The number of beds under government contract for asylum seekers and refugees has fallen by 15 per cent since last May, according to new figures.
The decline has been welcomed by Fáilte Ireland, the tourism body, which noted an inability to meet sector demand last year due to a shortage in accommodation.
“An increase in available bed capacity for 2025 is good news, particularly for downstream businesses like visitor attractions, activity providers and hospitality businesses, and it also gives domestic and international visitors more choice for the year ahead,” chief executive Paul Kelly told The Irish Times.
As of last November, there were 65,457 beds under contract which, despite the reduction, is estimated to cost the tourism sector between €400 million and €670 million in lost revenue.
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Of contracted beds, 27 per cent (17,632) are now in hospitality accommodation officially registered with Fáilte Ireland.
The remaining 73 per cent of facilities are not registered, although about half are in facilities considered likely to have been trading within the tourism economy.
Contracts in the registered sector have seen a 30 per cent decline in so-called “displaced beds”, against an 8 per cent drop in non-registered facilities.
The fall-off is in line with Government strategy to move toward a more sustainable accommodation model.
“Last year, one of the big challenges facing the tourism sector was bed capacity and these newly published figures outline a material improvement ... in the number of registered bed spaces available for visitors in Ireland,” Mr Kelly said.
“This is welcome news for the sector. Last year we had feedback from tour operators and overseas buyers that we were missing out on valuable bookings as they could not secure accommodation.”
[ Holidaymaker numbers well below expectations this year, says Fáilte IrelandOpens in new window ]
Of registered tourist beds, such as hotels given over to international protection applicants or beneficiaries of temporary protection, including Ukrainians, the majority are located in counties Meath and Clare, at 18 per cent each.
Counties Wicklow (14 per cent), Mayo and Offaly (12 per cent) and Cork (10 per cent) had the next highest proportions. The lowest levels were recorded in counties Longford, Laois and Monaghan each at just 1 per cent.
According to Fáilte Ireland, 7 per cent of all registered bed stock now remains under contract, though this has come down from 10 per cent during the period.
However, it said the 7 per cent figure “may understate the real impact [as] for every FI registered bed under contract there is up to one more bed in unregistered tourism related sites”.
The agency has said this relative uncertainty highlighted the need for a “fully inclusive” register of tourist accommodation.
It has long flagged its concerns around the disappearance of hotel accommodation to alternative uses.
As well as diminishing stock, particularly in mid-market properties, the agency has said it leads to higher prices due to the resulting supply-demand imbalance. It noted a fall-off in international group bookings as well as knock-on effects in other economic sectors as a result of reduced tourism footfall and local spending.
Last February, Fáilte Ireland said there was an “urgent need” for government to adopt a “more balanced approach” to the Ukraine refugee crisis, given a quarter of the State’s tourist accommodation had been rendered unavailable.
The recent decline in the use of tourism-related bed spaces is understood to relate to, at least in part, a move towards a more sustainable system of accommodation provision that would also return capacity to the tourism sector.
A Government accommodation strategy for international protection, agreed last year, is currently being implemented. It looks to a blended model of developing facilities on State-owned land, the acquisition of private properties as well as office and other conversions.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Integration said there had been a “significant reduction” in the use of tourist accommodation, including hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses, as it moved toward a more sustainable model.
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