The number of tourist beds being used to house refugees from Ukraine as well as international protection applicants has fallen by 15 per cent in the past six months, according to official figures.
New research carried out by Fáilte Ireland shows a total of 65,457 beds were occupied in November 2024 under contracts with the Government for housing refugees and asylum seekers – a decrease of almost 12,000 since May 2024.
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However, Fáilte Ireland estimates that the economic impact of the displaced bed stock in the tourism sector is still at least €400 million and could be as high as €670 million per annum.
The figures relate to the loss of potential tourism spending outside of the accommodation sector.
Fáilte Ireland claimed the unavailability of some tourism accommodation was limiting the industry’s ability to meet demand from domestic and overseas tourists, while also leading to higher prices due to a “supply-demand imbalance.”
“Inbound tour operators say it is very difficult to get suitable ‘bed blocks’ at internationally competitive rates, especially in mid-market hotels,” it added.
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The national tourism development authority expressed concern that the problem was also resulting in lower turnover for non-accommodation tourism businesses.
The latest figures show that the number of beds under contract in Fáilte Ireland-registered properties had fallen by 30 per cent over the past six months.
The change has resulted in around 7,500 beds potentially becoming available again to provide tourist accommodation over the past half year.
Fáilte Ireland said the total stock of registered tourist beds under contract was now just seven per cent compared to 12 per cent a year ago and 10 per cent last May based on data provided by the Department of Children and Integration.
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However, it acknowledged that the figure might understate the real impact of contracted beds on the availability of tourist accommodation.
“For every Fáilte Ireland-registered bed und contract there is up to one more bed in unregistered tourism relevant sites,” it added.
Fáilte Ireland said the issue highlighted again the importance of having a fully inclusive register of tourist accommodation.
The proposed Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill is due to require properties for short-term tourist lettings that are advertised on platforms like Airbnb to be registered with Fáilte Ireland.
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Such platforms will also be obliged to only advertise properties which have a valid registration number from Fáilte Ireland.
The latest figures show a total of 17,632 beds with Fáilte Ireland-registered accommodation providers remain under contract to house beneficiaries of temporary protection and international protection.
Another 47,285 beds in properties not registered with Fáilte Ireland were under contract in November 2024 – a decrease of eight per cent or approximately 4,400 beds over a six-month period.
Fáilte Ireland said it was likely that up to 24,000 of these beds were likely to have been trading in the tourism sector.
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The ongoing reduction in the number of tourist beds under contract is expected to be welcomed by tourism businesses which had expressed concern about the Government being over-reliant on the tourism sector for housing refugees and international protection applicants.
The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation warned in 2023 that a shortage of tourism beds due to Government contracts represented “a major handbrake on recovery” for the sector.
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The latest figures also show that there continues to be a disproportionately high share of tourist beds in some counties under contract.
They reveal that 18 per cent of beds in tourism accommodation registered with Fáilte Ireland in Clare are out of use for tourism, although the figure is down from 25 per cent last May.
Other counties with above-average levels of tourist accommodation contracted to house refugees and asylum seekers are Meath (18 per cent), Wicklow (14 per cent); Mayo (12 per cent), Offaly (12 per cent) and Cork (10 per cent).
All other counties are below 10 per cent including just one per cent of tourism bed stock in Monaghan, Laois and Longford under contract.
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