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Expenditure by overseas visitors fell 6% in June compared with last year, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has revealed, which has raised concerns among Irish hoteliers about the impact this will have on Ireland’s tourism sector.
The decline in visitor spending follows a weak performance in the first half of 2025. According to the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), this is notable because overseas visitors typically account for about 70% of overall tourism revenues.
Paul Gallagher, chief executive of the IHF, said: “While our own industry data indicates that occupancy rates for hotels are on a par with last year, we are seeing a softening in revenue and room prices. This appears to be part of a wider decline in tourism spend so far this year as indicated by recent CSO figures.”
He warned that a continued slowdown would “pose a very significant challenge for tourism businesses nationwide that are already struggling under unsustainable increases in operating costs”.
Gallagher added: “This is at a time when we are experiencing difficult headwinds on a number of other fronts, including economic challenges across our key source markets, increased political uncertainty internationally and the fallout from EU/US tariffs – all of which threaten Irish tourism.”
Research by Fáilte Ireland found that more than half of tourism businesses have seen a fall in revenues so far this year compared with 2024. The impact has been most pronounced among food and drink operators, with three in four reporting lower overseas earnings.
Tourism supports about 270,000 jobs in Ireland, including 69,000 directly employed in hotels and guesthouses. The sector also generates €10bn (£8.6bn) in revenue annually and contributes almost €3bn (£2.6bn) in taxes to the State.
