There was an increase of 12.8% in overseas visits to Ireland for the first ten months of 2015 compared to the same period of 2014.
 
This is according to the latest official data on overseas travel from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which was unveiled by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe and Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring today.
 
At over 7.4 million visits, overall trips to Ireland were up 12.8% in the first ten months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014.  For the three-month period from August to October 2015, overseas trips to Ireland increased by 14.0%.
 
Visits from Mainland Europe grew by 14.1% for January to October 2015, North America registered an increase of 13.3% for January to October 2015 and visits from Great Britain were up by 11.3% for January to October 2015.
 
Furthermore, visits from the rest of the world (mostly long-haul and developing markets) totalled 461,300 for the first ten months of 2015 (representing an increase of 13.5%) and increased by 23.3% for the three months from August to October alone.
 
CEO of Tourism Ireland, Niall Gibbons said, "Today’s figures indicate that 2015 is set to be a record year for Irish tourism, with more than 7.4 million people arriving during the January to October period – an increase of +12.8%, or an additional 842,300 overseas visitors, when compared to 2014. I am delighted to report that growth has been recorded from all of our markets around the world."

Source: www.businessworld.ie