CSO data released today shows that the number of overseas visits to Ireland in the first six months of 2018 increased by 6.7% compared to the corresponding period in 2017.
Shane Ross, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport commented on the release:
“The official CSO overseas travel figures for the first half of 2018 that were published today show that Irish tourism is enjoying another positive year. The number of overseas visitors to Ireland increased by 6.7% for the first half of the year compared to the corresponding period in 2017. There was a significant increase in visitor numbers from North America during this period with visitor numbers increasing by 10.7% compared to the same period in 2017.
While the continued significant contribution of tourism to the Irish economy is most welcome, the promotion of Ireland as a tourism destination in overseas markets has additional significance beyond generating additional visitor numbers and revenue. The positive images of Ireland that are highlighted in our tourism marketing such as our high quality natural environment and friendly and welcoming people, support the Government’s activities in other areas of economic development such as the promotion of foreign direct investment. In addition the promotion of Ireland as a tourist destination is also significant in terms of raising awareness and perception of Ireland.”
Comparing the period to the end of June with the same period in 2016:
- Overall trips to Ireland were up by 6.7% to 4.873 million visits;
- North America was up by 10.7% to 1.021 million visits;
- Visits from Mainland Europe were up by 10.2% to 1.783 million visits;
- Visits from the rest of the world increased by 1% to 282,900 visits;
- Great Britain registered an increase of 2.3% to 1.786 million visits.
Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin, added:
“I am delighted to welcome the continued growth in visitor numbers for the first half of the year. Last week, Minister Ross and I launched the Strategy for the future development of National and Regional Greenways in Moate, County Westmeath. The further development of Greenways in Ireland has significant potential to further attract overseas visitors while also being of economic benefit to local communities. This focus on activity tourism is a welcome way of sustainably growing tourism numbers in Ireland and bringing a tourism dividend to rural communities in particular.”
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said:
“Today’s figures from the CSO confirm that overseas visitor numbers increased by +6.7% during the January-June period, 307,000 additional overseas arrivals when compared with the first six months of 2017. And, while it is encouraging that this was the best ever month of June for Irish tourism, with more than 1 million arrivals, there has been a slowdown in the rate of growth in June (+3.4%). Particularly welcome in today’s CSO figures is the continued strong performance from North America, with an increase of +10.7%. 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 excellent results from Mainland Europe, up +10.2% on January-June last year, with particularly strong performances from Germany (+21.2%) and Italy (+14%). 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.
While we welcome the fact that arrivals from Britain are up +2.3%, it’s too early to say if this represents a turnaround in the long-term trend. We’re very conscious that British visitor numbers are still down more than -4% on the first six months of 2016. The impact of Brexit on outbound travel from Britain, therefore, remains a concern. Visitor numbers from Australia and Developing Markets for the first half of 2018 are up slightly (+1.1%). We look forward to seeing the impact of new long-haul flights on Irish tourism this summer – including the new Hainan Airlines flight from Beijing and the Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong, which both kicked off in June.
We are determined to ensure that tourism growth continues. Our aim is to grow overseas tourism revenue in 2018 to €6 billion, for the island of Ireland.”
Welcoming today’s figures, Fáilte Ireland’s Chief Executive Paul Kelly said:
“Today’s set of figures provide further evidence that tourism continues to prosper and provide significant benefits to the economy in terms of revenue and jobs. This growth in international visitor numbers and revenue is not only great news for employment but also for government finances, with 23 cent in every Euro of tourism spend finding its way to the exchequer. The tax take from tourists is now the equivalent of over €1,000 for every household in Ireland. There is still huge opportunity to further grow the contribution tourism can make to our economy through public and private sector investment and by expanding both the regional and seasonal spread of tourism. With approximately 80% of tourist bed nights in just five counties, we still have lots of opportunity to grow but this will take investment in regional product development, industry development and marketing to achieve this growth and spread the benefits throughout the country. It is also essential that we sustain this growth from as wide range of markets as possible because a robust starting position will be essential if we have to weather the storm of a hard Brexit.”