Tourism to Ireland and Northern Ireland in 2015 is likely to be the best year ever, according to Tourism Ireland's Situation & Outlook Analysis Report (SOAR) for November.
Tourism Ireland, which is responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas as a holiday destination, found that a strong global upturn in tourism in most markets has benefitted Ireland.
According to the latest CSO figures, Overseas visitors to Ireland for the January to September 2015 period increased by 12 per cent when compared to the same period last year, making it the best year ever for tourism, and a six per cent increase on the previous peak in 2007.
Ireland has shown positive growth from its core tourism markets, as Great Britain showed an increase of 11 per cent, as well Mainland Europe (+14%), North America (14%) and Austraila and Developing Markets (+11%).
The SOAR research also found that industry sentiment among overseas trade partners has been positive, and booking for the remainder of the year remain encouraging. As much as 30% of annual overseas tourism business comes in the September to December period.
