Over 8.1 million people visited Ireland from overseas this year bringing in nearly €4 billion in revenue, according to figures released by the tourism industry today.
Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland today unveiled a €50 million global advertising campaign for the next three years and said it will have an estimated audience of 200 million.
The bodies said overseas visitor performance this year had proved "better than anticipated at the beginning of the year". Some 8.1 million people will visit this year, an increase of 394,000 on 2005.
A total of 1.92 million (up 17 per cent) of those visitors will be from Europe. The number of visitors from Britain is up 2.5 per cent, in what the industry said seemed to be a "welcome start to recovery" from our largest market.
There was no growth in the number of visitors from North America this year, after strong growth last year. Tourism Ireland said this market, together with the long-haul sector, would be subject to a major review in 2006.
Both Tourism Ireland, the all-Ireland tourism promotion body, and Fáilte Ireland, the national authority, unveiled their marketing campaigns today at a function in Dublin.
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue said the campaign was the culmination of a major effort on the part of Tourism Ireland and other stakeholders to "re-visit how Ireland presents itself as a tourism destination overseas".
"It has been rigorously researched and tested with consumers and I understand that the response has been very positive indeed. As always, the real test will be whether it delivers the desired message and prompts the right people to visit the island of Ireland," he said.
"I have every confidence that the campaign will do just that and that it will pay dividends to all concerned. For my part, I have secured an unprecedented level of Exchequer resources for tourism development - €134 million for 2006 - representing an increase of seven per cent on 2005. This is the largest ever Exchequer budget for Irish tourism promotion and development and I have no doubt that it will be put to the best possible use."
Tourism Ireland chief executive, Paul O'Toole said: "The new campaign unashamedly reflects our core strengths - the beautiful scenery, the warmth of the people and the living and historic culture which have always resonated so well with our visitors. But our consumers also told us that they needed more information about what a holiday in Ireland might involve.
"Our new advertising brings to life, in a warm and humorous fashion, the wide range of holiday choices and activities just waiting to be discovered in Ireland. The key message underpinning the campaign is Great Places and Activities - Brought to Life by Great People."
Tourism Ireland said its priority for the coming year will be to improve the regional distribution of tourism. It will invest around €4 million in this strategy.