Senior figures in the tourism industry believe that the recovery in 2022 could bring back 60 per cent of the number of international visitors that came in 2019, the last full pre-pandemic season for the sector when more than 9.7 million international visitors arrived., the umbrella lobby group for the sector, estimated that international arrivals for February were more than 40 per cent down on the number for 2019, based on figures provided to it by carriers, sea ports and airports.
The dashboard for February suggests that about 44,000 visitors from America arrived to Ireland last month, a reduction of 48 per cent on the numbers for 2019. It estimates a 40 per cent drop in British visitors, to 152,000, while numbers from the rest of Europe were down 35 per cent on 2019 levels. Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, Itic’s chief executive, said a recovery to 60 per cent of 2019 levels would be “no mean feat” given the “mauling” the sector had received in 2020 and 2021.“The situation is so volatile at the moment. The big question is whether the war in Ukraine will spook some markets and whether the spike in oil prices would have a major impact on fares,” he said. Itic also said the labour shortage in tourism could hamper its recovery.
“There were a lot of American accents about,” said Mr O’Mara Walsh. He said many of those bookings would have been made months ago, however, and it is unclear if the momentum will be affected by fears among US visitors of war in Europe.
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Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »