Sunny with a chance of rain for local hotels
Hotel and guesthouse owners in Co Louth are forecasting a good summer for the sector, according to the latest results of the latest industry survey undertaken by the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF).
Almost three quarters of hotel owner in the county say business is up, compared to the same time last year, with increases in staycations and visitors from overseas markets including North America and continental Europe.
Martin Daly, Chair of the Louth branch of the Irish Hotels Federation, said that although the outlook is encouraging there is little room for complacency.
“Despite the upturn, not every tourism business is enjoying the same level of success and the hotel sector is still a number of years away from achieving sustainability in some regional areas,” he said. Nationally, almost half of hoteliers are seeing a drop in UK business while one in five say their advance bookings for the rest of the summer are down compared to last year.
Importantly for Co Louth, the domestic market remains buoyant with 60% of hoteliers seeing an increase in home-grown business compared to this time last year.
In terms of overseas visitors, six in ten hoteliers say business levels from the US are up, while four in ten are seeing an increase from Germany.
Although the fall in UK visitors appears to have tapered off for now, after the significant fall last year, hoteliers are seeing an increase.
With so many still experiencing a drop off in business, Mr Daly says the UK market continues to be a significant concern.
Employment growth is set to continue in 2018 and Mr Daly said the tourism industry is on track to creating 40,000 new jobs by 2021.
“Almost half of hoteliers (47%) expect to increase their staffing levels over the next year with opportunities available across all areas of business, from entry-level positions to jobs for experienced staff,” he said.
The tourism industry is Ireland’s largest indigenous employer.
It supports approximately 230,000 jobs - equivalent to 11% of total employment – with more than 60,000 of these jobs in the hotel sector alone.
Employment in the tourism sector has grown by over 60,000 since 2011, an increase of 33%, compared to an increase of 13% in employment throughout the overall economy.
The improving business levels that the sector is seeing has also given hoteliers increased confidence.