That it is the critical factor is made obvious in the disparity between revpar increases in Dublin, where fewer refugees are housed and where revenues per room were up 18 per cent, and in regional areas of the State where most refugees stay, and where revpar rose by a staggering 30 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.
If some of this State intervention in the market ends up being quickly rolled back, in the case of the war ending and the Ukrainian government asking for its citizens to return home to rebuild, then the hotel market could sway again. The second thing that Dalata’s data suggests is that the hotel sector may have a difficult job convincing the Government to extend further supports for the sector, such as its lower VAT rate and some energy supports.
Aside from its galloping room rates, Dalata’s revenues are on course to breach €500 million for the first time ever. The company is also highly profitable. Dalata is an exceptionally well-run company and it also has huge advantages of scale over smaller operators, most of whom will never be anywhere near as profitable. But it still doesn’t help the industry’s lobbying cause that the sector’s biggest and most prominent operator is coining it like never before.