
Tourist spending drops by €43m as visits fall
Ireland is known as the land of a thousand welcomes, but a dispute has broken out over exactly how many people are actually availing of it.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said the numbers visiting were down by more than 21,000 in April compared to a year earlier – of decline of almost 4% – and the amount they spent had dropped by almost €43million, or just over 10%.to
Paul Keeley, Fáilte Ireland's director of regional development, said: 'We are talking to CSO. And we're talking to industry, we're talking to a number of independent research companies, trying to crash various data sources together to get the best possible picture as to how the season is trending.' Ireland is known as the land of a thousand welcomes, but a dispute has broken out over exactly how many people are actually availing of it. Pic: Getty Images
However, Martin Harte, chief executive of the Temple Bar Company, told a recent meeting of Dublin City councillors the overseas visitor numbers at the city's TradFest in January were up 8%.
'I think there's probably a little bit of confusion over visitor numbers and their impact,' he said.
'Business appears to be the same if not slightly ahead of this time last year.' Martin Harte, chief executive of the Temple Bar Company. Pic: Collins
The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation and the Irish Hotels Federation were also due to meet the CSO, it was reported.
However, the CSO said it 'is confident the trends reported in the Inbound Tourism series reflect real trends in overseas visitor numbers'.
A CSO spokesman added: 'Monthly results for overseas overnight visitor numbers have been showing a consistent year-on-year trend in recent months.
'In September 2024, the survey reported a decrease of 1% on the previous September, and the amount by which the year-on-year comparison has fallen has increased in each successive month since then. O'Connell Street in Dublin. Pic: Getty Images
'The visitor numbers reported for January 2025 showed a fall of 25% compared with January 2024. January and February would be considered as part of the low season for tourism.'
The CSO said one of the reasons for the fall in inbound tourism was that the figures were coming from a high base.
'January and February 2024 had a higher-than-usual rate of tourist numbers, which means the falls noted in 2025 are against this relatively high base,' it added.
'In February, the estimated number of visitors from North America (USA and Canada) and from mainland Europe (Europe excluding the UK) were down by more than 30%. The number of visitors from Great Britain fell by just under a quarter (24%).
'What we can see from the data is this downward trend started in September 2024

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Irish people consuming alcohol at European average with 4.5% drop last year, figures show
The amount of alcohol consumed by Irish people is continuing to decline with a year-on-year fall of almost 5 per cent recorded in 2024, new figures suggest. Last year's drop mirrors a trend over the last quarter of a century with alcohol consumption down by more than a third since 2001, research conducted on behalf of umbrella group representing the Irish drink industry shows. The report from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), authored by economist Anthony Foley, drew on data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) population and migration estimates for April 2024 and the Revenue Commissioners ' alcohol clearances and suggests average alcohol consumption per adult fell by 4.5 per cent last year to 9.49 litres of pure alcohol when compared with the 2023 figures. It represents a drop of 34.3 per cent since 2001. READ MORE Beer remained Ireland's most popular alcoholic tipple with its market share increasing slightly to 43.3 per cent despite an overall drop in beer consumption. Wine was the second most popular drink with share of 28.2 per cent, up marginally on the previous year and more than twice the consumption rate in 2001 when wines made up just 13.2 per cent of the alcohol market. In contrast, spirits have declined in popularity, down 0.4 per cent to 22.3 per cent year-on-year. Cider also fell slightly, down 0.1 per cent to 6.1 per cent. The report echoes OECD data suggesting alcohol consumption in Ireland is now at average European levels with consumption here behind France, Spain and Austria. 'Today's figures offer clear proof of what many of us already know – Irish people are increasingly drinking in a restrained manner, with consumption continuing the downward trajectory that has been recorded since the millennium,' said DIGI spokesman and chief executive of the Licensed Vintners Association, Donall O'Keefe. He suggested that 'in contrast to the negative stereotypes that once existed, alcohol consumption in Ireland is now at average European levels, with the purchase of non-alcoholic drinks continuing to increase'. He said the research was a justification for a reduction in the rates of excise in alcohol. 'Given that we now consume alcohol at average European levels it makes sense that we should pay excise at average European levels also. This is particularly true following the introduction of minimum unit pricing, which prevents the sale of strong alcohol at low prices in supermarkets and shops.' He said hundreds of small pubs and restaurants are 'struggling for survival due to repeated increases in the cost of doing businesses, including staff, energy and insurance. A cut in excise would offer these businesses an opportunity to continue acting as vital hubs in their communities'.


