Tourist figures rise 8.4% in Q1

Tourism got off to a good start this year with the number of trips to the Republic of Ireland in the first quarter of 2004 increasing by 8.4% on last year, according to CSO statistics released today.

Visitor numbers grew from North America by 22% and Great Britain by 5.5% respectively.

Commenting on these results Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue said: "I am pleased to see the continuing strong recovery in the important North American market and it is good to see that Great Britain, our largest market, is holding up well.

"It is a very positive start to 2004 however it is still early days to make predictions for the year as a whole."

Paul O'Toole, Chief Executive, Tourism Ireland said: "We look forward to seeing the full details of the first quarter statistics to assess their overall impact on the industry.

"A particular challenge will be to translate anticipated volume growth into corresponding revenue growth and a better regional spread of business."