Irish bookings to US recover into 2026 following sharp fall

Irish bookings to the US are strong into 2026, according to the industry, following a brief collapse in travel across Europe widely attributed to political tensions and concerns over border controls.

“We did see a fall-off in bookings initially for the States [earlier in the year], but that has come back again,” said Ray Scully, managing director of American Holidays.

Airlines reacted to softening demand with price discounts, while the exchange rate has also improved. Mr Scully said trading was about flat for the year, but bookings from October and into 2026 were now strong.

“I think people want to go to the States. So it’s putting off the decision is what it looked like as opposed to, we’re not going to travel,” he said of the recent lull.

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The collapse in arrivals to the US from across Europe during March was widely perceived as a reflection of antipathy to the policies of the Trump administration.

However, in Ireland at least, where travel to the US dropped 27 per cent at the end of the first quarter, data from the International Trade Administration (ITA) shows a 34 per cent bounce year on year for April.

The steep turnaround has been put down to a number of factors influencing travel decisions, including a levelling off in sentiment on US politics and the fact that Easter fell at the end of March, disrupting comparative data.

Eoghan Corry, editor of TravelExtra, noted that, as well as an increase in flight seats, Irish people are generally less inclined to stop visiting the US than other nationalities.

“So we are a little bit of an outlier in that we’re probably a bit more resilient as a market to the negative publicity and the fears about US border control,” he said.

“The UK [which jumped 15 per cent in April] is more resilient as well because we’re [both] very familiar with America. We don’t see the Trump thing as being a game changer because all our cousins are there and we like people there and we’re used to going over.”

He noted that Ireland’s 34 per cent bounce was not replicated across all European markets, despite countries such as France (down 12 per cent) having similar aviation timetables and Easter holidays.

Overall passenger traffic from western European countries to the US dropped 17 per cent in March, according to the ITA, but that has bounced back and was up 12 per cent for April.

The volte-face will be welcome news to US tourism following sharp commentary that came on foot of the March declines.

Research firm Oxford Economics had said the fall-off in travel was attributable to an intensified “America First” stance and the later timing of Easter.

“Policies and pronouncements from the Trump administration have contributed to a growing wave of negative sentiment,” it said. “Heightened border security measures and visible immigration enforcement actions are amplifying concerns.”