Bookings on AirBnB & other online platforms in Ireland still 45pc below pre pandemic peak. A total of 6.5m guest nights were booked on four leading short-term tourist accommodation platforms in Ireland in 2023, up 17pc from the previous year, according to figures from Eurostat.
Demand for short-term accommodation in Ireland surged by 21pc in the first three months of 2024, with over 989,000 guest nights booked
US tourists were the next biggest market share after domestic trips by Irish holidaymakers, followed by English, French, German, and Spanish visitors
- Dublin saw a 36pc increase in guest nights in 2023 to 1.49m, but still remains below pre-pandemic levels of 2.72m in 2018.
- Galway saw a 21pc increase in guest nights to 373,500, below the record level of over 457,000 in 2019.
- Cork saw an 18pc increase in guest nights to 95,475, but 50,000 below the 2019 peak of over 145,000.
Paris was the most popular destination within the EU for stays in such accommodation last year at 19.3m guest nights followed by Rome (12.5m); Barcelona (10.9m); Lisbon (10.5m) and Madrid (9.5m). Dublin was 42nd among cities in the EU, with 1.49m guest nights.
The figure includes bookings with Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor, and excludes bookings with other types of accommodation such as hotels, campsites and holiday homes not listed online with the big four.
The proposed Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill has raised concerns among tourism representative groups such as the Vintners Federation of Ireland, the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation.
The legislation will require properties for short-term letting advertised on platforms like Airbnb to be registered with Fáilte Ireland.
Platforms will be obliged to only advertise properties that have a valid registration number from Fáilte Ireland.
