HARD work and ingenuity is paying off for Limerick’s hoteliers, who have driven business up after getting in bed with tourism attractions and restaurateurs to cut deals.
According to the Mid-West Hotel Federation branch of the Hotel Federation of Ireland, Limerick is now “the most competitively priced tourist city in terms of hotel prices in the country”.
Chairman of the Mid-West branch, Clare hotelier Michael Vaughan, said that the work being done by the city’s hotels is to be applauded.
“They have got together with the tourism attractions, such as Thomond Park and the restaurants and done deals for packages. They have sought funding for marketing and brochures and it’s paying off. The latest report is that there is an increase of three per cent in occupancy year on year,” Michael told The Limerick Post.
He was speaking in the wake of the publication of the release of the latest hotel figures from STL Global for Dublin, which show that rates being charged in the capital are up by 5.4 per cent.
“There is a two-pronged recovery. One is the kind of recovery seen in Dublin and aside from the fact that it is a capital city, there have also been massive investments in attractions like the Aviva stadium and the Grand Canal Theatre. Limerick is recovering in terms of occupancy”.
There is also increased activity in terms of coach tour business in the city, the hotels representative said. “Limerick is probably now the most competitively priced tourist city in Ireland”.
The improvement is welcomed in the entire region, Michael said, as Limerick “has underperformed for the last 10 years. The Mid-West branch (of the IHF) had identified Limerick city tourism as the single biggest tourism difficulty in the region. If Limerick improves its tourism draw, then that brings people into the region”.
