With too many visitors chasing too few hotel rooms, Fáilte Ireland has published its Analysis of Visitor Accommodation in Dublin 2015-20 report on the crisis.
The report, carried out by Fitzpatrick Associates, indicates that 5,382 rooms are due to come on stream between now and 2020 with supply side pressures due to significantly ease by 2019.
Paul Kelly, head of Fáilte Ireland
The report presents the most up-to-date projections of additional hotel capacity anticipated to come on-stream in Dublin (up to 2020). It says that of the rooms, 3,444 (64pc) will be in new hotels with 1,938 (36pc) in hotel extensions. Most of the new rooms will be located in Dublin 1, 2 and 4. Fáilte Ireland, headed by Paul Kelly, found that the biggest hotel scheduled to go ahead, but not yet on-site, is the development at Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2, with 402 rooms.
“Despite the over 50pc growth in tourist arrival into Dublin and significant growth in corporate travel since 2010, the stock of tourist accommodation is largely unchanged to date,” said Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Research, Caeman Wall. “With further visitor growth anticipated and the importance of Dublin as a gateway to the rest of Ireland, Dublin’s shortage of tourism accommodation is one of the biggest challenges facing the continuing growth of Irish tourism.”
He added: “The hotel rooms identified that are due to come on stream in today’s report represent private sector investment worth €800m or more based on current market valuations and are very welcome. We need do whatever we can to help ensure the current pipeline of development is delivered in full as quickly as possible. This extra capacity will not only increase availability but also significantly help moderate price increases.
“The research is saying that supply will improve by 2019. However, we face ongoing pressures until they arrive and it is critical that the hotel industry keep a watchful eye on competitiveness. If we damage our overall value for money perception with international visitors and buyers, we will create a problem that will take a long time to fix.”
The full report can be accessed here.
