Tourism drive to attract 600,000 visitors to Ireland

A new tourism campaign promoting Ireland’s diverse 5,000-year-old historical heritage could bring 600,000 more visitors to the south and east by 2020 — helping to grow the local economy by almost €1bn.

Tourism Minister Paschal Donohue made the claim at the launch yesterday of Ireland’s Ancient East initiative yesterday, despite admitting no budget has been set aside for the high-profile project.

Under new plans unveiled at a major international tourism expo at the RDS in Dublin, landmarks from the Boyne Valley in the north east to Kilkenny, Waterford, and East Cork in the south east will be repackaged to entice foreign and domestic visitors.