Dublin hotel market weighs up post-Covid prospects: CBRE
Having outperformed most European capital cities for a number of years in the lead up to Covid, Dublin’s hotel market is weighing up whether it will rebound when the health crisis permits.
According to a new report from CBRE, although individual corporate travellers might fly less frequently, “the demand drivers in Dublin are highly likely to exceed any permanent impacts on the reduction in corporate travel by virtue of Covid-19”.
The report, The Future of Demand for the Dublin Hotel Market, said that historically demand was driven by robust macroeconomic fundamentals ranging from consistently high GDP growth to growth in employment in high skilled and high earning roles, particularly among multinational companies.
It adds that, owing to these strong fundamentals, Ireland has seen record levels of household savings, giving confidence in the prospects for future domestic leisure demand once hotels reopen for business, “following what has been a tumultuous 13 months for the hospitality sector internationally.”
There are 4,075 hotel rooms currently being developed in Dublin by early 2023 hotel stock should reach nearly 26,000 bedrooms, the report states.
Dublin’s ICT employers space needs up 259% since 2014
In assessing the different categories of corporate travel and the likely permanent impacts resulting from the past 13 months the firm said top ICT employers in Dublin have increased their committed and occupied space by 259% since 2014, accounting for 451,000 sq m.
“The factors that drive long term domestic consumer confidence appear strong in Ireland relative to its European competitors,” said Dave Murray, director of CBRE Hotels in Ireland. He added that along with forecast growth in population and high levels of household savings, domestic demand should prove strong and from a business perspective, the significant expansion in the size of the office market and the increasingly international nature of the city’s corporate occupiers will sustain corporate demand for city centre hotels in the medium term.
