Almost 6.5 million guest nights were booked over four of the leading online booking platforms for short-term tourist accommodation in Ireland last year.
Figures published by the European Commission show a total of 6.47 million guest nights were reserved by holidaymakers through either Airbnb, Booking, Expedia or Tripadvisor in 2023 – up 17 per cent over the previous year.
The latest data also shows that the demand for such accommodation in Ireland has surged by a further 21 per cent in the first three months of 2024 to over 989,000 guest nights – over 153,000 more than in the corresponding period last year.
The annual figure for 2023 represents a 12-month increase of over 920,000 additional guest nights for tourist accommodation providers in the Republic.
However, last year’s annual total is still below the pre-pandemic peak of 6.9 million guest nights in 2019.
The figures, which are published by Eurostat, are the result of what is considered a landmark agreement between the European Commission and the four leading platforms providing short-term accommodation booking services. It excludes figures for other types of accommodation such as hotels or campsites.
Almost 1.76 million guest nights last year were related to domestic trips by Irish holidaymakers, representing 27 per cent of the total.
US tourists were the next biggest market share, booking 1.12 million guest nights or 17 per cent of the total on what are called “collaborative economy platforms.”
UK visitors were the next major customers for short-term accommodation with almost 900,000 guest nights or 14 per cent of all bookings.
EU holidaymakers constituted the bulk of the remainder including some 525,000 guest nights by French visitors or eight per cent of the total followed by Germany (seven per cent) and Spain (three per cent).
A breakdown of the figures shows the number of guest nights in Dublin last year was up 36% to 1.49 million – almost 395,000 more than in 2022.
However, the number of guest nights in the Irish capital remains considerably below the pre-pandemic peak of 2.72 million in 2018.
The reduction is likely to be partially attributable to the requirement by Dublin City Council for short-term accommodation providers to obtain planning permission for such a use of their property which was introduced as a measure to address the city’s housing crisis by returning some properties to the long-term rental market.
Strong growth last year was also recorded in Galway and Cork, although numbers still lag behind pre-pandemic levels.
Over 373,500 guest nights were recorded in Galway in 2023 – an annual increase of 21 per cent but still below the record level of over 457,000 in 2019.
Similarly, the number of guest nights in Cork last year rose by 18 per cent to 95,475 – almost 15,000 more than in 2022 but remains approximately 50,000 below the 2019 peak of over 145,000.
Tourism representative groups have recently raised concerns about the proposed Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill which will require properties for short-term letting advertised on platforms like Airbnb to be registered with Fáilte Ireland.
Similarly, such platforms will be obliged to only advertise properties which have a valid registration number from Fáilte Ireland.
It is estimated that the creation of the register will move 10,700 properties from being used for tourist stays to long-term rental accommodation, with the vast majority located in rural Ireland.
Concern about the proposed legislation has been voiced by groups including the Vintners Federation of Ireland, the Restaurant Association of Ireland and the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation.
While welcoming the establishment of a register, the groups said the legislation could cause “untold damage” to rural Ireland by closing down self-catering homes and short-term holiday lets.
“It is vital that holiday homes and short-term tourism rentals are protected in regional Ireland. They form a key part of the industry and bring economic activity to all parts of the Wild Atlantic Way, often where there are no hotels or guesthouses, “ said ITIC chief executive, Eoghan O’Mara Walsh.
Overall, the number of guest nights booked via what are known as “collaborative economy platforms” like Airbnb across the EU last year was up over 20 per cent to almost 719 million, exceeding the pre-pandemic high of 512 million in 2019.
Almost one-quarter of these nights were spent in France (159 million), followed by Spain (141 million). Italy (107 million) and Germany (49 million).
Paris was the most popular destination within the EU for stays in such accommodation last year at 19.3 million guest nights followed by Rome (12.5 million); Barcelona (10.9 million); Lisbon (10.5 million) and Madrid (9.5 million).
Dublin was only ranked in 42nd place among cities in the EU with 1.49 million guest nights.
The figures also highlight how the number of Irish holidaymakers using booking platforms for taking breaks both in the Republic and abroad reached record levels last year with over eight million guest nights – compared to under six million in 2019.
Irish people booked almost 2.7 million guest nights in Spain in 2023.
Domestic trips ranked second with 1.76 million guest nights within Ireland, followed by Portugal (859,000); France (688,000); Italy (685,000) and Croatia (271,000).