Houston – April 20, 2023 – US President Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland has coincided with a surge in bookings from big-spending US visitors at Irish hotels – up a whopping 93% so far this year – and they’re spending even more than usual.
Frank Reeves is Chief Evangelist at the AI hotel booking platform allora.ai, which released the data. He explained: “Visitors from the US are big spenders, in fact the average booking value of a US hotel guest is 61% higher than that of domestic one. They purchase more expensive packages and make far more use of the hotel’s facilities, such as the restaurant. This year more of them are coming and they’re spending 16% more than usual, providing a much-needed boost to the country’s hospitality industry.”
allora.ai provides booking and retention technology to over 2000 hotels around the world. It has powered £3 billion in transactions and created the world’s first AI-powered hotel booking engine – which has analysed over 400 million online journeys to ensure guests at its hotels have the best possible stay.
allora.ai is part of the SHR Group and its Irish hotels include Adare Manor, Ashford Castle, Temple Bar Hotel Dublin and the Castlemartyr Resort.
But it’s not all good news, though. While summer bookings are already 71% higher than 2022, a constant concern for Irish hoteliers is the threat of cancellations, which can run as high as 40% through some booking channels. “The reality is that a booking isn’t guaranteed until the guest actually arrives at the hotel,” Reeves explained. “There’s been a growing trend of guests from the US and elsewhere to book rooms at multiple hotels and cancelling all but one at the last minute. And the reality is that if a guest cancels just before they’re due to stay it’s highly probable their room won’t be filled and the hotel will lose that revenue.
“We work incredibly hard with hoteliers to help them mitigate the incredible damage cancellations can inflict and I’m delighted to say that cancellations from US visitors at our hotels are 20% down so far this year. If this trend continues, it really is a gamechanger as this additional revenue represents many millions of euros for our hotels.”
Reeves urges holidaymakers to think carefully before cancelling. “If you do have to cancel for any reason, I urge you to give the hotel as much notice as possible or, better still, move the booking to an alternative date. If you cancel just before you’re due to check in, even if it’s within the incredibly flexible Covid-related terms, then it’s likely the hotel will lose out financially,” he said.
US visitors represent 52% of all international bookings at Irish hotels, up from 42% in 2022. US visitors make up 16% of the total visitors to Irish hotels, second only to Irish guests.
About SHR Group
SHR Group unites hotel technology and marketing services to empower hoteliers. Our allora.ai platform is an eco-system of tools that maximizes guest success and value at every touchpoint. Over 2,000 hotels globally rely on our products to optimize their channel mix, personalize guest experiences and maximize revenue and profitability.