Ireland enjoyed a record July in terms of overseas visitor numbers.

Commenting on the latest figures from the CSO for overseas visitors to Ireland for January to July, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Today’s figures indicate that this was the best ever month of July for Irish tourism, with more than 1 million arrivals recorded. It was also the best January to July period for overseas visitors to Ireland, with more than 5.4 million arrivals, representing an increase of almost +13% – 612,400 additional overseas visitors when compared with the first seven months of 2015. 

Our aim is to ensure that 2016 is another record-breaking year for Irish tourism. We have seen exceptional results from North America for January to July – up +15.5% on the same seven-month period in 2015. I also welcome the strong increase in British visitors (almost +14%). Mainland Europe has also turned in a superb performance (+11.6%), with important markets like Italy, Spain, France and the Benelux countries all showing really good growth.”

 

Niall Gibbons continued: “This was a strong performance and reflects the sentiment we are hearing from our travel partners overseas, including tour operators and carriers, as well as tourism businesses here at home. We are determined to ensure that tourism growth continues. Next week, we will launch our extensive autumn campaign – aimed at boosting late-season travel to Ireland from around the globe and keeping this momentum going. The period September to December traditionally yields as much as 30% of our annual overseas tourism business.”