CSO data released today shows that the number of overseas visits to Ireland for the first four months of 2018 was over 2.8 million, which was an increase of 7.3% compared to the corresponding period in 2017.
A breakdown of today’s data shows that visits from North America were up by 13.6%, compared to the same period last year, while visits from Mainland Europe and Britain were up by 12.3% and 1.1% respectively. Visits from the rest of the world (long-haul) were up by 2.9%.
Responding to the publication of today’s figures, Paul Kelly CEO of Fáilte Ireland emphasised:
“We are delighted to see the hard work of everyone involved in tourism being rewarded with such positive growth in tourist numbers - this growth will further increase the already significant contribution tourism makes to the overall economy of Ireland. The challenge for us all now is to manage and maintain this growth, and key to this will be to ensure that we continue to give our visitors a top quality and excellent value for money experience. In order to do this, we will need increased investment from both the private and public sector in all areas - from accommodation to visitor attractions and infrastructure - to build our capacity to host these visitors in a way that gives them a top-class experience, making them more likely to visit again and recommend Ireland to their family and friends.
"Our Fáilte Ireland research is picking up a softening in our value for money ratings. If that trend should continue, we will become considered as an expensive destination. Should that happen, all the good work of recent years will be undone and it could take us years to reverse that perception. These growth levels in visitor numbers also gives us a real opportunity to develop a better regional and spatial spread of activity to minimise congestion, and we in Fáilte Ireland will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure the benefits of this growth are spread throughout the country.”
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