LAST YEAR saw the first decline in overseas visitor numbers in seven years, coupled with an estimated 10 per cent drop in tourism industry employment.
Overseas visitors numbers dropped by 3 per cent to 7.5 million last year while tourism revenue dropped by 2 per cent to €6.3 billion.
Fáilte Ireland chief executive Shaun Quinn said tentative figures suggested that between 20,000 and 25,000 tourism jobs were lost last year. "We also believe that most of that was international workers in the industry going back home."
He said 47 per cent of tourism operators surveyed said they had reduced the number of full-time employees in peak season last year, compared with 2007.
Some 54 per cent said they had reduced the number of part-time staff employed during peak season while 50 per cent said they had reduced the number of seasonal staff employed.
The biggest reduction in overseas visitor numbers last year came from the US, with numbers down by 9 per cent. Money spent by US visitors fell by 18 per cent.
Fáilte Ireland chairman Redmond O'Donoghue said this was explained by the difficulties in the US economy and the weakened dollar.
Visitors from our biggest overseas market, Britain, were down 5 per cent with a 2 per cent drop in expenditure. This was explained by the decline in the UK market and the value of sterling, Mr Redmond said.
"If there are any reasons to be grateful, we should be thankful that the mainland European market only experienced a modest drop (0.1 per cent) and that the important home market held its own, more or less."
The southern half of the country saw the biggest fall-off in overseas tourists because of their higher dependence on US and British business.
The southeast saw a 9 per cent drop in overseas tourists, while the southwest experienced an 8 per cent drop. The reduction was 5 per cent in the midwest, 4 per cent in the east and midlands and 3 per cent in the west and northwest.
Mr O'Donoghue said the year was very much a season of two halves with tourism falling off sharply in the second half of the year.
"Tourism performance in fact seems to have mirrored the difficulties in both the national and global economies," he said.
Tourism operators are bracing themselves for a tough year ahead with more than half of hotels, BBs and self-catering operators predicting a downturn.
All types of accommodation providers reported that overall business was down. Almost threequarters of hotels noted a reduction in bed nights while four out of five experienced a drop in profitability.
The increase in the number of new hotels opening appears to have slowed down, with 33 new hotels registering last year, compared with 87 in 2007. Some 60,548 hotel bedrooms were available last year, compared with just over 30,000 rooms 10 years ago.
Ashford Castle, Co Mayo, which employed 170 staff last year has indicated that it will employ 15 per cent fewer staff due to the downturn. In a letter to Mayo County Council, its general manager Niall Rochford said this year would be extremely difficult for the hotel. He wrote to councillors asking for a freeze on rates and water charges. Since 2006, the hotel's water rates increased by 45 per cent, he said.
Fáilte Ireland research found that local authority charges varied enormously and were a key concern for tourism enterprises.
