A top Ryder Cup executive has said hotel prices for the golf tournament scheduled for Limerick in two years’ time are already “elevated” and warned the industry that a customer’s experience will have to match the high prices they are being charged.
Alan Evans, director of hospitality and guest experience at Ryder Cup Europe, said fan experience would very much be the focus if hotels were charging high rates for the event set to be held at Adare Manor in September 2027.
“It has surprised us a little just how elevated some of the rates are,” he told more than 300 hoteliers gathered in Killarney for the annual Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) conference.
Ireland would wish to attract other big sporting events, and would want to learn from the Ryder Cup, he said.
“Have an eye on the guest experience, and make sure the experience matches the price you are charging,” he said.
He also cautioned hoteliers against matching rates with other Ryder Cups. Rome, which held the 2023 event, was not to be compared as it had high prices all year round, and this year’s event in New York would be on at the same time as the annual UN General Assembly so rates would be distorted there.
Meanwhile the economic backdrop for the Irish hotel sector remains “pretty rosy”, Bank of Ireland chief economist Conall Mac Coille told delegates on Tuesday.
With the American economy healthy, no downturn in the US tourist market to Ireland is anticipated, he said. In Europe the outlook is poor but Ireland can expect growth of 3 per cent this year.
“It’s still a pretty rosy scenario here,” Mr Mac Coille said.
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He said some of the fears about Donald Trump’s tariffs and their effect on the important pharmaceutical sector here were “overdone”, adding that there was a long lead-in time to setting up a pharmaceutical plant in the US.
“It takes at least four years to move a pharmaceutical plant,” Mr Mac Coille said, noting the US regulatory procedures.
Mr Trump is the owner of Doonbeg hotel and golf course and a member of the IHF, the conference heard.
The Irish labour market was beginning to heat up and this was a challenge, Mr Mac Coille noted. Employment growth had revised up to 2.2 per cent in 2025 and 2.8 million people were employed in Ireland last year.
Up to 50 per cent of jobs have gone to non-nationals over the past two years, the conference heard.
Air access also featured at the conference. MEP Sean Kelly called on the Government to publish its aviation strategy, which was delayed.
“This has to include the development of regional airports – Kerry, Waterford, Knock, and Shannon,” he said. He also called for the 32 million passenger cap on Dublin Airport to be lifted.
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“There are only two ways into Ireland, by sea and by air, and we can’t be limiting access – we should be maximising it,” he said.
Dublin Airport was a piece of key infrastructure strategic for the country – and Shannon was not looking for a cap on numbers – and aviation policy needed to be updated.
Mary Considine, chief executive of Shannon Group, said regional airports had capacity that was not being used. Five million passengers from the Limerick catchment used Dublin every year and adding to an already congested Dublin Airport, she said.
