Tourism challenge - Too many hotel beds

YESTERDAY’S report from Fáilte Ireland, that our tourism sector is highly dependent on domestic customers, is sobering.

Fáilte Ireland reports that 65% of hotel overnights involve Irish people.

That ratio is expected to grow again this year.

The hotel sector is already terribly oversupplied with beds because of a range of tax breaks that encouraged investment but undermined returns.

That situation is acerbated for otherwise viable businesses when lenders repossess ailing hotels and reduce rates to try to generate revenue. This, in turn, undermines well-established businesses.

Hoteliers have argued that the minimum wage is damaging their industry but, it the truth be told, the real problem is a huge surplus of beds.

Holidaying in Ireland is more often than not enjoyable — despite occasional challenges from the weather and some outrageous pricing — but if our hotel industry is depending on Irish people to fill its beds it is in more trouble than it imagined.