The Gathering pulls in record number of tourists and generates €170m

The Gathering generated an estimated €170m, helping to attract a record number of tourists this year.

The initiative, which ends with a New Year’s event in Dublin, is being hailed as the critical factor in the record number of tourists from the US and elsewhere to Ireland this year.

Overseas visits to Ireland for the first 10 months of the year are up 7.3% — 414,000 extra visitors on last year. Visitors from some countries, including the key US market, are up by double figures.