Tourism operators across the country are reporting a decline in revenue in every major overseas market this year.
The CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, said the North American market is doing well, however, “other markets are soft” like Britain, France and Germany as well as the domestic market.
“A lot of Irish people are holidaying abroad rather than holidaying at home. Overall, it is a pretty challenging year for the Irish tourism sector,” Mr O’Mara Walsh said.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, he said there is a need for the Irish market to diversify as there is an over-dependence on the North American market.
He said there were strong growth prospects in continental Europe, but added that there is a lot of French and German business not being picked up at the moment.
He explained that matters like the weakening of the dollar and tariff fears do not suit tourism.
“Tourism is uniquely exposed to external events, so the US market could be softer next year,” he said.
However, he said air access is strong, particularly with Aer Lingus, and there is a lot of new transatlantic air access.
Dublin is used as a hub airport between the North American bloc and the European continent, which should be good for Irish tourism.
“But undoubtedly, we can’t depend on a strong US market in 2026. It is pretty good in 2025, but 2026 could be more challenging. Therefore, we do need to fish from other markets,” he stated.
Eurostat figures from last month put us as the second most expensive country in the EU.
The tourism boss said that Fáilte Ireland surveys visitors as they leave Ireland, and thankfully, the majority of people still find the country value for money.
“Unfortunately, the German economy, the French economy, the British economy are all struggling and therefore discretionary income is tighter, and therefore the second and third holidays is often sacrificed, and Ireland falls into that category,” he said.
Mr O’Mara Walsh suggested that Ireland defend and deepen its connection to the US market, but added it had to penetrate other markets.
He suggested a “step change in tourism budgets” to allow us to diversify the market and “de-risk”.
He added that there were costs of business and competitiveness pressures on tourism businesses, and the Government could take measures to allow Irish tourism and hospitality businesses to be more competitive.
Mr O’Mara Walsh said there is a lot of capacity constraints on the tourism economy at the moment.
“We know there is a Dublin airport passenger cap which needs to be relieved. We know that there is proposed legislation from Government which risks denuding coastal and rural Ireland of holiday homes and self-catering properties throughout the country, a staple of the Irish tourism product,” he said.
“Aside from investment in what is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer, there is stuff on connectivity and competitiveness that Government should do to support the sector,” he added.
