A tale of two summers - Ireland’s holiday season beset by woes

Holidays in Ireland can bring four seasons in a day, it is often said, but Dena O’Donovan, who handles marketing for O’Donovan’s Hotel on Pearse Street in the heart of Clonakilty in west Cork, has never seen the tourism trade so unpredictable.

“People are being much more cautious when it comes to spending. One day we can be very busy for lunches, the next day much quieter. People might come in for a meal, but they will only have a main course, not a starter or a dessert,” Ms O’Donovan says.

“In the bar, the evenings can be quiet unless we have music or something to draw people in. Even then you might have a group of people sitting around one pint for half an hour, it’s very up and down.”

Accommodation bookings have been strong so far this summer, says Ms O’Donovan: “[We’re] full every night,” though she is not the only hotelier in Ireland’s tourist-dependent regions to worry about what the winter will bring.

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“I’d describe the current situation as challenging. Business has come back from Covid, but we are not at the level we were at in 2019. We could be facing a horrific winter and we need to be prepared for that,” she adds.

Like everyone else in the hotel trade, Ms O’Donovan’s has faced both significant rises in costs, and significant attempts to raise costs by some suppliers: “We had one supplier who increased prices massively.

“We just said, ‘No, it’s too expensive, we’ll go somewhere else’. Then all of a sudden they were able to cut the prices for us again. There is that sort of thing going on for sure,” she says.

Despite complaints about prices for accommodation this summer, Michael O’Neill, manager of the family-owned Fernhill House Hotel near Clonakilty, insists that hotels are trying to absorb as much of the inflation taking place as they can, because they have to do so to stay in business.

“There’s no doubt that inflation is ferocious. It’s crazy, but you have to hope there will be some easing off. We’ve been trying to keep price increases to an absolute minimum, there’s no doubt people are very price conscious now,” he says

“Just this week we had a man who was on business in Cork City but he opted to stay with us instead of in Cork because of the cost, even though we are almost an hour’s drive away.”

The majority of Fernhill’s customers are Irish, Mr O’Neill says: “We are getting groups of Americans now with the strong dollar which is great, but the European side of things has really declined steeply.

“They would usually hire a car and tour around but because of the cost of car rentals at the moment a lot of Europeans are staying away, but hopefully that is a temporary issue.”

Hoteliers must deliver value, he insists: “In a lot of the industry the airline model of things has crept in, that philosophy of basing prices on occupancy rates, it’s worked out by formula. That just doesn’t work somewhere like west Cork.”

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Aisling Drummond from the Clonakilty Park Hotel is emphasising the positive: “There is a buzz again and the feeling that summer is here at last. Like a lot of hotels in this area we get a lot of repeat business from customers. Thankfully they are coming back to us.

“Costs have gone up dramatically. Insurance is a major issue as well but we have managed to keep our price increases down to 3 per cent or 4 per cent. In places like west Cork, you have to give people a reason to come here and that has to be good service and value for money.

“There are no big events or anything like that so if we don’t treat our customers well they wont come back,” says Ms Drummond, who is in charge of a 96-room hotel, which has its own adventure centre for children, playzone and cinema.

Little more than six kilometres away, Des O’Dowd, owner of the Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa says Covid-19 is still a significant issue: “We are seeing a lot of late cancellations due to Covid and it’s also having an impact on our own staff from time to time, so it’s still having an effect.”

Costs have increased dramatically throughout the year, he says: “Energy costs have doubled and some suppliers are using inflation as an excuse to hike up prices higher than can really be justified.

“Then there is obvious pressure on payroll too, people are under pressure themselves and it’s a very competitive labour market with virtually full employment, so we have to take all of that on-board and still provide value for our customers.”

Despite this, hotel charges have gone up by no more than 2 per cent to 3 per cent, he says: “Our customers will most likely have driven past some very good hotels before they get to us but they still come; there is a lot of choice out there so we have to work hard to offer something people want.”

In Kerry, meanwhile, hoteliers say they are depending on the logjam of weddings delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, along with a myriad of other events that were put off over the two-year interruption.

“We are in hangover of Covid. We need another year to clear the cobwebs,” says Padraig McGillicuddy, the proprietor and general manager of Ballygarry House Hotel and Spa, near Tralee.

Despite a natural optimism, Mr McGillicuddy sees problems on every front for the industry this summer – rising inflation, difficulties with flights, higher car rental charges, along with the shortage of local to tourist beds caused by the need to house Ukrainian refugees.

More than 4,000 Ukrainian refugees are lodging in Kerry, with the majority – though not all – occupying beds that would be used to accommodate tourists in other years, according to Kerry County Council.

