The Irish hospitality industry could face a loss of around €100 million this year on the back of a dip in UK tourists visiting Ireland in the wake of last year's Brexit vote.
Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, chief executive of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, reports that the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has calculated that those who are coming from the UK are spending 20% less this year, reports The Irish Times, as the weak sterling continues to hit hospitality businesses here.
"If you expand that out to 12 months, it’s likely to be €100 million less,” said O’Mara Walsh. "There has been a lot of talk about the uncertainty created by Brexit, one thing that you can be certain about is that Brexit is having an impact on tourism already."
Earlier this week, the CSO reported a drop in British visitor numbers (-6.8%) for the January to May period, as the value of sterling has made holidays and short breaks here more expensive for British visitors, and economic uncertainty is making British travellers more cautious about their spending.
Shane Clarke of Tourism Ireland confirmed that there has been 90,000 less British visitors to the island of Ireland this year.
