{"id":156983,"date":"2025-11-24T12:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/156983\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T12:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:22:09","slug":"dublin-isnt-a-bargain-bucket-tourism-destination-says-little-museum-boss-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/156983\/","title":{"rendered":"Dublin isn\u2019t a \u2018bargain bucket\u2019 tourism destination, says Little Museum boss \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dublin<\/a> is not a \u201cbargain bucket\u201d destination for tourists and probably never will be, the director of the Little Museum of Dublin<\/a> has said, but tourism<\/a> and hospitality operators must deliver value for customers to win repeat business. <\/p>\n

Trevor White, who founded the museum in a Georgian town house on Dublin\u2019s St Stephen\u2019s Green<\/a> in 2011, also said tourism agencies are \u201canxiously\u201d trying to develop new markets, given the Irish industry\u2019s \u201cover-reliance\u201d on US<\/a> visitors.<\/p>\n

Mr White was speaking to The Irish Times after the Little Museum filed new accounts with the Charities Regulator<\/a> for 2024.<\/p>\n

Income at the Little Museum increased from \u20ac1.4 million in 2023 to almost \u20ac1.7 million, largely due to an increase in revenues from charitable activities. <\/p>\n

The results are particularly strong given its St Stephen\u2019s Green premises were closed for renovation for much of 2024, with the attraction temporarily rehoused in Pembroke Street. It reopened in June 2025 after a \u20ac4.3 million refurbishment of the site. <\/p>\n

The venue was left with a surplus of \u20ac634,317 for the 2024 financial year, up from \u20ac315,087. <\/p>\n

The Little Museum accumulated total funds in excess of \u20ac2 million at the end of 2024, up from \u20ac1.4 million in 2023, according to the filings. <\/p>\n

In a report attached to the accounts, the directors said the venue welcomed 79,749 guests in 2023, down from 104,757. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe drop is directly attributable to the museum\u2019s temporary relocation at a pop-up space on Pembroke Street during our essential accessibility and renovation works,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n

The Little Museum, which employed 17 people last year, received \u20ac545,202 in capital grants in the year and \u20ac70,000 from the Department of Tourism, the filings reveal. <\/p>\n

Mr White said visitor numbers increased in 2025 after the museum reopened. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a gobsmacking year,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had a terrific summer, but I suspect we\u2019re rather unusual in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he said the Little Museum was \u201cfortunate\u201d to have a lot of repeat business in 2025, the wider tourism industry has faced challenges amid a decline in visitors this year from Britain and Europe. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certainly a fear within the industry that we\u2019re over-reliant on American business,\u201d Mr White said. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s a legitimate fear. I have to say that the tourism agencies are very much alive to that, and they\u2019re kind of anxiously trying to develop revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding the perception of Dublin and Ireland more generally as an expensive place to plan a trip, Mr White said the capital was \u201cstill a fantastic place to visit\u201d. However, he said: \u201cWe\u2019re not a bargain bucket destination and, frankly, I\u2019m not sure we ever will be\u201d. <\/p>\n

There is a recognition within the industry that \u201cyou\u2019re not going to get repeat business if you\u2019re ripping people off\u201d, but the country needs to be \u201cwary\u201d of this issue and the cost of doing business, Mr White added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dublin is not a \u201cbargain bucket\u201d destination for tourists and probably never will be, the director of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,88446,22811,615,61,60,17954,45546,6306,90],"class_list":["post-156983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-charities-regulator","tag-department-of-tourism","tag-dublin","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-little-museum-of-dublin","tag-st-stephen-s-green","tag-tourism","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}