Visitor numbers were down 10pc in May, according to the CSO
However, the figures have again been disputed by the tourism industry, which is not experiencing a double-digit decrease in numbers or revenue.
Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, chief executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, said data provided by hotels, airports, visitor attractions and coach companies suggests the market is stable.
'The US market is performing very well, but there is a weakness with Great Britain and Europe,' he said.
'Air access from the US into Ireland has never been stronger, and they are filling those planes. Inflation in America is out of control, so Ireland looks like value for money. For the remainder of the summer the US business on the books looks pretty strong.'
Other European countries are also experiencing a post-pandemic rebound of US tourism. More than 7.7 million Americans travelled to Europe in the first five months of the year, up 6pc on the same period last year, according to the US National Travel and Tourism Office.
This has taken the industry by surprise, as last summer there was a tourism bounce from the Olympics being staged in Paris and a Taylor Swift tour which took in France, Sweden, Portugal, Germany and Spain.
There is a continuing disconnect between the tourism statistics being provided by the CSO, mostly down year-on-year, and what the industry says it is experiencing. The methodologies are different, with the CSO doing a survey on departing passengers, and the industry counting 'bums on seats and heads on pillows', as Mr O'Mara Walsh puts it.
He believe the misalignment began in the first half of last year, when the CSO recorded a surge in tourism numbers.
'They were reporting really buoyant numbers, and the industry wasn't feeling that on the ground,' he said. 'Now we are contrasting to 2024, which is giving us this comparison problem.'
ADVERTISEMENT
The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) said, while there is still a disparity, the CSO data is now more in line with what businesses have been reporting on the ground, taking account of the contribution by domestic tourism.
IHF president Michael Magner said: 'Our figures indicate that hotel room occupancy levels are holding steady so far this year compared with 2024. However, this is only part of the picture. It conceals significant challenges around business margins due to already exceptionally high business costs, which continue to rise while revenues remain flat.'
The average length of stay for foreign visitors in May was 7.3 nights, slightly up on last year, but down from 7.8 nights in 2023, the CSO data says.
'Visitors stayed a total of 4.1 million nights in the country, a drop of 8pc when compared with May 2024, and down 9pc compared with May 2023,' the CSO said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
'It's just mad money' - Shoppers struggling with food price hikes
There have been more than 103,000 calls for help to St Vincent De Paul this year and almost half were requests for help with food. A further 14% were appeals for help with food as well as another issue. Food prices have increased by 24% in the last five years, according to the Central Statistics Office. "It's terrible," says one man shopping in Dublin. "My wife complains I'm spending all our money. I shop every day and every time I go to shop it's gone up. It's gone up." Other shoppers in the city say they have noticed prices rising, particularly with certain items. "Toilet roll, that's gone up. Butter's gone up. Everything," one young mother said. "Yeah, it's gone up now. Even with the vouchers. It's just mad money. "I think bread is gone up loads. Eggs is mad money as well and the baby food is expensive - not her formula - but more so just like the little packs and jars." "Bread's gone up," says another man. "Brown bread's gone up a lot - it's huge. They still have the usual carrots and special offers but you don't want to be eating carrots every day." CSO Statistician Anthony Dawson, who is responsible for the Consumer Price Index, said that overall the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages was up 4% in the last year. In the last five years, he said that food prices have increased by 24%. Mr Dawson added that certain items have increased notably in the past year. "Beef prices, they're up 20% compared to May 2024 ... and the price of milk is up 18% while butter is up 12% in that same time period. Something else we've seen is the price of chocolate is up 17% compared to this time last year." Mr Dawson says these are increases on top of already pretty substantial rises over the last five years. "Butter and milk they're both up 46%. Bread is up 26%, and we've seen potatoes increase by 17%." Coffee and tea prices are up 25% and 17% respectively, he added. Mr Dawson says that Ireland has already experienced record high inflation in 2022 and while it subsided in 2023, it was still high. "Again we're seeing that, come 2024/2025, still the prices continuing to increase." The total calls for help received by the St Vincent de Paul this year is 103,113. Of that number, 50,471 cited food (49%) while 14,655 (14%) cited food and another issue. The organisation tracks the cost of a basket of goods and services considered necessary to live at a socially acceptable minimum standard of living. Vincentian MESL (Minimum Essential Standard of Living) Research Centre Manager Robert Thornton said that it has noticed a change in how people shop since its previous research in 2020. "Five years ago, when we last talked to members of the public about this, they had agreed that you do most of your grocery shopping in one of the more discount retailers. "This time round, surprisingly, they actually came to agree that really all the supermarkets, with the range of special offers available, with some supermarkets offering vouchers or discounts with loyalty card schemes, that really they are much of a muchness in the end." As prices rise, Mr Thornton said some people are feeling the pinch more. "As costs have gone up by in and around 20% for food and approximately 19% overall, if we look at households reliant on social welfare, ultimately, we find that social welfare rates haven't really kept pace with the change in minimum living costs." He said the various one-off top-up supports, some of which were targeted, and some like the electricity credits which were provided to everyone, helped offset some of the spike iand things have improved compared to 2023 when living costs were at their highest. "But nevertheless ... we're really only now at approximately where we were in 2020 despite social welfare