While it’s not news that the hospitality industry is facing rising costs and a lot of financial pressure, the same can also be said for customers. Irish consumers have changed their habits to adapt to a new economic landscape and a rising cost of living. And so, a vicious cycle is created: the customer changes their spending habits, which impacts hospitality, who adjust their prices and hours, which in turn impacts the customer again.
Here is your guide to what Irish consumers are spending their money on in 2025, and how you can adapt:
Restaurants and Dining Out
63% of Irish consumers are dining in restaurants less often than they did 12 months ago, and 82% report cutting back on restaurant spending (Hospitality Ireland). This is having a big effect on the Irish hospitality scene, who are facing a decrease in revenue as a result. This is on top of rising bills, increased employment costs and staffing shortages.
Late Nights after Covid
Despite a drop off in dining out from Irish customers, CGA by NIQ found that consumers are going out later in the day, and spending more when they do. The Irish pub scene, while still struggling, has seen an uptake in footfall and customers since the quiet covid days, with 49% of consumers said that they were typically visiting pubs, bars and restaurants in the late evening, as opposed to earlier on in the day.
As well as this, the introduction of more hybrid work models during the pandemic has seen a change in nightlife as well, which has been dubbed the ‘Friday effect’; Many now opt for after-work drinks on a Thursday after a day in the office instead of on Fridays, when a lot of people work from home.
Travel Patterns
A study by Airbnb has found that while 74% of Irish people take a holiday abroad at least once a year, only one in three Irish consumers surveyed take a ‘staycation’ in Ireland once a year. Click&Go found that 89% of Irish people took at least one holiday abroad last summer. Rising costs across Ireland have made domestic holidays more expensive than they used to be, sending Irish holiday-goers abroad instead.
