Number of visitors up 13% infirst half of this year

The number of overseas visitors to Ireland increased by more than 13 per cent in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2005. According to figures released by the Central Statistics Office yesterday, there were over 3.5 million trips made to Ireland by visitors from abroad in the year to June.

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue said yesterday that the increase compared favourably with the target of just under 5 per cent set by Tourism Ireland for increasing visitor numbers for the year.

Speaking at a function at Dublin airport, he said the tourism industry was now optimistic that "the landmark of seven million visitors will be passed this year".

Mr O'Donoghue said he was also confident that "we can achieve the ambitious goals of 10 million visitors and €6 billion in revenue by 2012 as set out in the New Horizons tourism strategy".

The Minister said in June alone the number of trips made to Ireland increased by 10 per cent on the corresponding figure for the same month last year.

"I am particularly pleased that the strong trend in visitor numbers from North America, evident in the second quarter of the year, continued in June, with numbers up by a total of 8.4 per cent in the first half of the year."

The Minister said that visitors from North America stayed longer, spent more money and travelled more widely around the country. "If the trend is sustained, this should augur well for improved regional spread this year."

The CSO figures reveal that in June there were 750,500 overseas trips made to Ireland compared to 682,200 in the same period last year.

They reveal that there was a strong surge in visitor numbers from North America in June compared with the same period last year.

The figures show that the number of trips made to Ireland from North America in June increased by 20 per cent to 141,400.

The number of visitors from Great Britain increased by 4,300 in June to 347,500 compared to the same period in the previous year.

The number of trips to Ireland in June made by people from the rest of Europe increased by over 19 per cent to 224,000.

The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism said yesterday that the announcement earlier in the week by the Minister of a €10 million marketing campaign for the autumn/winter period augured well for a good overall tourism performance during 2006.

This would involve , "building on the bounce from the Ryder Cup in September and the good weather over the summer".

The CSO figures also revealed that the number of trips abroad made by Irish residents in the first six months of the year increased by nearly 12 per cent to 3.17 million.

The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism said that notwithstanding the continuing upward trend in outbound travel by residents here, Irish people were continuing to take an increasing number of holiday breaks at home.