of registered tourist beds under contract nationally has fallen from 12% in November to 10% now.

However, Fáilte Ireland cautioned that the 10% figure could underestimate the on-the-ground impact of the availability of tourist accommodation. It explained that for every registered bed under contract, there is up to one more contracted bed in unregistered sites that was likely to have previously been used for providing accommodation to tourists.

The increase in tourist beds available for holidaymakers at the start of the summer season is expected to be welcomed by tourism businesses which had expressed concern about the Government being over-reliant on the tourism sector for housing refugees and asylum seekers.

The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation warned last year that a shortage of tourism beds due to Government contracts represented “a major handbrake on recovery” for the sector.

On the latest figures, Fáilte Ireland said: “At face value the results are very positive for tourism.” 

It claimed the figures suggested that 4,507 registered beds that are no longer contracted to the Government could come back into tourism usage together with a share of 2,675 non-registered beds.