Visitors are staying longer in Northern Ireland and spending more money, tourism figures revealed today.
According to figures released by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, the total number of visits last year dropped slightly by 1 per cent from 1.985 million in 2004 to 1.967 million last year.
However, the total number of nights spent by people visiting the North rose by 13 per cent from 8.504 million to 9.578 million, and they spent 13 per cent more, with visitor revenue rising to €512 million.
There was a 7 per cent drop in the number of tourists coming from the rest of the United Kingdom from just over 1.4 million in 2004 to just over 1.3 million.