The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) today expressed serious concerns about the latest CSO statistics for inbound tourism which indicate an ongoing drop in expenditure by overseas visitors, with figures for May down 21% compared to last year.

IHF President Michael Magner says: “The decline in tourism spend is part of an ongoing trend so far this year. Our primary fear is that, if this continues into the summer, it could have a very significant negative impact on our industry. This would pose an enormous challenge for tourism businesses nationwide which are already struggling under unsustainable increases in operating costs across all aspects of their businesses.”

Commenting on the CSO’s figures for trips by overseas visitors, he states that, while there is still a disparity between the published figures and industry data, the May figures are now more in line with what businesses have been reporting on the ground, taking account of the contribution by domestic tourism.

“Our own figures indicate that hotel room occupancy levels are holding steady so far this year compared with 2024. However, this is only part of the picture. It conceals significant challenges around business margins due to already exceptionally high business costs, which continue to rise while revenues remain flat. These challenges are reflected right across our tourism industry at a time when we must remain vigilant to other difficult headwinds, including global political and economic uncertainty and financial challenges within our key source markets.”

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Tourism at a Glance

As Ireland’s largest indigenous employer, a vibrant and thriving tourism and hospitality industry is vital for the country’s economic well-being:

• 270,000 livelihoods supported by Irish tourism & hospitality
• 69,000 people directly employed by Irish hotels & guesthouses
• Regional employment – some 70% of tourism & hospitality jobs are outside of Dublin
• €10bn in revenue generated by tourism annually for the economy
• Over €2.9bn in taxes generated annually for the State by tourism-related activity

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