Failte Ireland Reports Fewer Refugee Hotel Beds

Fáilte Ireland has revised downwards the level of beds occupied by refugees and asylum seekers in hotels and other accommodation providers registered with the tourism body.

The move follows an examination by Fáilte Ireland of data put together by the Department of Integration in April, which estimated that 28 per cent of all beds registered with the tourism body was contracted to the State.

In a presentation shared with the tourism industry, Fáilte Ireland says that "we now know this assessment overstated the percentage of FI-registered tourism bed stock under contract".

The new estimate is that 13 per cent of all tourism bed stock in premises that are registered with Fáilte Ireland is contracted out to the State. The overestimate is understood to have been caused by modelling which assumed that all accommodation stock was registered to Fáilte Ireland.

The presentation also revised how Fáilte Ireland estimates the impact on the tourism sector economically. Previously, this had been measured at about €1.1 billion, with businesses outside the accommodation sector seeing pressure on their income as regular tourism business was displaced through a lack of beds. However, the updated assessment from Fáilte Ireland says this is now estimated as a range, between €700 million and €1.1 billion.

The new findings do not revise the absolute numbers of people accommodated in Ireland, with 76,143 beds under contract, and 29,555 in Fáilte Ireland properties.