Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin said she was confident tourism would return to growth next year after new figures showed the number of visitors to Ireland was down 15.7 per cent in the first nine months of the year.
The latest overseas travel figures were published by the Central Statistics Office today.
In quarter three, the number of overseas trips to Ireland fell by 8.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2009. Trips by UK residents were down by 10.8 per cent to 852,600 in the quarter.
Trips from other European countries and North America fell by 7.5 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively, while those from other areas increased by 2.7 per cent to 110,200.
Irish residents took 2,137,200 overseas trips in quarter three – in effect the same as the number taken in the same quarter last year.
The CSO said this contrasted with a fall of 12 per cent in trips in the same period from 2008 to 2009.
Ms Hanafin said it was important to recognise that over 4.6 million overseas visitors came to Ireland between January and September this year, with “hugely positive benefits” for the Irish economy.
Noting the decrease of 8 per cent for the third-quarter period, Ms Hanafin said: “While any decrease is disappointing, it should be remembered that earlier months of 2010 saw significantly higher levels of reductions.”
She noted that for the first nine months of 2010, the number of visitors to Ireland from the UK was over two million, the number from mainland Europe was over 1.5 million, and the number from North America was over 700,000.
She said the 200,000 visits from long-haul destinations was an increase of just over 1 per cent on the corresponding period of 2009.
“Visitors from these long haul destinations are particularly important for Irish tourism as they tend to stay longer and spend more than visitors from our nearer overseas markets.”
Ms Hanafin was speaking from New York where she has a series of meetings and other engagements, including addressing the travel trade media and launching the Dublin Contemporary 2011 event.
The Minister will also chair the first Global Irish Network session being held in North America. Over 50 ”influential business and cultural figures”, with links to Ireland will attend the event.
Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said 2010 had been one of the most difficult years on record for the industry across the Island.
“Air access to Ireland declined by 6 per cent this summer, following an 18 per cent decline in the early part of the year.”
He said direct access capacity between North America and the island of Ireland had fallen almost 25 per cent since 2008.
“Access services to Ireland from Great Britain, our largest market, fell this summer by a further 10 per cent, which corresponds to the drop in visitor numbers. Direct, competitive access services are vital to the future growth of our tourism industry.”
Mr Gibbons said the organisation began its “fight-back” for 2011 this week at World Travel Market in London, the world's largest travel fair.
Fine Gael tourism spokesman Jimmy Deenihan said, however, the industry here was “still in meltdown”.
“It cannot be forgotten that 2009 was a disaster for the tourism industry and these figures confirm that the situation goes from bad to worse.”
Mr Deenihan said the Tourism Renewal Group had recommended the abolition of the departure tax yet Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin continued to defend it “to the bitter end”.
Ryanair also called for the abolition of the €10 travel tax and a reversal of the increase in passenger charges at Dublin airport.