Irish cinemas and hotels prevail despite fall in overall retail spending nationwide

A retail performance analysis conducted by an Irish bank has revealed a drop in spending across all counties in April 2023. 

According to Bank of Ireland's Spending Pulse - which analyses debit and credit card spend - overall retail spending dropped by 7% nationwide when compared to March 2023. 

Sligo consumers proved to be April's most frugal county with a dip of 9% while Roscommon recorded a decline of just 5%, putting it at the top of the county-by-county spending table. 

Monthly outlay in Kilkenny, Mayo and Meath all declined by 8%, with Donegal, Dublin and Kerry all witnessing 7% spending drops. 

The report discovered pub spending fell by 6% and outlay on fast food dropped by 5%, with restaurant spending rising by just 1%. 

However, there was better news for cinema operators as spending at cinemas spiked by a whopping 47%. 

An 11% and 9% rise in spending at hotels and tourist attractions respectively was also noted. 

Teenagers (13–17-year-olds) were the only age group where a spending spike was noted (+9%), while all other age cateogries saw spending levels fall with a decline of 8% recorded amongst 18-25 years olds and 26-35-year-olds.

Commenting on the analysis, Head of Customer Journeys & SME Markets at Bank of Ireland, Jilly Clarkin,said, "Sharp rises in April spending in sunnier spots like Greece (+99%), Portugal (+72%) and Spain (+25%) would suggest that many people used the Easter break to get away from it all for a week or two. 

"This was a spending trend that we also recorded in April 2022, so perhaps it wasn’t all that surprising that spending hikes experienced during the opening months of 2023 did not continue this April.

"Consumers are still battling the inflationary impact on their shopping trollies, and grocery spending dipped by 8% in April. Time will tell if the latest Spending Pulse serves to indicate the beginning of a wider trend, or proves to be a temporary dip before spending levels soar upwards during the summer months.”