Tourism Falters As Hoteliers Face Crisis

Figures published today show a huge fall in tourism in Ireland as hoteliers face a sector-wide crisis.

The number of visits to Ireland in June dropped by more than 15% compared with the same month last year.

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said there were 636,600 trips to Ireland in the month, compared with just below 750,000 in 2008.

British visitors dropped by almost 20%, while trips from the rest of Europe also sank by 12%.

North American visitors, another vital tourist demographic, showed a fall of almost 8% since last year.

The figures coincide with an emergency meeting within the Irish Hotel industry over the financial crisis the sector is experiencing.

The Irish Hotel Federation has said the sector is in crisis as it struggles to cope with a 20% overcapacity of 12,000 rooms.

Chief Executive of the IHF John Power said it's up to the Government to ensure the sector doesn't collapse.

"Banks are looking at the risks in the hotels. They see it as a bigger risk now than it was two years ago," he said.

Mr Power added: "So we believe that as has happened in other countries some form of government guarantee of the provision of working capital is put in place to ensure that banks are more comfortable in lending to the sector."

For the first six months of the year, visits to Ireland are down 10.7% to just over 3.3m. Irish people made 709,900 trips abroad in June, down 7.6% from the same month last year while for the first half of the year, there was a fall of almost 10% to just over 3.4m trips.

(DW/BMcc)