Tourism chiefs hope for 7.7m visitors next year after bumper 2014

Tourism Ireland hopes to attract a record-breaking 7.7m visitors next year, after a bumper 2014 which saw tourist revenue grow to €3.7bn.

The group has launched its marketing plans to promote Ireland overseas next year and aims to attract 7.74m visitors to these shores in 2015 — surpassing the previous record year of 2007.

This will represent a 6% growth on the 2014 figure of 7.3m tourists and deliver almost €4bn to the economy. In the longer term, Tourism Ireland aims to attract 10m visitors in 2025, contributing €5bn to the economy and sustaining around 250,000 jobs.