The Chief Executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has said that the number of people visiting the country is up, but the number coming from North America is down and is making the industry “nervous”.

The number of tourists from North America dropped 3% in August, when compared with the same month last year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The ITIC, which is hosting a conference in Dublin today, says the figures show the need to protect Ireland’s competitiveness.

The body has called for the 9% VAT rate for hospitality to be extended to other tourism businesses.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Eoghan O’Mara Walsh said visitor numbers from North America had fallen, particularly from the US.

“If you look at year-to-date, visitor numbers are up, but we’ve seen a dip in North American visitors for two of the last three months,” Eoghan O’Mara Walsh said.

Irish tourism could have ‘problem’

“So, it’s a bit of a warning sign and the industry, which is gathering today in Dublin, is getting a little bit nervous about the rest of the year and 2027.”

He added: “There’s a lot of macroeconomic uncertainty out there, a lot of geopolitical things and it’s affecting demand.”

Mr O’Mara Walsh said that “if something happened to the US market, Irish tourism would have a problem.”

He said that there are various factors affecting the drop-off and, as a result, the organisation is making a call for competitiveness measures and capacity increases in next week’s Budget.

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“So undoubtedly there’s external factors which we can’t control, but there’s some things we can control. One of those is the costs of business. One of those is how competitive we are and one of those is how well we market Ireland abroad”.

Mr O’Mara Walsh said that the confederation is seeking the 9% VAT rate to be restored to the sector in the Budget.

“So, we’re calling for the VAT rate of 9% to be extended, in fact restored to the likes of visitor attractions, camping sites and adventure operators. They’re regional businesses, they’re SMEs, they’re all along the Wild Atlantic Way.

“They’re wrestling with escalating costs of business elsewhere, they’re low margin and extending the VAT at 9%, which they always used to have would be very beneficial.”

He said the aim is to make businesses “more viable” saying “if businesses can’t make a profit, then they’re in trouble.”

He added that value is critical for Irish businesses.

Mr O’Mara Walsh said “the point of it is to make tourism a more viable sector for businesses to operate in. If you look at energy costs, if you look at labour costs, if you look at excise rates, if you look at all the kind of other input costs … It’s to make businesses more viable.

“And I think a lot of businesses you would find in the attraction sector, in the camping sites and in the adventure activity operators would pass it on, but that’s up to each individual business,” he said.

“Value is absolutely critical for our tourism. We’re not the cheapest destination. We never claim to be the cheapest destination”, he added.

He said that the Government saw the benefits of restoring the 9% VAT rate for food businesses and as a result now businesses are more viable and the tourism product is stronger.