'A Minecraft Movie' helps push Irish cinema spending up 47% in April
Cinema spending jumped 47% last month compared to April 2024, largely driven by A Minecraft Movie and wet weather over the school break, the AIB Spend Trend said.
The best day of the month for cinema spend was Saturday 5th April, which was the opening weekend for A Minecraft Movie.
The data was compiled from 74 million card transactions carried out by AIB customers in store and online during April 2025. Overall spend increased 11% year on year, online spend rose 16% and in store spend climbed 6%.
Spend in hotels increased 11% year on year, while restaurant spend also rose, up 10% year on year. It was also a strong month for car rental with spend up 10% year on year, and the number of transactions up 19%. However, the average transaction size fell from €115 to €106.
Spend on Electric Vehicle (EV) charging was up significantly over the 12 months (+78%) as more people choose sustainable methods of transport to support the transition to a greener economy. Airline spend was down 8% over 12 months with the average online airline transaction at €247 in April.
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