Nearly half the State's hotels and guest houses plan to expand in 1999, according to a survey. On a regional basis, Dublin has overtaken Cork/Kerry as the sector's largest employer.
The sector now employs 50,000, an increase of 20 per cent in two years. The survey, carried out for CERT, the State training body for the sector, estimates that employment will grow by nearly 5,000 next year.
The number of hotels and guest houses has grown by 12 per cent over the past two years - the most rapid rate of expansion on record. A total of 775 hotels and 427 guest houses were registered with Bord Failte in 1998.
The survey shows a 16 per cent increase in the number of restaurants between 1996 and 1998. More than 33,500 now work in restaurants, an increase of 23 per cent on 1996.
Family-run hotels and guest houses account for 54 per cent of the total, but this percentage is falling. This is due to the rapid expansion of domestic hotel chains and recent investment by international hotel chains.
The survey finds the sector is having some success fighting the perennial problem of Irish tourism: seasonality. The last CERT survey, in 1996, found that 14 per cent of hotels and 22 per cent of guest houses opened on a seasonal basis. The new survey indicates that 11 per cent of hotels and 19 per cent of guest houses operate seasonally.
In the west and south-west seasonality is still a problem, with many organisations operating only between March/April and October. "None of these organisations envisage a change in 1999," the report adds.
The Republic now has 30,881 hotel bedrooms - an increase of 26 per cent in two years. Dublin has shown the strongest growth and now accounts for 26 per cent of all hotel bedrooms, followed by Cork/Kerry with 23 per cent. More hotels have opened in the past two years than in any other period since records were kept. Growth has been strongest in three-star properties, reflecting the demand for budget accommodation.
Within the hotel sector, leisure centres and night-clubs as ancillary activities grew by 22 and 36 per cent respectively since 1996. The survey reveals additional planned development for hotels and guest houses across most regions and grades. Fifty-four of the hotels surveyed intend to expand their business, mainly through the addition of more bedrooms.
Among guest houses, 29 per cent have capital expenditure plans for 1999, also mainly in the building of new bedrooms.
CERT says the lack of a comprehensive listing of restaurants makes it difficult to provide the same reliability of statistics as for the hotel sector. It estimates there are now 1,890 restaurants in the Republic an increase of 16 per cent since 1996. Dublin has 22 per cent of the total market. CERT's chief executive, Mr Shaun Quinn, said yesterday the organisation would begin the second phase of a campaign to promote the attractions of a career in tourism to school-leavers.
"By the end of the school year," Mr Quinn added, "every second-level school will have attended the CERT careers roadshow or will have been visited by CERT trainers to apprise them of the variety of careers in the industry."