The latest AIB Spend Trend report indicates that summer 2024 ended well for the hospitality sector, with spend in restaurants up 11% month on month, hotels up 7% and pubs up 5%.
Hospitality spend increased most among people from Kerry (+15.7%) followed by Leitrim (15.3%) and Waterford (+14.9%).
The monthly data was compiled from 75 million debit and credit card transactions in store and online during August 2024.
'Busy Month'
“August was a very busy month for ticket sales, with a number of high-profile concerts and events going on sale, most notably Oasis of course, with the average transaction value at €347 reflecting the high demand," said Adrian Moynihan, head of consumer at AIB.
"It was also a busy month for the hospitality sector as you would expect, which finished out strongly for summer 2024."
Concert Tickets
The report shows that Saturday, August 31 saw the highest average transaction value for tickets among AIB customers so far this year, at €347, an almost 300% increase on the average transaction for 2024 to date (€87).
Additionally, August 31 also saw the highest total spend on tickets in 2024 at almost €6.3 million. The highest spend per transaction on tickets that day was in Kildare (€466) followed by Monaghan (€444), Louth (€429), Roscommon (€420) and Cavan (€411).
Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic fans drove the second largest ticket sales so far in 2024, on August 21, with an average transaction value of €231. The total spend on tickets by AIB customers that day was almost €4.8m.
When it comes to the highest spend per transaction, AIB said it was something of a home affair, with the top spenders from the home of Electric Picnic, Co. Laois (€320), followed by neighbouring and nearby counties Carlow (€259), Kildare (€257), Offaly (€244) and Kilkenny (€241).
Oasis Tickets
It was a busy month for music lovers, with the third highest spend on tickets on August 30 (€3.9 million), the day Oasis tickets went on pre-sale and the day All Together Now tickets went on general sale.
The average transaction value that day was €258.
