{"id":3971,"date":"2018-11-12T10:10:39","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T15:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=3971"},"modified":"2018-11-12T10:10:39","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T15:10:39","slug":"failte-ireland-calls-for-more-hotels-in-dublin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=3971","title":{"rendered":"F\u00e1ilte Ireland Calls For More Hotels in Dublin"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Orla Carroll, Director Product Development, F\u00e1ilte Ireland; Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross T.D and F\u00e1ilte Ireland\u2019s CEO Paul Kelly. Pic: Chris Bellew\/Fennell Photography
<\/figcaption><\/figure>Dublin will have a shortage of over 1,000 hotel rooms in 2020, despite plans to open 5,000 more bedrooms.<\/p>\n

F\u00e1ilte Ireland says plans to grow the number of beds in the city will not meet demand.<\/p>\n

There were no spare hotel rooms in Dublin on 40% of nights last year.<\/p>\n

F\u00e1ilte Ireland is worried there will still be a shortage of 1,000 bedrooms in the city in 2020 despite plans for large number of new hotels to open over the next few years.<\/p>\n

5,000 hotel rooms are expected to come on stream which is an increase of 20%.<\/p>\n

But F\u00e1ilte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly says Dublin needs even more hotels: “There are about 5,000 new bedroom coming on stream which is great news but we think in three years’ time we’re still going to be about 1,100 bedrooms short in hotels in Dublin.”<\/p>\n

This year has been the best ever for tourism, with 9.6 million overseas visitors expected here by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

F\u00e1ilte Ireland is launching its strategy to attract tourists to Ireland in 2019, with plans to attract people to the Midlands, and a Month of Food Festival next September.<\/p>\n

They hope this could lead to a growth of 5% in tourist numbers in 2019.<\/p>\n

Mr Kelly said that despite the exceptional year for tourism, it is important not to become complacent.<\/p>\n

“There are many challenges ahead. The return to the 13.5% VAT rate will be a significant commercial challenge for tourism businesses, and the resulting upward price pressure could damage our international competitiveness,” said Mr Kelly.<\/p>\n

“Similarly, Brexit and the potentially wide-ranging implications it may bring pose a major challenge for 2019.<\/p>\n

“However, despite these challenges, there is still lots of cause for optimism in the sector; continued long-term global growth in tourism; new market opportunities; our industry\u2019s excellent international reputation; new accommodation capacity and tourism attractions coming on stream; increased government investment in the sector and, critically, further improvements to direct air access forecast for next year.”<\/p>\n

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