The terrorist attacks in the US and the foot-and-mouth crisis took a heavy toll on the Irish hotel industry in 2001, according to the latest Bord Fáilte Hotel Survey published today.
Demand from the North American market was down by 21 per cent overall and by 18 per cent from the Continent. Average occupancy in Irish hotels fell by four percentage points to 61 per cent in 2001, the figures show.
However, a strong showing from the domestic market helped minimise losses in what was a difficult year for the hotel sector.
The traditionally strong months of April and September saw occupancy rates fall by 12 and 11 percentage points respectively on 2000.
Mr Niall Reddy, acting chief executive of Bord Fáilte, said: "The results of this survey certainly reflect the difficult time experienced by all sectors of the tourism industry in 2001, particularly in our important overseas markets of mainland Europe and North America".
While all grades experienced a decline in sales in 2001, it was most pronounced in top-grade (five-star) hotels, which reported a 10 per cent drop overall.
Dublin, which is particularly dependent on overseas markets, suffered a six percentage point decline in room-occupancy levels, while room occupancy rates in the West fell five points to 50 per cent.
The northwest, which relies heavily on the domestic and Northern Ireland markets, reported a relatively small drop-off in room occupancy. A particularly strong performance from these markets greatly aided figures in the southwest, which suffered from the loss of North American business.