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Lonely Planet announced this week that Ireland is been voted one of their top ten countries to visit in 2015. The internationally recognised travel guide chose to highlight Ireland's stunning scenery, noting in particular that "this year is the year of the Wild Atlantic Way, a 2500km scenic drive that snakes its way round every nook and crook of the western seaboard from Donegal to Cork."

"The Irish themselves are inevitably at the heart of the best the country has to offer." Lonely Planet, Countries to Visit 2015

Ireland is one of ten countries selected for Lonely Planet's 2015 must-see list, along with Singapore, Namibia, Lithuania, St Lucia and Morocco. The full list here:  

1. Singapore
2. Namibia
3. Lithuania
4. Nicaragua
5. Ireland
6. Republic of Congo
7. Serbia
8. The Philippines
9. St Lucia
10. Morocco

Visitors to Ireland up by 9.3% in 2014

This news comes as the new figures show visitors to Ireland are already on the up. The latest CSO figures for tourism show that the total number of overseas visits increased by 9.3% for the first nine months of 2014 when compared with the corresponding period of 2013.

Today’s CSO figures show:

• At over 5.9 million visits, overall trips to Ireland were up 9.3% in the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.
• For the three-month period from July to September 2014, overseas trips to Ireland increased by 7.9%.
• Visits from Mainland Europe grew by 7.4% for January to September 2014, to 2.08 million visits. Notably visitor numbers from Germany increased by 16.5%. Visits from Mainland Europe increased by 9.5% for the July to September period. 
• North America registered an increase of 13.9% for January-September 2014 (1.06 million visits) and by 18.1% in the July – September 2014 period.
• Visits from Great Britain were up by 8.8% for January-September 2014 (2.4 million visits) and by 2.0% for the three months from July to September 2014 compared to the corresponding period of 2013.
• Visits from the rest of the world (mostly long-haul and developing markets) totalled 370,000 for the first nine months of 2014 (representing an increase of 10.8%) and increased by 7.5% for the three months from July to September alone.

More tourism announcements to come

Further to the recent announcement on a new UK-Ireland visa initiative, there is more news to come for this key sector of the Irish economy, in particular:

• Building on their significant presence at next month's World Travel Market in London where nearly 70 Irish tourism partners will promote what Ireland has to offer, Tourism Ireland is will launch their marketing plans for 2015 shortly. 
• Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport Paschal Donohoe is also set to publish a new Tourism Policy Statement which will prioritise investment to maximise the return from tourism in the medium to long term. 

You can check out Lonely Planet's Guide to Ireland in 2015 here.

Read the Government's announcements on the CSO figures and Lonely Planet nomination here. 

Check out how one adventure tourism company, Adventure Islands, helped attract more tourists by availing of a Government programme's help.