Agency targets long-term growth for Northern Ireland tourism

Irish Tourism Industry Confederation CEO, Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, described the passenger cap at Dublin Airport as the 'biggest single handbrake on growth'

Alice Mansergh, chief executive officer of Tourism Ireland, said a review of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport 'will be vital for tourism'.

In 2024, overseas tourism spend grew by more than 10%, bringing an estimated €7bn to the island of Ireland and sustaining 300,000 jobs. 

With ambitions for the longer term, Tourism Ireland envisages overseas tourism revenue can grow to €9bn by 2030, with appropriate strategic supports. 

“In any industry there are risks to mitigate and tourism is no different,” said Alice Mansergh, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland. “We are ambitious to support growth for local businesses, economies and communities and our target is to grow overseas visitor spend to €9bn by 2030.” 

She added that the passenger cap at Dublin Airport “is top of mind and its review will be vital for tourism”. At present, the airport can cater for 32 million passengers annually, but has lodged a planning application asking for that figure to be increased to 40 million. 

Irish Tourism Industry Confederation CEO, Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, described the cap as the “biggest single handbrake on growth”, adding airlines “who would be considering Ireland and are coming up against the cap and can’t get slots, they will go elsewhere. We will lose business to the UK or Europe.”

Tourism Ireland aims to double overseas tourism revenue for Northern Ireland by 2035, and last week launched details of a marketing strategy for its promotion overseas. Targeting average growth of over 6.5% in tourism revenue for Northern Ireland each year, the agency will roll out a targeted programme of activity aimed at benefiting the region. 

Amongst the initiatives for the coming year is ‘Slow Tourism Month’, enabling exploration and trip ideas in communities using sustainable modes of transport to generate overnight stays. Tourism Ireland will also unveil a new global advertising campaign across more than 13 overseas markets this year, building on the foundations of its ‘Fill your heart with Ireland’ campaign where ads featuring actresses Sharon Horgan, from Bad Sisters, and Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, from Derry Girls. 

One of the videos was a road trip in counties Donegal and Antrim, highlighting locations like Mamore Gap, Wild Alpaca Way at Five Finger Strand, Horn Head, Island Roy, Portrush and Ballygalley Head.

“Overseas tourism to Northern Ireland delivered £672m (€794m) in revenue in 2023 and, importantly, helped to support around 70,000 jobs,” Mansergh said. “Over half of all visitor spend comes from those travelling to Northern Ireland from overseas. 

"We’re ambitious to support growth for local Northern Ireland businesses, the economy and communities and are targeting growing overseas visitor spend in Northern Ireland to £1.3bn (€1.53b) by 2035. There is also enormous potential ahead and we are ambitious for growth. In 2025, we will focus on increasing the value of overseas tourism, sustainably supporting economies, communities and the environment — and will do so by inspiring overseas visitors and strengthening strategic partnerships.” 

With 80% of visitors researching and booking trips online, Tourism Ireland will be sharing daily inspiration with its 7.5 million followers on social media and supporting 10 million deep research visits on its website, increasingly optimised for AI. 

“Sporting moments like The Open at Royal Portrush present a key opportunity, with promotional activity already under way. Festivals throughout Northern Ireland create additional moments to spotlight, as we win holidays from overseas visitors to grow the benefits of tourism across the year.”