rates being in euro terms much higher now than they were then." Mr Thornton said the proportion of living costs now is no more significant than it was five years ago. Lone parent households and those with a second-level child or a teenager tend to be in deep income inadequacy, he said, where social welfare meets less than 90% of their minimum needs. "Our minimum basket is describing what people agree you should be able to have ... and they're going to have to do without at least some of that because their income just doesn't go far enough." In a statement, the Department of Enterprise highlights analysis by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in June 2023 that found no evidence of excessive pricing in the grocery retail market. The department said it has continued to review grocery price inflation in Ireland and that it remains broadly in line with the European average. Minister of State Alan Dillon - who has responsibility for retail - has requested the CCPC provides an update to the 2023 analysis, the statement added.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Irish passengers see further 14 flights from Dublin cancelled due to French strike
Passengers heading off on summer holidays faced a second day of disruption today due to air traffic control strikes in France. The Dublin Airport Authority (daa) said that 14 flights in and out of Dublin were cancelled early today, following 20 flights being cancelled on Thursday. Travellers would also be hit by knock-on delays arising from the cancellations, it warned. It said passengers would also be affected by a ground strike in Finland, and urged passengers due to fly over mainland Europe to check directly with their airline. Unions representing air traffic controllers in France have said its members were striking over persistent understaffing, outdated equipment and a toxic management culture. Speaking on RTÉ radio, the chief executive of Cork and Dublin Airports said that Europe needs to take action to prevent ongoing disruption. 'This is the annual ransom by a very small group of French air traffic controllers,' Kenny Jacobs said. 'About 50 air traffic controllers in Paris have disrupted the plans of over half a million European travellers on the big exodus where everyone goes on their holidays and it's simply unacceptable.' Mr Jacobs said it was 'very unfair' to Irish families flying to Faro wondering why they're facing a four-to-six-hour delay because 'they're not going to France, but they're flying over France'. "The key thing that Europe needs to do is say to the French, flights over France cannot be disrupted if you're having a strike, that's your problem," he said. Ryanair, meanwhile, continued to criticise European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the impact of the strikes, as it said it was forced to cancel 400 flights across the two days affecting 70,000 passengers. 'Over 350 of these are overflights, which could and should be protected by the EU Commission,' Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said. 'The bizarre justification for this week's ATC strike is their objection to 'short staffing'. Every year they find something new to strike about."
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Strict new rules rolled out across France that could see you fined £116 on the beach this summer
FRANCE has always been a holiday favourite for Brits and continues to be one - but there is a new strict rule to look out for. And its already been rolled out across 4 France has always been a holiday favourite for Brits and continues to be one - but there is a new strict rule to look out for Credit: Pascal Pochard-Casabianca/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource The new French rules 4 Smoking cigarettes is banned in all outdoor areas where children might frequent Credit: Getty France has banned smoking in all outdoor areas frequented by children from the 1st of July. This includes parks, beaches, public gardens, bus stops, school entrances, and sports venues. And if you break the rule - even as a tourist - you will face a fine of 90 euros if you pay within 15 days, going up to 135 euros (around £116) after that. The new measure is part of President Emmanuel Macron's pledge to create 'the first tobacco-free generation' by 2032. Travel News 'France is positioning itself as one of Europe's most proactive countries in terms of tobacco control,' Raquel Venâncio, senior policy officer at Smoke Free Partnership, a coalition of European tobacco control advocacy groups, told CNN. Not everyone in France is happy about the new rule 4 Not everyone in France is happy about the new rule Credit: Getty 'The more time goes by, the more the government wants to take away our basic freedoms,' Elise Levaux, a 25-year-old student in Paris , told CNN. 'If you're being respectful — not throwing away cigarette butts in a park or beach, not disturbing others — I don't see the problem. "Why should crime ?' Most read in News Travel Another said: "I've been smoking since I was 14. 'Most of my friends started just as young. Fine or no fine, we're going to continue smoking. Paul McKenna demonstates two powerful hypnotisation techniques to help you quit smoking "It's part of the French identity — we fight for what we want. We're not robots .' tabacs — tobacco shops that occupy the corners of many urban streets. CNN approached a dozen of them in Paris seeking their view on the new law , but none wanted to speak. But in a statement shared with CNN, Minister of Health Catherine Vautrin said that 'protecting youth and denormalizing smoking' is an 'absolute priority' for the government. 'At 17, you should be building your future , not your addiction, Where there are children, tobacco must disappear. 'Tobacco is poison. It kills, it costs, it pollutes. I refuse to give up the fight. Every day without tobacco is a life gained. "Our goal is clear: a tobacco-free generation — and we have the means to achieve it.' The new rule does not ban e-cigarettes 4 The new rules do not include e-cigarettes Unlike Belgium and the United Kingdom , which recently prohibited the sale of disposable vapes, France's new rules do not The new regulations do, however, include a reduction in authorized nicotine levels in 'These products serve as gateways to addiction and will be Tobacco use remains the leading preventable health risk in the European Union, causing In France alone, it accounts for health ministry. Beyond the direct toll on smokers and those around them, tobacco products also pose an environmental hazard. An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 tons of cigarette butts are discarded across
