Minister for Tourism Paschal Donohoe has expressed his concern over the rising prices of hotel rooms in Ireland, which have returned to 2007 levels this summer.
Speaking to the Irish Times, the minister said that he is worried the increasing rates will hurt the competitiveness in the Irish hotel sector, which would affect tourism negatively.
“That is a fear that I have... I have that fear because for a period of time Irish tourism did lose its way in terms of offering goods, services and accommodation,” said Minister Donohoe.
He added: “There is an ongoing need for hotels, for everybody involved in Irish tourism and for the Government to be vigilant to make sure we continue to maintain the competitiveness that we have gained in recent years.”
Despite the rising prices, Dublin ranked as only the tenth most expensive city for hotel accommodation in the UK and Ireland during the month of August, according to a survey conducted by online travel agent cheaprooms.co.uk.
According to cheaprooms.co.uk, a centrally-located hotel in Dublin (with a minimum three-star rating) costs on average £94 (€133) in the month of August. Dublin was the only Irish city featured in the top ten.
Other Irish cities featured on the list were Kilkenny (£85), Killarney (£83), Galway (£79) and Sligo (£75), ranking 11th, 13th, 15th and 19th, respectively, hotelowner.co.uk reports.
Edinburgh was ranked the most expensive at £134 per night, due in no small part to the Edinburgh Festival which takes place in August. London ranked fifth at £97.
The 20 most expensive cities in the UK and Ireland according to the survey were as follows:
1 - Edinburgh £134
2 - Bath £106
3 - St. Peter Port £104
4 - Oxford £98
5 - London £97
6 - St. Helier £96
7 - Inverness £95
8 - Cambridge £95
9 - Portsmouth £94
10 - Dublin £94
11 - Kilkenny £85
12 - Falmouth £83
13 - Killarney £83
14 - Bristol £82
15 - Galway £79
16 - Windermere £76
17 - York £76
18 - Shanklin £75
19 - Sligo £75
20 - Glasgow £74