“If there are up to 1500 Ukrainian refugees in hotels and guest houses in Killarney, that is 1,500 less tourist beds,” Mr McGillicuddy says, pointing out that 400 of the hotel bed numbers in Tralee have been taken up by refugees.

Higher car rental charges have hurt local tourism this year, he argues. Some people who had made bookings for accommodation cancelled altogether when they discovered how much they would have to pay for car hire.

Meanwhile, there are reports, far from anecdotal, of US tourists having to take taxis on the 61km journey from Kerry Airport in Farranfore to Cahersiveen because a car could not be hired “for love, nor money”.

Separately, the Government’s efforts to limit the opportunities for short-term holiday lettings by Airbnb has not gone well in a county where one in five local jobs depend on tourism.

Former mayor of Killarney Brendan Cronin has led a campaign against the clampdown, arguing that the measures fail to understand the differences that exist between tourist towns like Killarney and major cities.

So far, Kerry County Council have taken 200 enforcement proceedings and investigations against locals, but Mr Cronin argues it will simply drive people out of the tourist business, without increasing the number of homes available for permanent rental.

“There will not be any benefit for people seeking long-term accommodation. It simply won’t translate in Killarney. What may work for Dublin and Cork, is not suitable for Killarney, a town built on small scale,” he says.

Locals have told him, he insists, that they will not become permanent landlords: “They are really, really upset. In many cases this was vital family income from a house inherited, or one being kept for a son or daughter.”

“It is totally unfair to put the burden of blame for failure to provide housing on short-term letting in towns like Killarney,” says Mr Cronin, who is an Independent councillor on Kerry County Council.

“Tourism is hugely important in this county and has always been. There are other, far more serious planning issues than Airbnbs, and the council are also targeting a vital source of income for many local families.”

Meanwhile, the number of traditional B&Bs in Killarney has reduced following the rigours of Covid-19 – with many of the older people who had run operations before the pandemic deciding not to reopen.

Describing business as “patchy” in some places and doing better in others, Helena Healy of B&B Ireland said location is even more of a factor than ever in deciding whether businesses thrive, or die.

“Location is key. Some properties have decided to get into providing accommodation for the refugees,” says Ms Healy, adding that she believed that the share of business enjoyed by B&Bs from international tourists will be no more than 65 per cent of 2019.

‘Beautiful, but it’s super expensive’

Dublin woman Paula Kenny and her friend Maha and Maha’s two sons, Rayan and Rudy from Saudi Arabia, had driven from their holiday rental in Kenmare on Thursday to visit Muckross House, along with a sea of other visitors.

Both college professors, prof Kenny taught in Saudi Arabia for seven years. This year, Ireland, in their view, is “beautiful, but it’s super expensive” and difficult to move around in.

The group began their holiday in Sligo at the beginning of the week, but found that lots of restaurants and bars were fully closed, while the ones that were open closed too early: “People are around, but have nowhere to eat,” says prof Kenny.

A hire car for 12 days cost “not far off €5,000”, she said, while a four-bedroom rental in Kenmare is costing €2,000 for a week. And that, she said, is cheap from what she has heard from other tourists in Kenmare.

Now living in the Netherlands, but originally from South Africa, engineer Phillip Vermuelen and his IT specialist wife, Amoré are on their first visit to Ireland on a trip they planned two months ago.

Having flown into Dublin and hired a car for €1,000 for 10 days, the couple has so far “done” Dublin, before moving onto the Cliffs of Moher, and then Dingle before heading into Killarney.

On the plus side, they have found the people “very friendly and the quality of the food and the natural beauty” is something they will treasure, but Ireland is proving to be “a bit more expensive than we were expecting,” said Mr Vermuelen.

Wine and beer prices are “double” those found elsewhere in other EU states, said the couple, though both agree that the quality of Irish food, and especially the meat, is very good, “much more like South Africa”.

“Nature is very beautiful. It is clean, tidy and well kept and the people are welcoming,” they said, but they will think twice before returning because of how expensive it is to holiday here.

From Colorado in the US, the Vidulichs – grandparents, sons, grandchildren and daughters-in-law – are on their first family trip to Ireland since the grandparents spent a year as teachers on sabbatical in Kilkenny in 1995-1996.

The family has rented a house at Minish, outside Killarney, for €1,800 for four nights, a price they have found reasonable for what they have enjoyed: “We’re very happy,” said Ginny Vidulich. Its big kitchen and beautiful garden are particular joys.

The Vidulichs planned the trip last November and are finding good value, though car hire is very expensive as prices for car rentals have gone up everywhere this year, they said.