DUBLIN: Total overseas visitors grew by 11% to 3.9 million – almost 400,000 additional visitors – in the first half of this year.
While revenue from overseas visitors increased by 9% in the first six months, to €1.93bn – an additional €165m for the Irish economy. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) says the number of nights spent here by overseas travellers in the second quarter also increased by 5.3%.
But the average duration of overseas trips here fell from seven nights in 2015 to 6.7 nights now. Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Today’s CSO figures are really strong, confirming that revenue from overseas visitors to Ireland grew by 9% in the first six months of 2016.
“This was an excellent first half performance and reflects the sentiment we are hearing from our tourism industry partners, overseas and here at home. We are determined to ensure that tourism growth continues.”
While the Tourism Minister Shane Ross added: “Despite concerns that it would be difficult to grow on the results achieved in 2015, today’s data shows that the positive momentum has been maintained.
“Another positive from today’s publication is that the number of visitors to Ireland citing ‘Holidays/Leisure/Recreation’ as their reason for visiting was up by 13.1% compared to the first half of 2015.
“We are not resting on our laurels however, and next week I will be launching Tourism Ireland’s Autumn/Winter overseas marketing campaign which should ensure that the strong performance continues right up to the end of 2016.”
