THE NUMBER OF overseas visits to Ireland grew by 6.1 per cent in the period June to August 2011, while visits increased overall by 11 per cent in the first eight months of the year.
The number of visits from North American residents showed the greatest increase over the summer of 2011, rising 7.6 per cent to 381,100 trips between June and August of this year.
The latest CSO figures show that Great Britain remains Ireland’s biggest source of visitors, with 885,800 visiting here over those three months – an increase of 4.8 per cent on the same period of last year. Residents from elsewhere in Europe increased their trips to Ireland by 6.1 per cent to 742,600 visits.
The total number of trips to Ireland between June and August was 2,133,800.
Meanwhile, the number of overseas trips by Irish resident fell by 5.3 per cent over the same period, down to 2,076,300 compared to 2,191,500 for the same months of 2010.
Visits to Ireland increased 11 per cent from January to August 2011 on last year’s figures, with visits up from 4,036,400 in the first eight months of 2010 to 4,481,800 this year. Visits from Great Britain increased by over 8 per cent for the period and were up by 12.6 per cent from North American residents.
Tourism Ireland’s CEO Niall Gibbons welcomed today’s publication of visitor figures, saying that the increase represents “a welcome return to growth in overseas tourism”.
He said that despite the “encouraging growth” in overseas visitors so far this year, current indicators suggest that this will soften over the rest of the year.
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