But more American tourists are balancing it out.
Irish hotels are being hit by Brexit, the Irish Hotel Federation has found.
According to its latest barometer survey, 62% of owners reported that business from the UK had declined, while 40% had seen a similar drop from Northern Ireland.
Only 9% of those surveyed noticed an increase in UK business, while 29% saw no change.
Year on year, UK visitors are down by 6%, and with the weakened pound, the overall impact on Irish hotels has been negative.
59% of hotel and guesthouse owners said that the Sterling negatively affected their business in 2017, which is up from 45% in 2016.
Commenting on the survey, President of the IHF, Joe Dolan said,
“The continued fall-out from Brexit and the slowdown in visitor growth are worrying as they have a significant regional bias.
“For too long we have had a two-tier tourism sector where businesses in the major cities and tourism hotspots benefit more than the regions. We must diversify into new markets and we welcome the work being done in that regard. However, it cannot be at the expense of our existing markets, particularly the UK, which has the broadest regional and seasonal spread of visitors.”
The IHF report has coincided with the latest barometer survey from Fáilte Ireland, which also noticed a dip in British visitors since 2017. Still, it’s not all bad, as the tourism authority went on to note that the strength in the North American market has made up for this, with Irish hotels reporting 69% more visitors than in 2016.
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