Ireland sees drop in tourism numbers as EU sets new records
Seán McCárthaigh
Ireland was one of only two EU member states to record a decrease in tourist bed nights last year, when new records were set for tourism accommodation across the EU as a whole.
New figures published by the European Commission show nights spent in tourist accommodation in the Republic fell by an estimated 1.8 per cent in 2025 to 41.3 million.
It was the worst performance of any member state in the EU, with Romania the only other country to experience a decline in tourist numbers – down 1.4 per cent.
The downturn in the performance of the tourism industry in Ireland occurred when the latest figures also show total tourist bed nights across the entire EU rose by 2 per cent – up 61.5 million on 2024 numbers to reach a record 3.08 billion.
Tourist bed nights showed particularly strong growth in several countries, with numbers up 9.9 per cent in Malta, 7 per cent in Poland and 6.2 per cent in Latvia.
Hotels account for 63 per cent of the overnight stays in the EU followed by holiday dwellings, guesthouses and other short-stay accommodation with 24 per cent and campsites with 13 per cent.
In Ireland, 61 per cent of tourist bed nights were spent in hotels, with 33 per cent in guesthouses and other short-stay accommodation and just 6 per cent in campsites.
Overseas visitors accounted for an estimated 58 per cent of tourist accommodation business last year in the Republic, with domestic tourists contributing to a 42 per cent share of the market.
Figures show that tourist bed nights in Ireland during the third quarter of 2025 – the peak summer period for tourism – dropped by 4.1 per cent overall compared to the same period in 2024.
However, they highlighted contrasting performances by different sectors, with the number of tourist nights down 8.4 per cent in hotels and down 27 per cent in campsites, but up 15.4 per cent in holiday and other short-stay accommodation.
Official figures published show there were over 35.9 million tourism bed nights in Ireland in the first 10 months of 2025 – a decrease of 1.1 million on the corresponding period in 2024.
It equates to an annual decrease of 3 per cent while overall numbers across the EU were up 2.1 per cent. However, a pick-up in tourist numbers in the last two months of 2025, including a 13 per cent year-on-year increase for November, has resulted in the European Commission estimating that the final figure for 2025 will be just under 2 per cent.
A breakdown of figures shows the number of bed nights by domestic visitors in the Republic was down 4.4 per cent to 15 million between January and October.
The decrease in nights in tourism accommodation was less pronounced among overseas visitors over the same period, with numbers down 2.0 per cent to 20.9 million.
The statistics on tourism in Ireland in the Eurostat report are derived from figures published by the Central Statistics Office, which have been challenged by bodies including the Irish Hotels Federation which claims they have overstated declines in the sector.
The European Commission said tourist bed nights were now significantly higher in the EU than in 2019 with overall figures exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 7.2 per cent.
However, it said the tourism sector in five EU countries still needed to fully recover from the impact of the pandemic – Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia.
Spain remains the largest destination for foreign tourists with 330 million bed nights in 2025, followed by Italy (264 million), France (150 million) and Greece (131 million).
