Visitor spending in Ireland expected to double by 2012, says O’Donoghue

THE amount spent by overseas visitors in Ireland is set to double to €6 billion by 2012, the Tourism Minister said yesterday.

Speaking at the launch of the Irish Hospitality Institute in Dublin, John O’Donoghue said the industry was on course to meet targets set out in 2003 to double the amount foreign tourists spent over a 10-year period.

“Since the cataclysmic events of 2001 and subsequent years, the Irish hospitality industry has been going through a period of unprecedented change worldwide.