Spending in hotels, pubs and restaurants increased last month, according to new debit and credit card data from AIB.
The average daily spend in hotels jumped by 7% in April, while spend in pubs and off licenses was up 6%, and spend in restaurants increased by 4%.
This boost across the hospitality sector is in contrast to overall spending, which was flat when compared to March.
“We saw overall spending was flat when compared with March, which could be further evidence of the impact of cost-of-living increases,” said John Brennan, Head of SME Banking at AIB.
This latest data was complied from 60 million debit and credit card transactions in store and online last month.
It shows that the average daily spend in April was €97m, in line with March’s figures.
The figures show a steady increase in the use of digital wallets, with a 4% increase in average daily spend in April, building on a 7% increase in March and a 12% increase in February.
“It’s interesting to note the continued increase in spend using digital wallets, reflecting overall customer behaviour, as more and more customers choose digital banking methods every day,” said Mr Brennan.
“This data is important for businesses as it allows them to support customer choices and ensure customers have the best experience when engaging with them,” he added.
The data reveals that the average daily spend for online shopping dropped slightly, by 1%.
However, it remains the most popular method of spending at 36% of total spend, followed by chip and pin at 33%, digital wallet at 19% and contactless at 12%.
Of the ten sectors analysed, groceries continues to account for most spending at 18% of total spend, followed by hardware, health and beauty, clothing and restaurants at 5%, hotels and airline travel at 3%, and pubs and off licences, homewares and electronics at 2%.
