In spite of the cost of living crisis, Mr Walsh, a finalist in this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards, said 2023 is looking “even stronger” with demand for city breaks and from corporate travel finally reaching pre-pandemic levels.
But Mr Walsh said he does expect “some flattening off” of room rate growth from the 15 per cent that Staycity achieved last year. “We’re expecting some growth in rates this year but not as much as last year,” he said, with the group’s longer-term corporate accommodation business still catching up with other categories.
However, he said: “There are occasions when the city is absolutely full like concerts and so on where rates can become very expensive. But on the whole, our value-for-money metrics in Dublin aren’t out of line with other European cities.”