Tourism sector continues modest turnaround

IRISH tourism continued to recover in 2004 in terms of overseas visitor numbers from the downturn caused by September 11 and global recession, the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation (ITIC) said yesterday.

However, chairman Brian Dowling said the recovery has been sluggish. The moderate level of performance, he said, fell short both of the target of 4% growth and of the rate of return required by tourism enterprises. These have invested heavily but are confronted with the high costs of doing business in Ireland and reduced margins.

The overall numbers of overseas visitors to Ireland in 2004 are likely to grow by about 2.7%. The final outcome is expected to be a total of 6.35 million overseas visitors, compared to 6.17 million in 2003.