Early signs of a "soft market" coupled with capacity concerns are causing worry for tourism industry leaders, the representative body has said.
Publishing its latest tourism dashboard for February, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation said latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) suggests that the sector's recovery to pre-pandemic levels is slower than had been hoped.
Yesterday the CSO said 433,300 international visitors were in Ireland last month spending €374 million.
However, February is considered one of the quietest moths for the industry, representing 5% of annual volume.
"February may not be the most important month for Irish tourism but it is apparent that the sector’s recovery is not straightforward," said Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, Chair of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation.
"Certain markets such as the USA are set to perform well but other markets are soft and the cost of business pressures on business are crippling."
ITIC said the ability of Ireland to maintain its share of the growth in international travel is threatened by the cap on passenger numbers at Dublin Airport, in the face of increased demand from airlines for capacity.
It also pointed to the ongoing challenge of rising costs, many of which are coming from Government policy changes aimed at improving workers’ rights.
"The competitiveness of the tourism sector is under real pressure and Government must introduce offset or mitigation measures to ensure that tourism and hospitality businesses are not disproportionately hit in what is already a really high-cost environment," said Eoghan O'Mara Walsh, CEO of ITIC.
According to the CSO data, 199,000 of the overseas visitors to Ireland last month came from Great Britain, 52,100 from North America, 161,500 from Continental Europe and 20,400 from the Rest of the World.
European visitors were the highest spending market accounting for €129 million during the month of February.
51% of those who came to Ireland in February used serviced accommodation, with 39% staying with family or friends.
