The number of overseas trips to Ireland increased by 6.5 per cent from July to September, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
The period saw a total of 2,126,200 inward journeys, an increase of 129,600 when compared to the same period 12 months previously.
Britain represented the greatest single increase, with 6.8 per cent more travellers visiting Ireland during the period. A total of 910,500 trips were made to Ireland from Britain during this time.
Visits from other European Union countries increased by 5.8 per cent (741,800) while trips from North America were up by 5.2 per cent.
Trips from all other areas (123,800) saw an increase of 12.3 per cent.
The total number of overseas trips by Irish citizens fell 7.0 per cent to 1,987,200.
The CSO has recorded a slowdown in the overall number of trips in the period 4,113,400 - a decrease of 0.5 per cent – on the same period last year. July to September saw a drop of 4.2 per cent drop in 2010.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar welcomed the increase in visitor numbers and predicted annual growth in visitor numbers for the first time in four years.
“From an early stage this Government targeted tourism as a key growth area for the economy. That’s why the Jobs Initiative had such a strong tourism element. These latest figures, which cover the period from when the Jobs Initiative took effect, indicate that the measures are helping to sustain the rebound earlier in the year, and we are going to see annual growth in visitor numbers for the first time since 2007,” Mr Varadkar said.
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