Surge in online searches for Ireland

The Titanic anniversary, St Patrick’s Day, and last year’s visits by Britain’s Queen and US President Barack Obama contributed to a surge in interest across Europe in Ireland as a holiday destination.

Online travel agent ebookers.ie also attributed the increased interest to an impressive marketing campaign across the continent by Tourism Ireland.

Ebookers predicted an influx of visitors from across Europe this year based on a comparison of data from its search engine between January and June this year, compared with last year.