Report: Lack of hotel beds could hit tourism sector

Cavan’s response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis has led to a shortage of accommodation options for tourists locally.

While some hotels opted not to accommodate refugees, many alternative forms of accommodation remain unavailable to tourists due to housing of Ukrainians in need.

Speaking about the issue, the County Cavan Tourism Officer, Joanne Hayes, said: “There’s a balance to be struck when housing people and making sure our tourism sector is looked after but it is fair to say there has been a knock-on effect to other businesses because there is less capacity in the system to accommodate tourists in County Cavan.”

Her comments follow the publication of a report last week by the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), which estimated that an additional 11,500 tourism beds will be required here in the next decade if Ireland is to meet projected demand.

The report was carried out by economist Jim Power on behalf of the ITIC. The projections are based on estimates for growth in overseas tourism numbers, which is expected to reach 13.2 million annual visitors by 2032.

The paper says the Government’s ‘over-reliance’ on tourism accommodation to house refugees and asylum seekers has exacerbated the tourism accommodation shortfall.

The report also identifies the Midlands as the region with the most acute deficit with only five per cent of national tourist bedrooms.

However, Ms Hayes believes Cavan has not been as badly affected as other counties with around 1,800 beds in the system county wide, though she could not confirm what proportion were currently being used to house refugees.

Nationally an estimated one in five bedrooms are contracted to government.

“It’s probably not as big of an issue for Cavan maybe as it is for other counties. Most of our major hotels in Cavan chose not to completely shut themselves off [to the tourism market],” she says, citing the Slieve Russell in Ballyconnell and the Farnham Estate in Cavan Town as examples.

However, Ms Hayes concedes that some smaller hotels, guest houses, B&Bs and AirBnBs removed rooms from the tourism market.

The Confederation report warns: “The reality is that if beds are scarce, if people have nowhere to stay, visitors will not come. Likewise, if the cost of accommodation continues to increase, the competitiveness of the Irish tourism offering will be seriously damaged, and this will inevitably affect demand.”

Ms Hayes, meanwhile, pointed out that the Ukrainian refugee crisis is not the only factor contributing to a lack of accommodation for tourists.

“We have a shortage of accommodation probably in the hotspot areas anyway in the peak season. It is also fair to say we could probably do with more alternative types of accommodation as well.

“We don’t have a huge amount of hotel-type accommodation, even self-catering accommodation in Cavan Town. We rely very much on hotels.”

Ms Hayes said the performance of hotels in Cavan Town, in particular, has been exceptional.

“The hotels in Cavan are doing very well. They offer competitive rates in the summer holidays and we have a very high standard of hotels in Cavan. So, when I say we have seen a lack of availability, absolutely, but the whole country is at the minute. It’s hard to answer, at peak times, probably. But then you have to balance that with the rest of the year,” explained Ms Hayes.

The recent Cavan Calling festival, she says, drew huge crowds into the county town.

“We had a lot of people looking for accommodation in Cavan Town and the hotels in the town. So Cavan was busy over the summer,” she said.

It’s estimated there are around 3,200 people directly employed in the tourism sector, according to figures by the Irish Hotels Federation from 2020.