Strong Growth In Summer Visitor Numbers
Overseas visitors to Ireland during the three peak summer months grew by almost 10%
The number of overseas visitors to Ireland during the three peak summer months grew by almost 10% compared with the same period in 2013, the CSO said today.
A total of 2.48 million people visited the country during June, July and August – a rise of 9.7%.
The number of visitors from North American was up 18% to 516,700, while visits from Britain increased by 3.5% to 910,500. Visitor numbers from continental Europe grew by 11.2% to 883,700.
In the period January to August, a total of 5.2 million visitors came to Ireland – an increase of 9.4%.
Overseas visitors spent an estimated €1.535 billion here during the first half of this year, up €123 million on the same period last year.
Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said he was delighted with the figures.
“I am particularly pleased to see visitor numbers from Great Britain, our largest market, increasing by 9% for the first eight months,” said Mr Gibbons, adding that it was set to be a record year for tourism from North America.
The CSO figures also suggest Irish people are starting to go on holidays in greater numbers, with 2.18 million overseas trips by Irish residents in the summer months – a rise of 5.9%.