The Irish Sun
13 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘Cruel decision' blast over new rent cap shake-up as Irish renters brace for price hikes amid calls for more homes
OPPOSITION parties have blasted the government's rent shake up - with the Cabinet set to vote in an easing of controls this week. Landlords will be able to 3 Irish renters are set to brace for price hikes amid a major rent cap shake up Credit: Getty Images - Getty 3 Changes to the Rent Pressure Zones will be brought to Housing minister James Browne Credit: Brian Lawless/PA Wire Rents for newly-built Changes to the Rent Pressure Zones will be brought to Government by Minister for Housing Government sources said the move is aimed at giving investors certainty given they currently can make a loss when inflation goes above the two per cent mark. Other measures to close the 'yield' gap and around 'viability' will be taken by READ MORE IN IRISH NEWS For existing renters, nothing changes if they stay in their current tenancy. However if they move, a landlord can reset the rent for the new tenant at the market rate. Any rent increases after that would be capped at the existing two per cent rate. MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN But last night Chaos in Dail as numerous TDs storm from Chamber amid new speaking time rules The party's housing spokesperson Eoin O'Broin said: 'Cabinet looks set to agree far-reaching and deeply damaging changes to the current Rent Pressure Zone rules. 'The government's plans for a four-tier rental market is utter madness. 'There will now be four different rent-setting rules and eviction rules for tenants; in RPZs and in existing tenancies; in RPZs and in new tenancies in existing rental stock; in RPZs and in new tenancies in newly built rental stock; and renters in tenancies outside RPZs. Any decision the Government takes in relation to RPZs in coming days cannot pull the rug from under renters." Fine Gael TD Deputy Michael Carrigy 'Renters are being punished for the government's own housing failures with even higher rip-off rents and greater uncertainty. 'If these landlords are given the right to resent rents to new market levels, this puts tens of thousands of renters with pre 2022 tenancy agreements at risk of eviction. 'At a time when rents… are already too high, the government's proposals will come as another body-blow to hard-pressed renters.' EVICTION INCREASE FEARS And He fumed: 'Lifting the 2 per cent rent cap is a cruel decision by a government captured by investor fund landlords. 'There is no guarantee removing these rent caps will lead to an increase in supply of rental properties. 'In fact, it will encourage the investor purchase of new build homes as rental properties – further pushing up house prices and locking home buyers out of the housing market. 'Without a no-fault eviction ban in place, lifting the 2 per cent rent cap will lead to increased evictions and homelessness as landlords evict tenants to get a new tenancy and bring the rent up to market rents.' RENT ALREADY HIGH Meanwhile, Chair of the Oireachtas Housing Committee, He explained: 'Any decision the Government takes in relation to RPZs in coming days cannot pull the rug from under renters. 'There can't be just some sort of cliff edge or some switch that just gets flicked in terms of supports and safeguards for renters. 'The level of rent people are paying in this country is extraordinarily high already and that is largely down to a lack of supply which must change. 'We have to ensure we have a viable housing market. "Our clear goal is to increase the supply of new homes.' 3 Sinn Fein housing spokesperson Eoin O'Broin branded the proposal 'utter madness' Credit: PA


Irish Times
21 hours ago
- Irish Times
Despite the politics, Ireland is Israel's second biggest export market for goods
Perhaps the most surprising statistic to tumble out of the ether in recent days – and into Ireland's increasingly fractious debate on the Occupied Territories Bill – relates to Israel 's exports to Ireland. Figures from the UN's trade database, Comtrade, reveal that Ireland, despite its outspoken stance on Israel, is Tel Aviv's second most important export market for goods behind the US. The Comtrade figures show Israel exported $61.7 billion worth of merchandise in 2024. The biggest importers of those Israeli products were the US with $17.3 billion, followed by Ireland with $3.3 billion and China with $2.9 billion. This makes Ireland, Israel's most important European market for goods exports ahead of the Netherlands ($2.7 billion), Germany ($2.4 billion), the UK ($1.6 billion), Belgium ($1.5 billion) and France ($1.4 billion). READ MORE The figures provide a curious counterpoint to the frayed diplomatic relations between Dublin and Tel Aviv. