The latest official data on overseas travel from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows an increase of 12.3% in overseas visits to Ireland for the first eight months of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015.
For the three-month period from June to August 2016, overseas trips to Ireland also increased by 10.8%.
The figures show that visits from Mainland Europe grew by 11.2% for January to August 2016, to 2,309,000 visits and by 10.8% for the June to August period. North America registered an increase of 15.4% for January – August 2016 (1,203,600 visits) and an increase of 13.2% in the June – August 2016 period.
Visits from Great Britain were up by 13.4% for January – August 2016 (2,673,600 visits) and by 10.5% for the three months from June to August 2016 compared to the corresponding period of 2015
Furthermore, visits from the rest of the world (mostly long-haul and developing markets) totalled 366,600 for the first eight months of 2016 (representing an increase of 2.7%) and increased by 4.7% for the three months from June to August.
Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan today commented, "The number of visitors over the summer season increased by 10.8% when compared to the same period in 2015. The success of the tourism sector has led to real jobs with 220,000 people now employed in the tourism sector. While the peak summer season is now behind us, there are still many festivals to look forward to around the country."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
