Room revenue at Irelands Dalata surpasses 2019 levels

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpDUBLIN Reuters – Irelands largest hotel operator, Dalata Hotel Group, said hotel room revenue RevPAR surpassed prepandemic levels for the first time as it expressed optimism on Thursday for summer trading.p

pDalata reported at the start of March that RevPAR – a key measure of a hotels topline performance – was approaching prepandemic levels and said on Thursday that for March and April it is expected to be 109 of the corresponding 2019 period.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pA number of Dalatas hotel rooms in Ireland are currently being utilised for other purposes, including to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, the hotel group added in a trading update. p

pDalata, which also runs hotels under its Maldron and Clayton brands in the UK and is set to increase its number of rooms by at least 20 through planned expansion, said it also remained cautious about the impact of inflation on demand.p

pIrelands tourism sector was battered over the past two years by the COVID19 hit to global travel and some of the strictest travel curbs in the European Union. p

pThe Irish Tourism Industry Confederation said this week that it expects inbound tourism to reach 67 of 2019 levels this year, up from its forecast of 60 earlier this year. Travel to and from Ireland hit 65 of prepandemic levels in February. p

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pp Reporting by Padraic Halpin Editing by Kim Coghillp

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