The hotel sector stimulated by American and European visitors

A growing number of visitors from North America and continental Europe spurred business in the hospitality industry, said the Irish Hotel Federation (IHF), noting that the volume of British visitors remains a "major concern".

In an industry survey, the lobby group found that 70% of hoteliers were recording an increase in their business, but one in five sees its early bookings for the rest of the summer in down from last year. This drop is linked to an anecdotal fall in British business.

Nearly half think British businesses were affected, but Fáilte Ireland's figures suggest the decline is relatively small, rising to 3.4 million visitors last year, compared with 3.6 million in the previous year. 2016.

Europe grew 5% last year to reach 3.25 million inhabitants, while the number of North American tourists increased by 16% to 1, 7 million

The domestic market remains dynamic, according to the IHF, with 60% of the increase in Irish activity compared with the previous year.

"Despite the recovery, not all tourism businesses are experiencing the same success and the hospitality industry is still far from achieving sustainability in some areas," said Michael Lennon, president of the company. # 39; IHF. Another feature of the industry turnaround is the growth in employment, with the IHF providing for the creation of 40,000 additional jobs by 2021.

"Nearly half of hoteliers plan to increase their workforce over the next year with opportunities In the same order of ideas, the improvement in activity allows hoteliers to invest in their business, 94% planning to invest in investment projects over the next 12 months.

Mr. Lennon also took the opportunity to highlight the reduced VAT rate of 9% for the investment. 39 industry and said that the industry was vulnerable, highlighted by the "significant decline in the number of visitors in 2017 from the UK."

The latest figures from the Central Office of Statistics for visitors to the UK in May show an increase of 6.8 percent pa r compared to the same month last year with 349,900 tourists traveling to Ireland. This trend was repeated in February and Aril in January and March both saw a drop in the number of British visitors compared to the same months in 2017.