Average cost of an Irish hotel room in now nearly €150 per night

The average cost of a hotel room in the Republic continued to rise in September when prospective customers could expect to fork out almost €150 per night for a bed and breakfast, the latest figures show.

Occupancy in the Republic generally was 89.7 per cent in September, which was down 0.2 per cent on September 2017, according to the statistics from STR, a global hotel data analyst.

The average daily rate for a room was €147.85 in September, which was up 8.2 per cent on the previous year. Revenue per available room for the hotelier meanwhile stood at €132.66, which was up 8 per cent on the year before.

The figures climb even higher in Dublin where occupancy stood at 92.6 per cent, which was down 1 per cent on September 2017.

No stay of execution for tourism industry on VAT hike

---

Business tourism boom has already outstripped 2017

---

Caveat: A VAT hike hurts, but Irish tourism and hospitality can cope

---

Ashford Castle stays in the red as revenues rise 17% to €20.9m

---

In terms of the average daily rate for a room in the capital, customers could expect to pay €162.65, which was up 5.2 per cent compared to the same month the year before. Revenue per available room was €150.56, which represented a rise of 4.1 per cent.

In a note to investors, an analyst with Investec said the growth in revenue per available room was "predominantly rate driven" given that occupancy has remained "very high" and the potential for further growth in occupancy is "therefore limited".

“Indeed, occupancy in Ireland year-to-date has been the highest amongst 27 sampled European countries, and occupancy in Dublin year-to-date has been the highest amongst 35 European cities,” he said.

This, he continued, was indicative of “the imbalance that persists between demand and supply”.

“Following a number of years of exceptional growth in revenue per available room, the new room supply response is belatedly now arriving in Dublin,” he said.

“The room stock in the city looks set to increase by about 10 per cent over 2018-19, which will keep a lid on revenue per available room growth next year in our view.”

Separately, an analyst with Davy said average daily room rates would “remain central to growth” given occupancy levels in the coming months.

“We continue to believe that Dalata [the largest hotel operator in the State] should outperform the broader market given its ongoing efforts to improve yield through areas such as revenue management on a decentralised basis,” he said.

“As a reminder, for Dalata, we are forecasting full year 2018 revenue per available room growth of 7 per cent in Dublin, 6.4 per cent in regional Ireland, and 4.8 per cent in the UK.”