Guesthouses and B&Bs are losing out to hotels in the tourism market share, new figures for the first three months of this year have shown.
The Central Statistics Office figures which compare the first three months of this year with the same period last year also show that more Irish people made trips abroad, with the greatest increase on the transatlantic routes.
The number of visitors to the Republic increased but they were not staying quite so long. There were not so many from North America although there were more visitors from Europe.
The number of bed nights spent in guesthouses or B&Bs fell by 19 per cent and bed nights in hotels increased by 6 per cent.
Minister for Tourism John O'Donoghue said the CSO figures showed the overall number of bed nights, a key indicator for the sector, was up over 7 per cent. However, he said that guesthouses and B&Bs continued to lose share.
"The poor first quarter results for the guesthouse and B&B sector reinforces the urgent need to address the particular competitive challenges faced by this most traditional of Irish tourism products and I look forward to the outcome of the work currently being undertaken by Fáilte Ireland in this regard."
According to the CSO figures, expenditure for January to March this year showed a net outflow of €145 million. Earnings from visitors to the State accounted for €711 million while expenditure by Irish visitors abroad amounted to €857 million, up 5 per cent.
Irish residents made 1,208,000 visits abroad, up 16 per cent, with a 24 per cent increase on European routes and a 32 per cent rise on transatlantic routes.
The number of visitors rose by 6 per cent to 1,290,000. Those coming from Britain grew by 3 per cent and those from other European countries increased by 33 per cent. The number of visitors from North America fell by 11 per cent as did the number from other areas. The average length of stay of overseas visitors with at least one overnight fell from 6.5 nights to 6.4 nights.
"These latest figures from CSO present a very mixed bag for the tourism sector and confirm yet again the changing nature of consumer demands in a highly competitive industry," the Minister said. On the positive front, he added, overseas revenue was up and as the first three months only represented one-quarter of the year's business, it augured well for remainder of the year.
Results from Britain and Europe were positive, but the US and other long-haul markets were down. The Minister said better access should provide the necessary bounce in these markets to ensure Ireland performed well over the year.
He said the industry could not afford to hide from the fundamental shifts in consumer behaviour in the sector, but he was confident it would continue to adapt.