Massive boost to tourism sector with major rise in staycation interest
17 Jul 2020)
Friday, July 17th, 2020. The domestic tourism sector is set to receive a significant boost this summer, with a major rise in the number of people searching for holiday homes around the country.
Interest in staycations on the MyHome.ie property website soared in recent weeks as lockdown restrictions were eased – with a 112% increase in searches for “Irish holiday homes” in June 2020 compared with the same period the year before.
However, during March and April – when Covid-19 cases escalated and lockdown restrictions were at their height – there was a marked decline in Irish holiday home searches on the MyHome.ie website. March saw a 48% year-on-year decline, while April saw a 41% decline over the same period.
In May, there was a 28% increase in searches for Irish holiday homes compared with the same period in 2019 as the roadmap for lockdown easing began.
The staycation trend looks set to benefit most tourism hotspots around the country, with significant increases in holiday home searches in June 2020 compared with June 2019 in counties including:
- Kerry: up 107%
- Sligo: up 105%
- Galway: up 83%
- Clare: up 57%
- Donegal: up 45%
It also appears that the west is best for staycations, as searches for holiday homes in Dublin in June 2020 stayed relatively steady, up by just 6% compared with the same period in 2019.
Angela Keegan, Managing Director of MyHome.ie, said: “These findings reflect the huge pent-up demand that exists among people after three months of lockdown, which will have a much-needed knock-on effect for a hospitality sector that has suffered badly as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. People need a holiday to look forward to after a tough year, and it looks like the domestic economy will benefit from the Government’s continued guidance to avoid non-essential foreign travel.”