The latest tourism figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that there was 107,800 additional overseas visitors to Ireland between January-May 2017. This was the best ever month of May recorded for Irish tourism.
Arrivals from Mainland Europe grew by 4% – with markets like France, Germany, Spain and Italy continuing to perform well. Visitors from North America saw an increase of +23.6%. Meanwhile, visitor numbers from Australia and Developing Markets for the first five months of 2017 are up +21.7%.
However, British visitor numbers dropped -6.8% for the January to May period. Tourism Ireland has warned that the decline in the value of sterling has made holidays and short breaks to Ireland more expensive for British visitors. Furthermore, economic uncertainty is undoubtedly making British travellers more cautious about their discretionary spending.
Welcoming today's figures, CEO of Tourism Ireland, Niall Gibbons said, "I am pleased to see growth of more than +3% for the five-month period January-May, coming on the back of a record performance in 2016 and years of solid growth in overseas tourism. It is encouraging that this was the best ever month of May for Irish tourism. Particularly welcome is the continued strong performance from North America, with an increase of +23.6%."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
