CSO Data Shows 7.8% Increase in Overseas Travel to Ireland
Overseas visits to Ireland were up by 7.8% for first eight months of 2018, compared to the same period last year, with just over 7.2m overseas visitors from January to August.
The latest CSO data released today shows that:
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Overseas visitors to Ireland increased by 7.6% for the month of August and by 7.8% for the year to August. This resulted in over half a million (521,000) extra visitors to Ireland over the period January to August 2018
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Mainland Europe increased by 10.5% to 2.63 million visitors, with both German (+21%) and Italian visitors (+13.4%) growing strongly
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British visitors increased by 2.5% to 2.54 million visitors over the corresponding period last year
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North American visitors grew by 13.2% to 1.61 million
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Visitors from all Other Areas (451,000) grew by 5.3%
Welcoming today’s figures, Fáilte Ireland’s CEO Paul Kelly said:
“Irish tourism has enjoyed a record summer, with visitor numbers reaching their highest figures yet. This success has not been accidental, but has been sustained by a mixture of good planning at State level, and the work of an innovative industry. Government supports for tourism, including a competitive VAT rate, have allowed Ireland to compete overseas for visitors, and significant investment from ourselves at Fáilte Ireland in tourism experiences on the ground has created many compelling reasons for people to come here. However, despite the sunny figures, there are some clouds on the horizon. The foremost challenge in the near-term is Brexit - sentiment across the industry is already starting to soften and there is real concern in many parts of the country about its potential impact on business. There are also many tourism businesses, particularly in rural Ireland, still operating on very tight margins and facing cost inflation pressures on insurance and wages.”
“If we are to sustain the impressive performance reflected in today’s figures, as well as the €1.7bn in revenue this activity provides to the Exchequer, we will need to maintain the best possible environment in which tourism businesses can thrive, and ensure our industry stays competitive. This will include continuing to invest in new and innovative attractions which will entice more visitors to our shores, and working with industry to ensure the sector remains agile and able to diversify to meet the needs of key markets going forward.”
Overseas Visitors January to August 2018
Staying and same day visits (000)
|
|
2017 |
2018 |
% change |
|
Britain |
2,483 |
2,544 |
2.5 |
|
North America |
1,419 |
1,607 |
13.2 |
|
Mainland Europe |
2,383 |
2,633 |
10.5 |
|
France |
395 |
402 |
1.9 |
|
Germany |
462 |
559 |
21 |
|
Italy |
252 |
286 |
13.4 |
|
Spain |
319 |
316 |
-1.0 |
|
All Other Europe |
956 |
1,070 |
11.9 |
|
Other Areas |
429 |
451 |
5.3 |
|
Australia/New Zealand |
143 |
153 |
6.8 |
|
Other |
286 |
298 |
4.4 |
|
Total Overseas |
6,715 |
7,235 |
7.8 |
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