Advance bookings from North American tourists are up so far for 2024 – but domestic visitors are being ultra-cautious so far for bank holiday and mid-term school breaks.

Capacity and costs will continue to be a serious issue for the season, predicts Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation.

He has described forecasts from the industry for this year as “a mixed bag”.

“Demand is looking very good from visitors from North America because of increased air access from across the Atlantic and because the US economy and the dollar is strong, so we will see an increase hopefully from the States, which is good news because they’re big spenders.

“But other markets – Continental Europe, the UK are looking soft enough,” the CEO told the Connacht Tribune.

Increased labour costs, energy and other costs as well as the VAT increase mean that operators have two choices – to either pass onto the consumer which can threaten Ireland’s value for money reputation or absorb them and threaten the viability of the business.

“Business on the frontline, whether it be in the west of Ireland or in Dublin, are worried about costs and capacity constraints.”

Caption: Eoghan O’Mara Walsh.

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