The number of overseas visitors to Ireland has increased from last year. Tourist numbers have increased by a total of 15.5%. The number of visitors from Great Britain is up 8.5% while the number of tourists from the United States has increased by 16.9%. Visitor numbers from other European countries have risen by 24% and tourists from the rest of the world have increased by 21%. This is positive news for the tourism industry. However, while the figures are moving in the right direction, the numbers are still down compared to 2006, 2007 and 2008 levels.
Figure 1 shows how the total number of visitors to Ireland has fallen over recent years and also shows the composition of the visitors to Ireland. While an improvement can be observed over last year, overall numbers are still down relative to the booming years of 2006-2008.
Figure 1 shows how the total number of visitors to Ireland has fallen over recent years and also shows the composition of the visitors to Ireland. While an improvement can be observed over last year, overall numbers are still down relative to the booming years of 2006-2008.
Figure 2 shows this decline in more detail. It can be noted that while trips from North America and the rest of the world have recovered to pre-crash levels, visits from Great Britain, and Other European countries have failed to recover. As these two categories are the largest contributors to visits to Ireland this has a large negative impact on Ireland’s overall visitor numbers. In order to overcome the loss of tourists from Great Britain, the number of visitors from the US would have to approximately double or the number of visitors from the rest of the world would have to quadruple.
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