Published on 

More Good News on Overseas Visitor Numbers

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross T.D. and the Minister of State for Tourism, Brendan Griffin T.D. today welcomed the latest official data on overseas travel from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which showed an increase of 6.8% in overseas visits to Ireland for the first eleven months of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017.

Commenting on the figures, Minister Ross T.D. said: “This latest overseas visitor data confirm again what a good year tourism has experienced. The continued growth in both visit numbers and revenue underlines the huge progress made by the sector in recent years. It also highlights the promotion and development work done by Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland with the support of Government. I am confident that the additional funding I secured in Budget 2019 will allow the tourism agencies to build further on the excellent performance of recent years.

Yesterday, I launched my Department’s Tourism Action Plan 2019-2021. This three-year plan sets out actions identified as priorities to be progressed between now and 2021 in order to maintain sustainable growth in overseas tourism revenue and employment. Each action involves specific tourism stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors, all of whom we expect to proactively work towards the completion of actions within the specified timeframe. The publication of this Plan is timely as the original target set out in the Tourism Policy Statement to reach 10 million overseas visits will be achieved this year, 7 years ahead of schedule. This Plan acts as a platform for collaboration between all tourism stakeholders, which will result in a greater tourism offering for visitors.”

Today’s CSO figures on Overseas Travel show that, for the period January-November 2018:

• At 9.878 million visits, overall trips to Ireland were up 6.8% compared to the same period in 2017.
• Visits from Mainland Europe grew by 9%, to 3.562 million visits
• North America registered an increase of 13.1% (2.242 million visits)
• Visits from Great Britain were up 1% (3.464 million visits)
• Visits from the rest of the world (mostly long-haul and developing markets) grew by 6.9% (0.609 million visits)

Minister of State for Tourism & Sport, Brendan Griffin T.D. stated: “2018 has been another successful year for tourism. On Tuesday, I attended Tourism Ireland’s End of Year review and a key priority for Tourism Ireland in 2019 will be sustainable destination marketing. The focus of the tourism agencies and my Department going forward is to ensure that we continue to grow in a sustainable way and to further build on the success that the regions have experienced through initiatives such as the Wonders of the Wild Atlantic Way and The Call of the Wild. I am looking forward to another positive year in 2019.”

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “2018 is set to be another record year for Irish tourism and today’s CSO figures indicate that we welcomed almost 9.9 million overseas arrivals during January to November. This represents growth of almost +7% – or 628,100 additional visitors – on the same eleven-month period last year. Particularly welcome in today’s figures is the continued strong performance from North America, with an increase of +13.1%. A number of factors are working in our favour, including more airline seats than ever before, from more gateways across the US and Canada. We’ve also seen really good results from Mainland Europe, up +9% on January-November last year, with particularly strong performances from Germany (+19.4%) and Italy (+11.2%). Tourism Ireland has prioritised North America and Mainland Europe, as markets which offer a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure.

“Visitors from Australia and emerging markets like China are up almost +7%. While we welcome the fact that arrivals from Britain are up +1%, the continued uncertainty around Brexit, and its impact on outbound travel from Britain, remains a real concern. This week, our new global campaign, ‘Fill Your Heart With Ireland’, is launching in cinemas, on TV and on social platforms in our top four markets – the United States, Britain, France and Germany. The campaign will roll out further in the new year in Canada, Australia, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. We are confident that our new campaign will help deliver another record year for tourism in 2019. Our aim is to grow overseas tourism revenue in 2019 to €6.5 billion, for the island of Ireland.”

Responding to today’s CSO figures, Fáilte Ireland’s CEO Paul Kelly, said: “I’m pleased to see such robust growth in November, a period which is well outside of the tourism high season and traditionally considered to be one of the lowest performing months in terms of overseas visitors. It is this kind of growth that is central to the long-term success of the tourism sector. Small changes in the seasonal profile can make a big impact on the commercial viability of tourism businesses and the sustainability of employment in the sector. We know that many tourism businesses, particularly in rural Ireland, already find it very difficult to sustain their business through the winter months and are now facing further cost inflation pressures on VAT, insurance and wages. Investing in initiatives to extend the season is critical for them and those who they employ.

“The strong growth the tourism industry has seen in recent years can’t be taken for granted, particularly as we prime ourselves for the uncertainty Brexit will bring next year. Our research shows that arrivals from Britain are dispersed across the full calendar year, making them a very important stream of business in the off season. As Fáilte Ireland prepares for the year ahead, a key focus will be supporting the industry to minimise this risk. We will continue to invest in more season extension initiatives to support the industry to stay open for longer and attract a more diverse visitor base.”