Irish tourism depends increasingly on high-spending North American holidaymakers as European visitors cut back, new figures show.
The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) predicts that vacationers will spend 5 per cent to 6 per cent more in this country than last year in 2025, depending on Government policy.
However, the organisation warns that hospitality businesses are growing increasingly dependent on North American travellers, who spend up to three times more than their European counterparts when they holiday here.
North Americans spend an average of €1,526 each on their holidays here, against the €509 that British visitors part with when they stay in the Republic.
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Consequently, US and Canadian tourists accounted for 36 per cent of the €6 billion that overseas holidaymakers spent in Ireland in 2024, while making up one-quarter of the six million people who travelled to the country.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) numbers show that 1.44 million North Americans travelled here last year, with 1.24 million of them coming from the US. About 2.44 million came from Britain.
ITIC chief executive Eoghan O’Mara Walsh said on Tuesday that this means Irish businesses depend relatively heavily on bigger spending US tourists.
His organisation favours a more balanced spread of markets and spending.
The confederation will publish an analysis of CSO figures on Wednesday, in advance of a meeting Minster for Tourism Peter Burke.
All tourists spend less time in Ireland, with the length of stay down 9 per cent last year, according to the confederation’s analysis of CSO figures shows.
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However, this is more pronounced among European holidaymakers, who last year cut the number of nights they stayed here by 15 per cent.
Catherine Flanagan, chief executive of Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions, highlighted this as a concern for the industry.
“We welcome that Tourism Ireland is undertaking a strategic review of continental Europe to see why those markets are underperforming and how we can maximise opportunities going forward,” she said.
Ms Flanagan, an ITIC director, added that France and Germany had “significant untapped potential” for tourism.
Mr O’Mara Walsh welcomed the fact that the new Government had moved the industry to the newly configured Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.
“Tourism is a key economic engine, particularly for regional development and the commitment to reduce the hospitality VAT rate and lift the Dublin Airport cap is also to be welcomed,” he said.
“The annual 2024 data from the CSO shows a mixed picture with value and volume up but the key metric of number of nights down,” he added.
“Recurring feedback from the tourism and hospitality industry nationwide is that costs of business continue to soar and margins are being squeezed.”
Meanwhile, the confederation warned that the new Government needs to tread carefully with plans to restrict the “Airbnb sector”, as self-catering and renting accounted for four million tourist bed nights last year.
Spending by overseas visitors rose 11 per cent in 2024, the CSO figures show.
