The main street in Kenmare, Co Kerry. Photo: Getty
The October bank holiday is a valid time for taking stock of the tourism industry. The peak tourist season is well over, but there tends to be a bit of business done over the mid-term break with visitors from home and abroad. Those hotels and restaurants that operate on a year-round basis tend to start planning for the Christmas period, which brings parties, family events and short stays.
The booming economy should be a huge boost to the tourism sector and yet the figures don’t seem to be adding up for some reason.
Dublin Airport’s growth is so big that it now finds itself having to reduce flight numbers to remain in compliance with a controversial 32 million cap on passenger numbers. The cap is proving to be a contentious issue ahead of the general election.
Last week, a High Court judge granted permission to Aer Lingus, Ryanair and an association representing US airlines to bring challenges to the cap. With record numbers coming into the country, the message from the airlines is that even more people want to travel in and out of the country, be it holidaymakers going abroad, business travellers or the growing number of tourists coming here.
The era of low-fare air travel makes it as simple to book a seat on a plane as it would traditionally have been to head to the big regional city on a train.
There is a contradiction in terms, though, when the tourism sector is warning about the health of the €10bn tourism and hospitality industry. In particular, almost two-thirds of all operators have said that profits have fallen this year compared to last year.
During the crash of 15 years ago, tourism was one of the sectors that helped to revitalise the economy
The warnings came amid growing fears over the price competitiveness of Ireland’s tourism offering against key competitors. Families are being tempted by cheaper foreign packages. The UK is now aggressively competing for Irish aviation business, which we don’t seem to want.
The tourism industry is blaming rising employment costs, the failure to cut the Vat rate and spiralling operating costs. The cost of doing business and opening the doors is going up and the incoming government is being told to make reducing overhead costs and increasing competitiveness a top priority.
Over half of tourism operators are saying their volume of business this year was down on 2023 levels, with activity tourism providers reporting a shocking 60pc decline in trade.
The price comparisons are stark. Ireland is now ranked as the third most expensive EU country for restaurants and hotels, and the second most expensive for alcohol.
During the crash of 15 years ago, tourism was one of the sectors that helped to revitalise the economy. Now the Government seems to be more enamoured by raking in the dollars of the multinational sector. Failing to even acknowledge the rise in business costs will come with a price.
Pricing ourselves out of the market will result in fewer operators and reduces the offering even further.
This post was originally published on here
