A summer of uncertainty and stay at home holidays is a welcome boost for the Irish tourism industry.
The credit crunch is having a marked effect on holiday habits with more Irish people are taking their summer holiday at home, also known as a staycation.
Morriscastle Strand Holiday Park in County Wexford is full of campers and the majority of them are Irish.
It is nice to go abroad from time to time but give me Morriscastle anytime.
The holiday park was established in 1969 and one of the current owners Niamh Darcy has noticed a change in clientele.
We have seen a huge surge in young Irish families, coming to us with tents who primarily would have ended up going to, you know somewhere abroad for their holidays last year, the year before.
The Ferrycarrig Hotel in Wexford is also benefiting from people staying in Ireland for a hoilday, including Denise Close and her family from Newry.
We normally would go to Lanzarote and the reason that we didn’t go there this year is just because it is so expensive to take the family away.
The tourism industry has responded to the trend for staying at home. Marketing Director of www.SelfCatering.ie Sharon McIlvenna has noticed customers are spending less, booking later and taking shorter breaks.
With job uncertainty and financial constraints people just want to hold off until the last minute before they book their holiday.
Managing director of the Griffin Hotel Group, Liam Griffin says the tourism industry faces a big challenge following a slump in overseas visitors.
Fáilte Ireland is actively marketing the idea of holidaying at home and it’s chief executive Shaun Quinn says they are working with tourism businesses to help them during the difficult period.
So far, so good but it is a very difficult season.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 21 July 2009. The reporter is Philip Bromwell.
