{"id":527287,"date":"2026-07-01T08:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T08:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/527287\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T08:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T08:48:16","slug":"rising-living-costs-weigh-on-irish-holiday-spending-plans-survey-finds-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/527287\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising living costs weigh on Irish holiday spending plans, survey finds \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is little evidence of a strengthening in holiday spending trends among Irish consumers this summer, a new survey has indicated, with the \u201ccumulative increase\u201d in living costs<\/a> over recent years weighing on spending plans. <\/p>\n

In its latest consumer sentiment report, the Irish League of Credit Unions<\/a> (ICLU) said almost half of consumers expect to spend the same amount as last year or more on their main holiday. <\/p>\n

This is largely unchanged from last year, said economist Austin Hughes, who compiled the report, which is based on a representative sample of 1,000 adults in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough somewhat improved from the results seen in 2023 when cost-of-living pressures were building dramatically, there has been no pronounced trend strengthening in planned holiday spending through 2025 and 2026,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The results suggest the \u201ccumulative increase in living costs through recent years, coupled with current uncertainty, is weighing on the feelings and the finances of Irish consumers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hughes said the survey results add to the evidence that Ireland has a three-tier consumer economy, split between \u201cthe comfortable, the coping, and the clinging-on\u201d. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Targeted supports more critical amid a gradual economic slowdownOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

While half of consumers said they expect to spend the same or more on their main holiday, one in six said they will cut back, and one in five said they cannot afford a holiday at all, Hughes said. <\/p>\n

This broadly matches the split of Irish consumers into those three tiers, he said. <\/p>\n

The survey also indicates that some consumers plan to make drastic changes to their holiday spending plans, according to the report. <\/p>\n

\"\"Has the Irish building sector got themselves hooked on Government subsidies?<\/p>\n

\u201cOf the 25 per cent of consumers who say they will spend more on their main holiday this year, just over half plan to increase their spending by more than 10 per cent,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cSimilarly, of the 16 per cent who plan to cut back, more than half say the reduction will be greater than 10 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n

In some instances, this probably reflects \u201cpronounced changes\u201d in household financial circumstances, the economist explained. \u201cIn other cases, the spending shift may be driven by major life events. These variations remind us that not all consumer behaviour mechanically follows the fortunes of the macroeconomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Look under the hood. There are \u2018echoes of 2006\u2019 in the Irish economyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the survey indicates that some 58 per cent of consumers planning a holiday will go abroad, of whom 60 per cent said they were doing so to experience better weather. <\/p>\n

Overall, consumer sentiment rebounded again in June after falling between March and April, according to the ILCU survey.<\/p>\n

Hughes said sharp swings in consumer sentiment in the Republic and elsewhere in recent months have been \u201clargely driven by changing perceptions\u201d around the immediate impact of the Iran war <\/a>on energy prices. <\/p>\n

While there has been an easing of those concerns of late, the prospect of a lasting peace deal in the Middle East remains uncertain, he said. <\/p>\n

Consequently, consumer sentiment is lower than it was at the start of the year, before the initial US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Both the Economic and Social Research Institute <\/a>and the Central Bank of Ireland<\/a> have lowered their forecasts for Irish consumer spending this year, with elevated energy prices expected to squeeze incomes throughout the year and bleed into other areas of the consumer\u2019s basket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is little evidence of a strengthening in holiday spending trends among Irish consumers this summer, a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[184481,72,943,113,61,11829,60,44302,150432],"class_list":["post-527287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-austin-hughes","tag-business","tag-cost-of-living","tag-economy","tag-ie","tag-iran","tag-ireland","tag-irish-league-of-credit-unions","tag-israel-iran-conflict"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527287","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=527287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}