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) provisionally estimates that Ireland imported €3.83 billion ($4.4 billion) of goods from Israel last year, which is even higher than Comtrade's estimate. Over 95 per cent of this trade (€3.65 billion) falls into the 'electrical machinery, apparatus, and appliances' category, the CSO said.. In Comtrade's categorisation, the bulk of the trade is covered by the 8542 category which applies to 'electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies'. Anecdotal evidence suggests this – in the main – relates to chip manufacturer Intel in Leixlip importing inputs from its sister Intel plant in Kiryat Gat, Israel, which would not be affected by the Occupied Territories Bill provisions. Ireland's dialled-up rhetoric against Israel (Taoiseach Micheál Martin now explicitly accuses it of genocide, having previously accused it of 'genocidal acts') sits uneasily with the economy's links to corporate America. However, apart from a warning from former US ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin, last year that Ireland's proposed Occupied Territories Bill (banning the sale or import of goods from illegally occupied Palestinian territory) would have 'consequences', both the US and Ireland have largely ignored their potential point of division, perhaps to Israel's annoyance. Government sources claim Ireland's business ties with the US 'aren't overly strained' by the Government's stance on Israel and that tariffs are the main focus at present. With Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu now lashing out at allies France, Britain and Canada, accusing them of being 'on the wrong side of history' and 'emboldening Hamas' for criticising Tel Aviv, Ireland's stance has more political cover. Shifting global opinion Last month, EU foreign ministers from 17 member states (a majority) backed a Dutch proposal to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the free trade agreement that allows Israel sell some €15 billion a year of arms, wine, cosmetics and other items to Europe on preferential terms. This marked something of a turning point in the bloc's attitude to Israel. A year ago, when Ireland and Spain, the European governments most vocal about Israel's actions in Gaza, pushed for a review, they garnered little support. But Israel's three-month blockade of Gaza, stopping food and aid getting into the Palestinian enclave, has burnt through the political capital Israel traditionally has with the EU and with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen who has – until now -sought to preserve EU-Israeli ties. In a marked difference in tone last week, she described Israel's attacks on civilians as 'abhorrent' and something that 'cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law'. The EU's review will examine whether Israel is in breach of article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which defines respect for human rights as an 'essential element' of the agreement. Given the scale of Israeli atrocities in Gaza, backed by findings from the UN, international courts and other agencies, it's hard to see how Israel could not be found to be in breach. The review might be complete before the next EU foreign ministers' meeting on June 23rd, creating a potential flashpoint in EU-Israeli relations. How EU sanctions against Isreal – if it comes to that – will wash with the US and impact delicate trade negotiations is impossible to say. The EU as a bloc is Israel's largest trading partner, accounting for 29 per cent of its trade in goods in 2022, so trade sanctions would be consequential for Tel Aviv. But insiders suggest that while the review will be critical of Israel, the EU will resist going down the sanctions route given the opposition to those in some quarters. Hungary, which intends to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) in protest at its issuing of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, recently hosted the Israeli prime minister on a state visit despite of and in defiance of the warrant. 'I don't think EU sanctions will be forthcoming in the short term. There isn't unanimity for this,' a Government source said, albeit noting that negative noise among EU member states is growing.