Latest news with #EoghanO'MaraWalsh
Irish Independent
30-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Visitor numbers were down 10pc in May, according to the CSO
It said visitors spent €477m on their trips, not including fares, down over 21pc on the same month last year. 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.
Irish Examiner
29-05-2025
- Irish Examiner
April sees recovery in tourism numbers following sharp first quarter drop
The number of foreign visitors arriving in Ireland last month was down 4% on April of last year, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows. Some 528,100 tourists completed a trip to Ireland in April, with the largest contingent of visitors coming from Great Britain at 41%, followed by visitors from the United States at 18%. The 4% drop is the smallest annual fall in foreign visitors since last October. The data from the CSO has been closely watched in recent months, with figures for January showing a 25% drop and those for February showing a fall of 30%. Tourism industry figures have questioned the data, however, arguing that such significant drops in visitor numbers were not being witnessed by them on the ground. Reacting to the data for April, Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, chief executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), said the tourism numbers show a recovery from the sharp decline reported in the first quarter. "Nonetheless, there remains somewhat of a disconnect between the monthly CSO survey and industry data," he said. "The latter includes airports, hotels and attractions which reported a robust April compared to a year ago helped by a later Easter period. "Industry record bums on seats and heads on pillows as opposed to the CSO sample survey – there remains a misalignment of sorts between the two data sources but it is narrowing and this is welcome," he said. The CSO data is based on in-person interviews with approximately 13,000 passengers departing Ireland through airports and ferry ports. April typically accounts for between 7% and 9% of total annual visitor figures. However, the CSO warned that because of the relatively small proportion of the total visitors accounted for in this period, external factors such as the date of Easter or other periodic events may have an observable impact. The data for April shows that the most frequent reason for travelling to Ireland was for a holiday at 40%. Visitors stayed a total of 3.4 million nights in the country, a drop of 1% when compared with April 2024, and down 6% when compared with April 2023. The average length of stay for foreign resident overnight visitors was 6.5 nights, up from an average of 6.4 nights in April 2024, and down from 7.9 nights in April 2023. Gregg Patrick, Statistician in the Tourism and Travel Division, said spending by tourists here, excluding their travel fares was was €375m. "Visitors from Great Britain accounted for €96m (26%) of this spend, Continental Europe for €134m (36%), North America for €121m(32%), and visitors from the Rest of the World for €25m (7%). Taken together, this represented a fall of 10% compared with April 2024, and a rise of 1% compared with April 2023," he said.
Irish Examiner
13-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Air access to Ireland this summer set to rise 6.5%
Air access to Ireland will rise by 6.5% this summer, with airline capacity increasing to 16,500 seats. A report from Fálte Ireland shows the summer tourism period from April to the end of October will see air capacity grow by 3% across the globe, but rise more in Ireland. They said year-on-year growth will be strongest between April and June, with the timing of Easter boosting the number of available seats. Fáilte Ireland said all markets will see an increase in capacity this summer, with North America rising 11% on 2024, Great Britain up 6%, Mainland Europe up 5% and the Rest of the World up 18%. Despite the rise this year, the number of seats from Great Britain remains 2% lower than 2023 levels. From the US, there are five airlines operating 25 routes this summer, an increase of three compared to 2024, providing 1,800 seats. Seat capacity from France will fall 3% this year, largely driven by a reduction by Ryanair. Fáilte Ireland said sea access this summer will be lower than in 2024 and 2023 due to a downsizing of some vessels. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has reported a sharp drop in inbound tourism, showing the number of visitors to Ireland declining 15% during March to 441,200, compared to the same period last year. This continues the downward year-on-year trend in foreign visitor numbers first observed in September 2024. However, Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, chief executive of Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, said the figures from the CSO 'don't reflect industry data sources or sentiment on the ground with industry partners'.
