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An affordable week in the sun with flights and lodging revealed

However, as the cost of living continues to rise, families are being forced to reconsider their vacation plans as their finances get increasingly tighter.

As the cost of living issue takes hold in Ireland, visitors are delaying their plans for summer vacations. According to Paul Hackett, president of the Irish Travel Agents Association, there were up to 40% fewer customers who booked international vacations in March this year compared to the same month last year.

In contrast, those who did book this year paid an average of €689 per person, which is €60 more on average than they did during the same time last year.

Consumers are “taking stock” to determine if they can afford a summer vacation, according to Mr Hackett, after Irish families were told that rising energy and food costs would have an average impact of €2,000 on their living standards this year.

Because of pent-up demand, pandemic savings, and an increase in the number of flights, this spring should have been a good season to sell sun vacations, but Mr Hackett believes consumer confidence is “very fragile.”

“Consumers did not book international vacations at the levels we would have anticipated in March.” The public has been slapped with something new every week, whether it’s a bill from Bord Gáis or Electric Ireland, or information from the ESRI on predicted inflation rates, and this is causing concern,” he added.

When people figure out how much money they have available for a vacation, we think they will consider all possibilities and, on balance, choose to go overseas since that is where the best value lies. When they arrive, they will typically find that the cost of living is lower.”

His remarks came as hospitality experts have warned of a “exodus” of sun seekers to Europe’s most popular sun-seeking destinations in the coming months Adrian Cummins, the chairman of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, claimed in an interview with the Sunday Independent that many Irish companies are unable to compete with the cheap cost of doing business and the low pay of their employees found in the Mediterranean.

“There is a general consensus in the sector that we will see a mass migration out of the country to various places as a result of the previous two years of limitations, and that will put pressure on the local market if the numbers here don’t materialize,” Mr Cummins said.

Several variables, he said, worked in the favor of brighter climes: “In the Mediterranean, their employment salaries are half the size of Ireland’s, as is the cost of operating a company, so they are in a better position to compete on price.”

As a result, the Irish hotel sector will need to “turn up the volume” on its emphasis on value during the next summer season.

“When you look at the quality of the goods we have here, I don’t believe you will find a better deal anywhere else.” It is much superior than some regions of the Mediterranean. – ‘You have to compare apples with apples,'” Mr Cummins said emphatically.

According to a survey released this weekend by the travel service clickandgo.com, Irish vacationers may save hundreds of euros by traveling overseas — even when the cost of return flights is taken into consideration — compared to staying in the country.

Booking seven nights at a four-star self-catering hotel in the Algarve for a family of two adults and two children in May costs €859 (including flights and accommodation), compared to €1,363 for seven nights in a four-star bed and breakfast hotel in Co Wexford during the same month. Next, for seven nights in July, a couple can fly off to a five-star hotel with bed and breakfast in Lanzarote for €959, which includes flights and accommodations. This is a significant savings over seven nights in a five-star B&B hotel in Killarney, which costs €1,503.

When traveling to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast in August, a couple may fly for €769 each and stay at a four-star hotel with bed and breakfast, compared to a four-star hotel with bed and breakfast in Kerry for €1,015 per person in the same month.

A family of two adults and two children can book seven nights’ accommodation in a five-star hotel in Gran Canaria with bed and breakfast for €2,889 in July, including flights and accommodation, compared to a seven-night stay in a four-star B&B hotel in Killarney for €4,385 in July, including flights and accommodation

In recent days, the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) issued a warning to hundreds of its members, warning them that they face significant problems due to low occupancy levels, rising prices, and the impending hike in the tourist VAT rate, which is scheduled to take effect in September.

Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, the outgoing president of the International Hotel and Tourism Federation, has said that the cost of hotel insurance has increased by 20 percent year on year.

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