Sector needs to adopt a mature attitude towards sustainable recovery, otherwise State support could dry upDouble-digit cost inflation and an acute supply shortage are driving prices up but there is still a view that Irish tourism offers value for money. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ieThe public and political mood towards Ireland’s tourism and hospitality industry risks going, in the space of a few short weeks, from sympathy to annoyance.
Since March, though, when restrictions were finally lifted, business has bounced back at a much quicker pace than had been expected. Pent-up demand, deferred bookings and accumulated savings have all meant that travel and tourism around the world has surged. Internationally businesses have struggled to service the demand and, with soaring cost inflation, consumer prices have risen sharply.
Industry representatives legitimately point to a significant shortfall in tourism accommodation as a result of Government contracts for refugees, argue that hotel rates have jumped right cross Europe, and highlight the fact that the average room rate of a hotel in the capital last month was €176, putting Dublin on a par with its European peers.
The value argument is of critical importance to both the immediate and long-term future of Irish tourism. Back in 2006 — at the height of the Celtic Tiger — Ireland’s value-for-money ratings dropped alarmingly. When the global financial crash happened two years later the sector worldwide suffered and, due to its weak value proposition in advance of the crash, Irish tourism took much longer to recover than international competitors.