25,000 jobs lost in tourism sector
UP to 25,000 jobs were lost in the tourism industry last year and the prospects for 2009 are gloomy, new figures show.
Preliminary data indicates that tourism employment fell by up to 10pc in 2008, accounting for 20,000 to 25,000 jobs, Failte Ireland Chief Executive Shaun Quinn said yesterday.
The fall came as visitor numbers to Ireland fell by 3pc, cutting revenue by 2pc to €6.3bn, the first drop in seven years.
Most of the jobs lost appeared to be of international workers, as was apparent in many hotels and restaurants, although further analysis is needed to assess the scale of the losses.
Last year was a season of two halves, with tourism performance weakening sharply and becoming progressively more difficult in the second half of the year, said Failte Ireland Chairman Redmond O'Donoghue at the End of Year Review and Outlook.
Difficulties
"Moreover, the individual figures fail to capture the very real difficulties facing individual tourism businesses as a consequence of rising costs, weak consumer demand, reduced credit lines and increased local competition," he said.
Last year's decline in foreign visitors was felt by all regions, including Dublin, which up until now had seen continued growth, although southern counties were worst hit due to the drop in US and British business.
There were 9pc fewer American visitors and they spent 18pc less than in 2007, while British visitor numbers fell by 5pc.
Three-quarters of hotels reported that business was down in 2008, with only 10pc citing increases.
Four in every five hotels experiencing an overall drop in profitability.
Increased supply was part of the reason, as some 33 new hotels opened last year, bringing the total number of bedrooms to over 60,000, twice as many as 10 years ago, but down from the high of 87 new openings in 2007.
There was an increase in self-catering units, but business was down overall, while only one in 10 B&Bs saw any growth.
Failte Ireland expects the number of overseas visitors to decrease further in 2009, particularly from North America and Britain, with mainland European visitors the best prospect of gains.
They will also target the domestic market aggressively, spending €3m on persuading Irish people to take their holiday at home.
"Even at worst, the predictions are that seven million people will visit Ireland, and the foreign earnings tourism generates will be more important to the economy than ever before," said Mr Quinn.
- Aideen Sheehan
