A Donegal hotelier has predicted that the price of hotels in Ireland “will sort of even out” amid accusations of price gouging. 

Defending the industry, Noel Cunningham of the Harvey’s Point Hotel said that only a minority of hoteliers were charging rip off prices and that most were committed to keeping tourism in Ireland affordable: 

“They are in the minority because most responsible hoteliers and providers of hospitality are more pragmatic and brighter and cleverer than to just think we’re just going to jump on a bandwagon now because this too will pass,” Mr Cunningham told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“Things will sort of even out.” 

He continued: 

“Sometimes it’s easy to grab on to the negative and run with that narrative but, honestly, I would be completely against that awful word ‘gouging’ or ‘taking advantage of the situation’. 

“That’s just not the way we should operate and we should really preserve our tourism brand; Brand Ireland is very powerful.” 

A hotel room is seen in June 2009. Picture by: Brian Jackson / Alamy Stock Photo

Reputational damage

The high cost of accommodation in Ireland has been noticed internationally and travel Bible Lonely Planet has warned that the cost of hotels is “wreaking havoc with holidaymaker’s budgets”.

Even the Government has warned that greedy hoteliers risk doing long-term damage to Ireland’s reputation as a place to visit “through negative customer experience”: 

“There is a risk of damage to Ireland’s tourism offering and the promotion of Ireland as a good value destination through negative customer experience arising from the issues and challenges within the sector post-COVID,” Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin said recently.

“But it is important that Ireland maintains its reputation as a value for money destination.”

Main image: A hotel room.