Tourism growth of 11% this year

Ireland continues to go from strength to strength as a tourist hotspot as new figures show the number of visitors here grew by more than 10% in the first six months of the year.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office show that, between May and July, the total number of trips to Ireland increased by 11.1% to 2,315,700 — up 231,100 on the same period last year.

Trips by residents of North America increased by 16.6% to 488,100, while trips by British people rose by 8.5% to 836,700.

Visits by residents of the EU, other than Britain, rose 9.7% to 833,800, while trips to Ireland from other areas increased by 16.8% to 157,300. The total number of overseas trips made by Irish people between May and July dropped marginally to 1,985,800.

Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn said the growth in the numbers coming from Britain was particularly encouraging, as this is Ireland’s largest overseas market.

“These figures are extremely encouraging and quite clearly tourism is trending strongly upwards,” said Mr Quinn.

“However, this is no accident and recent growth has been significantly underpinned by the return of good value in our tourism sector as well as our development and promotion of big new ideas such as The Gathering and the Wild Atlantic Way which have given Ireland a distinctive calling card and greater visibility overseas.”

Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons said the figures were good news for jobs and for the economy.

“Given that overseas tourism business accounts for almost 60% of all tourism revenue, this is good news indeed, with the increase in visitor numbers from overseas helping to boost employment around the country,” he said.

Stephen McNally, president of the Irish Hotels Federation, said challenges remained in terms of encouraging tourists to visit parts of Ireland that were outside the main hotspots and “the challenge now is to ensure these gains are spread throughout the country”.

“This is where initiatives such as the Wild Atlantic Way can make an enormous contribution to regional tourism,” said Mr McNally.

Tourism Minister Paschal Donohue said the introduction of the 9% Vat rate for the industry was changing perceptions about Ireland in terms of value for money.

“Along with increasing the numbers employed, I believe that it has also played a huge part in changing visitors’ perceptions of value for money in Ireland, which has shown a marked and continuing improvement in the past couple of years, after many years of decline,” said Mr Donohue. “This improved perception of value for money has, in turn, helped to drive an increase in overseas tourist numbers and expenditure.”