9.6 million people visited Ireland last year, up almost 11%

Almost 9.6 million people came to Ireland from overseas last year, an increase of 10.9% on 2015.

There was a record-breaking total of 9,584,400 visits to Ireland in 2016.

According to the CSO, the number of trips abroad made by Irish residents in 2016 was 7.4 million.

Tourism Ireland has welcomed the figures and says its focus now is on the year ahead.

Tiourism Ireland boss Niall Gibbons said: "Ireland now welcomes 10% of all American visitors to Europe, particularly noteworthy given the intense competition from other destinations.

"We have also seen record numbers arriving here from mainland Europe (+8.5%); and I also welcome the continued strong performance from Britain (+10.6%), our largest market for overseas tourism."

Today’s CSO figures on overseas travel show:

• At over 9.584 million visits, overall trips to Ireland were up 10.9% in 2016 compared to 2015;
• Visits from Mainland Europe grew by 8.5% in 2016, to 3,302,100 visits;
• North America registered an increase of 19.4% for 2016 (1,808,000 visits);
• Visits from Great Britain were up by 10.6% for 2016 (3,924,100 visits)
• Visits from the rest of the world (mostly long-haul and developing markets) totalled 550,200 for 2016 (an increase of 2.2%)