Conor Pope: Yes. It could be used to improve life for Dubliners

It has been almost comical watching the hospitality sector tying itself in knots as it tries to articulate reasons why a Dublin tourist tax should be rejected.

The notion it has settled on – or at least the one most frequently trotted out – is that such a tax would see visitors from overseas desert our little island and seek holiday fun elsewhere.

That’s nonsense and we all know it. But nebulous threats are all the sector has to fight the modest proposals being made to make visitors contribute to Dublin’s upkeep.

Will someone who is happy – or at least willing – to pay €250 to stay in a city centre hotel for one night really baulk at the idea of paying €252 or €255? Are we expected to believe a hike of less than two per cent will make the slightest difference to tourist numbers, particularly when the claim comes from a quarter that’s perfectly happy to double or treble the price of rooms if they get wind of Taylor Swift or Garth Brooks or Oasis coming to town? Who was thinking of the tourists then?

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The fact is that tourist taxes work and don’t stop people travelling. We know this because most European countries already tax tourists and are doing just fine. Have you ever heard anyone turning their nose up at Paris or Barcelona or Amsterdam or Rome or Porto because they’re asked to pay a small fraction of the cost of the trip in tax? No you have not.

We don’t factor in the small tourist taxes demanded of us when travelling overseas, and tourists who travel here won’t factor it in either.

While it’s patently absurd to suggest a modest tax will make any difference to Dublin’s attractiveness as a destination, the projected cash injection of €17 million or more could – if used correctly – make a significant difference to its infrastructure and improve the experiences of visitors and – more importantly – the lives of those living in the city.

That figure of €17 million is based on a tax of €2 per room per night, although it could rise depending on the model used. The Dutch, for example, charge 12.5 per cent of the cost of each hotel room in Amsterdam and rake in close to €600 million annually.

A tax at that level might give the hospitality sector the vapours – but no one is suggesting we follow the Dutch. A flat €2 per night for hostels, rising to a maximum of €5 for five-star hotels, is on the cards instead.

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And the sooner it happens, the better off we’ll all be. The Government has been wringing its hands for too long, and needs to act so Dublin can start reaping the benefits of the contribution visitors will make to its future.

And for once, Ministers will have the people on their side as a new tax is rolled out. Surveys have suggested that close to two thirds of Dubliners think a tourist tax is a good idea.

If it happens and if the money raised is properly ring-fenced and used to improve the city’s infrastructure – social and physical – and can be shown to have a positive impact on the city, then the support will only grow further. Imagine if the money collected from visitors gave us more and better public spaces, more places to sit, more and better cycle lanes and more cohesive supports for the city after dark.

Who knows, maybe even some of the hoteliers who currently are horrified by the notion will discover that it makes Ireland even more attractive to tourists and makes them more money, which will surely make it a less terrible idea than they say they believe it to be.

Conor Pope is Consumer Affairs Correspondent and Pricewatch Editor

Eoghan O’Mara Walsh: No. The tourism sector is already paying its way

There has been some talk in recent times about the idea of a bed tax being levied on tourists who visit Dublin. In fact, this subject has been in the ether for decades, and on each occasion the debate peters out. Hopefully a similar outcome materialises on this occasion.

It is hardly a surprise that a business group representing tourism stakeholders is against the idea of an additional tourist tax. And here’s why. By all means, Dublin could benefit from improved infrastructure, better cleaning and enhanced public realms – but visitors to Dublin already contribute €890 million in taxation to these services on an annual basis. That’s quite a hefty sum. And these are not industry figures to suit a narrative, but instead are from Fáilte Ireland, the State tourism agency, whose latest annual report estimates that visitors, both domestic and international, spent a whopping €3.1 billion in the city economy.

Already, 29c of every euro is returned to the exchequer in direct visitor-related taxes, making the tourism industry an enormous net contributor to the city’s coffers. Dublin hotels not only pay chunky commercial rates – estimated at approximately €1,000 per bedroom – but many also pay a further business improvement district (BID) levy specifically towards improving the city for everyone who uses it. There is a view, which I share, that the tourism sector is already paying its way and, before any new taxation is considered, a review of existing taxation revenues should be conducted.

The right for a local authority to levy a tourist tax is in the gift of central government. The Dáil would have to pass enabling legislation and, should such a move happen, it would not just apply to Dublin but to all 31 county councils nationwide. Given the opportunity to raise new revenue, it wouldn’t take long for every local authority, from Leitrim to Limerick, to levy a bed tax on visitors. Understandably, this has generated significant excitement at local government level, but central government has always resisted the move. Indeed, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke emphatically rejected the idea last October at a big industry conference.

Ministers and departments are all too aware of how expensive Ireland is as a country within which to operate a tourism and hospitality business. Eurostat figures put Ireland in the unenviable position of being the second most expensive country in the EU, with energy, insurance, legal and labour costs – among others – all well out of kilter with our European peers. What an indigenous enterprise sector such as tourism needs is less rather than more taxation. The Government has taken a step in the right direction in relation to this in Budget 2026, with the decision to lower the hospitality VAT rate to 9 per cent from July 1st. But, crucially, this applies to food services only, and not to accommodation.

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With Central Statistics Office (CSO) data showing tourism spend was down last year, now is not the time to be imposing new taxation on a vulnerable industry. Proponents of bed taxes point to its use across Europe but often this is to battle over-tourism. This is an issue that Dublin and Ireland generally certainly don’t suffer from. In fact, the Government last year launched a new tourism policy which advocates a doubling of visitor revenue out to 2031. Such ambition has been welcomed by industry leaders – but to achieve it requires an increase in hotel stock, both in Dublin and in the regions. New taxation measures are going to do nothing to incentivise or attract developers in an already high-cost environment beset with planning delays.

Tourism matters to Dublin and to Ireland. It is the country’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer. With macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, Irish tourism needs to be carefully nurtured. Levying more taxation on a sector already paying its way would be misguided.

Eoghan O’Mara Walsh is chief executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation

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