Sunday 5th March 2006

2005 TOURISM GROWTH BELIES FALL IN BEDNIGHTS

IHF Annual Report reveals

Almost 40% of the Irish population took a holiday at home last year while overseas visitor numbers increased to 6.7 million in 2005, up from 6.4 million in the previous year. However, speaking today at the launch of the IHF’s 2005 Annual Report and Review, John Power, Chief Executive, commented that the overall increase in visitor numbers is masking the reality that the number of bed nights taken up by overseas visitors are in decline. The average length of stay by overseas visitors to Ireland has reduced by 9% since 2000, from 7.7 nights then to 7.0 nights in 2005. Mr Power suggested that the real measure of success of Ireland’s tourism marketing strategies should not be judged in terms of overall visitor numbers, but rather benchmarked by bed nights and revenue numbers. He asserted that the two key challenges for tourism in next five years will be the rejuvenation of the regions and the development of the business tourism market.

According to the IHF visitors from Britain increased by 3.5% to 3.7 million, and visitors from Mainland Europe by 20% to 1.9 million. However, the North American and Long Haul markets showed a decline of 3% and 9% respectively. Launching the annual report on the eve of the Federations 68th Annual Conference in Dublin today, Mr Power stated that total tourism revenue in 2005 grew to approximately €5.3 billion, representing a slight increase on 2004, of which €4.3 billion was in foreign exchange earnings and a further €1 billion in domestic tourism revenue. The tourism sector as a whole contributed some €2.4 billion to the Exchequer and employs some 150,000 people, of which 57,000 are in the accommodation sector.

“It’s all very well to increase total visitor numbers to Ireland, and that is to be commended, however we must also pay heed to the length of time visitors are spending in our country and the knock on effects the trend for shorter breaks is having on total tourism revenue. I would urge the State tourism bodies to focus more on this aspect of tourism growth, in addition to its ambitions to increase overall visitor headcount to 10 million by 2012,” Mr Power stated.

He noted that, despite the overall increase in overseas visitor numbers, there has been no tangible benefit to regional tourism, where visitor numbers have remained static at best, buoyed up only by the strong performance of the domestic market.

“Dublin was the main beneficiary of the increase in 2005 with an increase of 11% in overseas visitors. The trend towards short stay breaks, however, has meant that there was little or no impact on the regions from foreign visitors. Outside Dublin, 70% and in some areas almost 80% of bed nights can be attributed to domestic tourists. One welcome benefit of Ireland’s economic success has been that increased affluence has in turn increased domestic tourism, albeit for shorter breaks. Domestic tourism trips grew by 6% in 2005 to over €1 billion in revenue, representing revenue growth of 51% from domestic tourism since 2000. However, there is a danger that the regions are now over reliant on the domestic market and this needs to be addressed for the long term sustainability of the tourism industry on a national scale,” he said. 

Welcoming the 12% increase to €134 million in tourism marketing funds secured by Mr John O’Donoghue TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, for 2006, Mr Power stated these funds need to be used effectively to address the challenges in our tourism industry, with targeted, specific campaigns that promote the key reasons why people should visit Ireland.

Mr Power noted that the Federation’s Be Our Guest guide continued to be the leading and most comprehensive guide to accommodation in Ireland with some 340,000 copies of the 2006 guide distributed in Ireland and overseas.

He welcomed the increased provision of direct air access into Ireland in 2005 describing the increase in US routes in particular as very encouraging and noted that the independent airport authorities set up for Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports had become very proactive in encouraging increased air access. In particular, Mr Power drew attention to the new Dublin Airport Authority’s plans to provide additional capacity in the short term at its existing terminal, and the forthcoming development of Pier D by 2007 and a second terminal by 2009.

There are now 870 hotels with 47,000 bedrooms and 440 guesthouses with 5,000 bedrooms in Ireland. The number of people employed in hotels and guesthouses in 2005 has been maintained at 57,000, making IHF members the largest employers in the tourism sector.

Overseas Visitor Numbers 2005

HOTEL & GUESTHOUSE STATISTICS 2005

• 6.7 million overseas visitors to Ireland in 2005 (6.4 million in 2004), a 4.5% increase on 2004.

• €4.3 billion foreign exchange earnings in 2005, compared with €4.2 billion foreign exchange earnings in 2004

• Domestic holiday trips for 2005 stood at 3.1 million and generated revenue of over €1 billion.

• Total tourism revenue in 2005 grew to approximately €5.3 billion, a slight increase on 2004

• 57,000 people employed in the hotel and guesthouse sector – largest employer in the tourism sector.

• Visitors from North America decreased by 3% and European visitor numbers increased by 20%, with 930,000 and 1.9 million arrivals from each continent respectively.
  
  
• 870 hotels with 47,000 rooms (730 hotels with 27,000 rooms in 1996).

• 440 guesthouses with over 5,000 rooms (370 guest houses with 3,800 in 1996).

•  Total of 52,000 hotel and guesthouse bedrooms in Ireland. 

• 2% of all hotels are five star status, 10% are four star 36% are three star, 21% are two star and 6% are one star.

• 30% of hotel bedrooms and 22% of guesthouses bedrooms are located in Dublin.

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