The largest hotel price increases this St Patrick’s Day are unsurprisingly found in Dublin, which annually hosts the biggest St Patrick’s Day parade in the world. This year the parade is on Monday 17th March, a public holiday in Ireland.
LONDON – Hotel prices in Dublin have increased by up to 88 per cent this St Patrick’s Day, according to the trivago Hotel Price Index (tHPI) released monthly by hotel comparison website trivago.co.uk. Prices are also up in the UK cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast. Elsewhere in Europe, hotel prices have increased for the spring season, but decreased year-on-year.
Hotel Prices Up by 88% in Dublin
The largest hotel price increases this St Patrick’s Day are unsurprisingly found in Dublin, which annually hosts the biggest St Patrick’s Day parade in the world. This year the parade is on Monday 17th March, a public holiday in Ireland. Visitors can enjoy traditional Irish dancing, live music, street performers, markets, a funfair and other festivities from Friday 14th onwards.
According to the tHPI, hotel prices are at their highest on Saturday 15th March, when an overnight stay will cost an average of £175. This is an 88 per cent increase from the monthly average of £93 per night. However, prices have also increased on Friday 14th (up 25 per cent to £117), Sunday 16th (up 79 per cent to £167) and Monday 17th (up 50 per cent to £139).
Although these increases are undoubtedly large, the prices are more reasonable than St Patrick’s Day last year. Dublin hoteliers faced an online backlash in 2013 after raising their prices by 173 per cent to an average of £248 on Saturday 16th March. It is encouraging to see these price hikes lessen, as it would be unfortunate for visitors to be deterred from attending the world famous celebration.
Hotel Prices Up in Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast
St Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide by Irish emigrants, descendants and lovers of Irish culture. The UK is no exception to this rule and the March tHPI shows some hoteliers take advantage of this year’s celebration.
The most significant hotel price increases can be found in Liverpool, whose residents have the highest proportion of Irish ancestry in England. An overnight stay on Saturday 15th March will cost an average of £127, which is a 59 per cent increase from the monthly average of £80. Prices are also up by 50 per cent in Manchester, which will host a festival and parade. One night on Saturday 15th will cost £160 on average, compared to the monthly average of £107. On the same day, prices have also increased in Glasgow (up 23 per cent to £98) and Belfast (up 13 per cent to £87).
European Hotel Prices Increase for Spring
The tHPI shows that hotel prices have increased across Europe as the spring season begins. Based on the 50 most popular European cities on trivago, one night in March will cost an average of £89. This is a 7 per cent increased from the February monthly average of £84 per night.
Compared to last month, the most significant increases can be found in Rome (up 27 per cent to an average of £100 per night), Istanbul (up 25 per cent to £89), Geneva (up 23 per cent to £227) and Florence (up 20 per cent to £96).
It is also interesting to note that European hotel prices have generally decreased year-on-year, especially in Spain. One night during March 2013 cost an average of £93, compared to £89 this year. The most significant decreases can be found in the Spanish cities of Seville (down 21 per cent to an average of £65), Malaga (down 13 per cent to £60), Bilbao (also down 13 per cent to £63) and Granada (down 11 per cent to £59).
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
