Latest news with #IrishTourismIndustryConfederation
Irish Independent
14 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Ireland must ‘diversify' its tourism market to counter drop in visitor numbers, says tourism chief
Tourism is Ireland's biggest indigenous industry and largest regional employer with 257,900 people working in tourism and hospitality businesses nationwide. Figures released by Fáilte Ireland show an 18pc decline in tourists from all major overseas markets between January and April of this year versus the same period in 2024. Tourism operators have also reported that revenue generated by visitors from Great Britain had dropped 52pc compared to last year, while revenues for French holidaymakers dipped by 55pc and Germany by 53pc. Commenting on the figures, chief executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, said that Ireland must lessen its reliance on the North American tourists due to a series of complex economic factors contributing to their decline. 'The dollar is weakened - I think it's about 15pc in the last three or four months,' he told RTÉ Radio 1. "Obviously all the tariffs, we fear, are going to impact on the US economy and there's kind of lots of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty out there, which doesn't suit tourism.' However, Mr Walsh says a proactive approach must be taken to stem the dwindling numbers of US tourists to Ireland. "I think we need to defend and deepen the US market because we can't just turn our back on our most valuable market. "But we do need to be more active and penetrate other markets.' Another challenge facing the tourism sector is Ireland's status as the second-most expensive holiday destination in Europe, according to Eurostat. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more "If you think on holiday destinations, we look at what's in our bank account, what's in our wallet. "Unfortunately the German economy, the French economy, the British economy are all struggling. Therefore, discretionary income is tighter, and therefore the second and third holidays are often sacrificed, and Ireland kind of falls into that category.' Key to fulfilling this objective, Mr Walsh says, is raising the current passenger cap at Dublin Airport to above 32 million in order to secure the arrival of more overseas visitors. 'We are an island nation. There's no roads and no bridges, no tunnels off the island. If we want to activate and we want to secure access to our key source markets, we need headroom at Dublin Airport,' he said. "Government have had an awful lot of time to debate it and tease it out and we're still at the same stage as we have been for a long time.' However, he believes more could be done to incorporate regional airports into the pledge to increase the number of inbound flights. "I think Government could be doing more in terms of supporting some of the spend at those airports, allowing those airports to incentivise airlines into those regional parts of the country.'
RTÉ News
16 hours ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Tourism industry seeing 'soft' European and domestic markets
Tourism operators across the country are reporting a decline in revenue in every major overseas market this year. The CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, said the North American market is doing well, however, "other markets are soft" like Britain, France and Germany as well as the domestic market. "A lot of Irish people are holidaying abroad rather than holidaying at home. Overall, it is a pretty challenging year for the Irish tourism sector," Mr O'Mara Walsh said. Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, he said there is a need for the Irish market to diversify as there is an over-dependence on the North American market. He said there were strong growth prospects in continental Europe, but added that there is a lot of French and German business not being picked up at the moment. He explained that matters like the weakening of the dollar and tariff fears do not suit tourism. "Tourism is uniquely exposed to external events, so the US market could be softer next year," he said. However, he said air access is strong, particularly with Aer Lingus, and there is a lot of new transatlantic air access. Dublin is used as a hub airport between the North American bloc and the European continent, which should be good for Irish tourism. "But undoubtedly, we can't depend on a strong US market in 2026. It is pretty good in 2025, but 2026 could be more challenging. Therefore, we do need to fish from other markets," he stated. Eurostat figures from last month put us as the second most expensive country in the EU. The tourism boss said that Fáilte Ireland surveys visitors as they leave Ireland, and thankfully, the majority of people still find the country value for money. "Unfortunately, the German economy, the French economy, the British economy are all struggling and therefore discretionary income is tighter, and therefore the second and third holidays is often sacrificed, and Ireland falls into that category," he said. Mr O'Mara Walsh suggested that Ireland defend and deepen its connection to the US market, but added it had to penetrate other markets. He suggested a "step change in tourism budgets" to allow us to diversify the market and "de-risk". He added that there were costs of business and competitiveness pressures on tourism businesses, and the Government could take measures to allow Irish tourism and hospitality businesses to be more competitive. Mr O'Mara Walsh said there is a lot of capacity constraints on the tourism economy at the moment. "We know there is a Dublin airport passenger cap which needs to be relieved. We know that there is proposed legislation from Government which risks denuding coastal and rural Ireland of holiday homes and self-catering properties throughout the country, a staple of the Irish tourism product," he said. "Aside from investment in what is Ireland's largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer, there is stuff on connectivity and competitiveness that Government should do to support the sector," he added.
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 Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Closure of Bray-Greystones cliff walk has ‘cost the economy €73m'
More than €73 million has been lost to the economy – equating to more than €50,000 a day – because of the continuing closure of the cliff walk between Bray and Greystones , Co Wicklow, economist Jim Power has said. Mr Power, an economic adviser to the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation and a financial commentator, estimated the loss to the economy included €21 million that would have gone to the Exchequer in taxes. The 7km cliff walk, developed in the 1840s as an access route for workers building the railway line, was, until its closure in February 2021, one of the most popular walks on Ireland's east coast. At its highest point it rises to about 100m above sea level. However, following the collapse of a section of boulder clay on the Greystones side and a rockfall further towards Bray, the walk was closed on a temporary basis. READ MORE Wicklow County Council put barriers at either end of the route and advertised an alternative walk, some of which was on the main Bray to Greystones road before climbing the head and emerging at a landmark cross overlooking Bray seafront. However, as time passed and the cliff walk remained closed, local traders expressed concern at the lack of business. 'The closure hit us immediately. I would say we were first in the firing line, and then it hit everyone else,' said Nigel Spendlove, who runs a coffee shop at Greystones harbour. Nigel Spendlove at Spendlove's coffee shop in Greystones. Photograph: Tim O'Brien Claire Cullen, who runs The Fat Fox cafe and cake shop on Trafalgar Road, Greystones, said the closure had cost her '500 customers a week. That is 2,000 customers a month – it is a lot for any business to take'.. Local group Friends of the Cliff Walk commissioned Mr Power to carry out an economic study of the economic cost of the closure. As part of the overall figure of €73 million, Mr Power estimated losses to local shops, restaurants and coffee shops at €4 million, based on yearly spending by walkers of €3.5 million. Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr Power said he had relied on Fáilte Ireland reports on visitor spending, figures for the numbers of people previously walking the cliff walk and his own interviews with businesses in the area among other sources. He said that according to Fáilte Ireland figures overseas visitors would typically spend €105 each a day, domestic visitors would be spending €92 daily and local walkers would spend about €10. He said recent analysis showed 10 per cent of visitors on the walk were from overseas, 40 per cent would be domestic visitors and the rest locals. Using official figures showing 350,000 visitors in the last year the walk was open, the annual spend was €18.4 million. With the walk now closed four years that loss amounted to €73 million overall, he said. He said the impact on the economies of Bray and Greystones has been 'very significant'. 'If we assume the average spend locally is €10 per visitor, the overall spend locally would be €3.5 million. This would support 77 jobs in tourism and hospitality in the local area. Assuming an average wage of €20,000, this would equate to a wage injection of €1.54 million into the local economy,' he said at the launch of his report on Tuesday in Greystones. Wicklow County Council said it was in the process of appointing consultants to advise 'short-term and long-term solutions to address the issues with sections of the walk that have already collapsed or are about to collapse'. The council said it had 'identified unsafe sections, reluctantly closed them, and signposted alternative routes around the collapsed sections of the cliff walk'. It said it was also working to identify funding for the work.
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.
