The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has strongly refuted claims by global hotel solutions provider HRS citing Dublin hotel prices as the second most expensive in Europe.
HRS revealed that its data showed that from between the second quarter of 2015 and 2016, Dublin's hotel room rates rose by 70 per cent to an average rate of €188 per night, overtaking the likes of London and Stockholm.
However, the IHF has described the price claims as "outlandish", stating that the figures reported do not reflect the average rooms rates in Dublin during this period and are not representative of the 18,900 hotel rooms available for sale every day in Dublin.
"The research does not take account of the wide variety of sources of bookings that exists, including directly through individual hotel’s websites, through group bookings, third party booking websites, directly by phone and as part of the conference and event market segments," commented the IHF.
It notes that its own industry figures show an average room rate of €111 in Dublin in 2015 and indicate an average rate of between €120 to €125 for the first half of 2016.
Earlier this week, Dublin hoteliers came under fire from the Labour Party spokesperson on Urban Regeneration, Joe Costello, who said the hospitality industry is beginning to rip off the customer once more as it did during the Celtic Tiger years.
