There was good news for accommodation providers in Ireland this week as new figures from lastminute.com revealed a baking start to the summer has inspired Irish holidaymakers to spend more of their holiday budgets in Irish hotels.
 
When compared with the same period last year, end of June to mid-July, figures reveal significant increases in the amount spent on Irish hotels through lastminute.ie, along with increases in the number of bookings and in the length of stays.
 
Athlone came out on top, with holidaymakers spending an incredible 238 percent more this year on hotel breaks there. Spending figures for Donegal also doubled while Cork, Galway and Limerick saw between 40 and 50 percent rises.
 
The top eight Irish destinations, in terms of rises in average spend on hotel bookings this year through lastminute.ie, were as follows:
 
- Athlone
- Donegal
- Limerick
- Cork
- Galway          
- Wexford
- Dublin
- Kilkenny
 
Many places also saw large increases in the number of bookings made and in the average length of stay:
 
- In Galway, hotel bookings were up 176 percent
- In Athlone, hotel bookings were up 150 percent, with the average length of stay up 60 percent
- In Limerick, the average length of hotel stays was up 30 percent