Record Number Of Visitors To Ireland Last Year

A record number of inbound trips to Ireland broke the 10 million barrier for the first time last year, according to the latest Central Statistics Office figures published today.

10.616 million trips to the country were made between January and December – up 6.9% on 2017.

British residents made up more than a third of that figure, accounting for 3.76 million (35.4%) of the total. This was 0.8% higher than the 2017 figure, but remains 4.2% lower than the 2016 peak.

Trips by residents of the rest of Europe rose above 3.8 million - a 9.5% rise year-on-year and the highest figure on record. It was also the first time that the region accounted for more trips in a year than Britain.

Trips by residents of the USA and Canada also enjoyed strong growth in 2018, up 13.4% to 2.38 million. There was a further 660,700 trips from residents of other areas of the world, up 6.7% year-on-year, with Asia and Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand) representing the bulk of that figure.

The CSO said a new record was also set for the number of Irish residents making trips abroad which were up 4.2% to more than 8.27 million.

Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons said increased direct air access and the organisation’s market diversification strategy were key factors in the 2018 growth.

“Tourism Ireland has prioritised North America and Mainland Europe, as markets which offer a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure.”

"While we welcome the fact that arrivals from Britain are up almost 1%, the continued uncertainty around Brexit, and its impact on outbound travel from Britain, remains a real concern.”

He added: “Our focus now is on the year ahead. Tourism Ireland’s campaigns are in full swing, to build on the success of 2018. Our aim is to grow overseas tourism revenue in 2019 to €6.5 billion, for the island of Ireland.”