Tourism takes another big hit in February

THERE has been a large drop in February in the number of overseas tourists to Ireland. It is a further blow to the hard-pressed tourism industry.

A total of 336,800 foreign tourists came to the Republic in February – a reduction of more than 24% on the same month last year, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The biggest fall came in visitors from Britain, which was down almost 30%. Tourists from mainland Europe dropped by 23%, while visitors from North America fell by just under 7%. The only positive news is that visitors from long-haul destinations rose by more than 9%, although they only account for a small proportion of all foreign visitors.