There has been a 40% increase in searches for domestic holidays among Irish travellers, Hotels.com has revealed. The statistic from Hotels.com shows a growing interest in Ireland as a holiday destination amongst Irish people and comes on the back of a major promotional campaign by Discover Ireland highlighting domestic tourism opportunities across the country.

Searches for hotels in Ireland by Irish people on Hotels.com, the world’s leading hotel booking site, increased by 40% in March 2009 compared to March the previous year. This dramatic rise in searches comes after the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index revealed that the average price of a hotel room in Ireland fell by 17% year on year bringing the national average down from 108 euros to 89 euros.

Nigel Pocklington, Managing Director, Hotels.com EMEA, comments; “The increase in searches on our site shows that there is a growing interest in domestic holidays among Irish people - which is good news for Irish tourism. Ireland currently offers excellent value for money with prices dropping and there are some excellent deals available. Our latest Hotel Price Index shows that the average price of a hotel room in Ireland is now less than 90 euros and hotel room prices have dropped nearly 20% year on year meaning there are some great value holidays to be had in Ireland.”

Hotels.com has access to the most up to date and accurate information in relation to travel trends offering more than 99,000 hotels worldwide in all major markets.