The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has released figures that show Irish tourism has enjoyed its best ever month of September, as well as its most successful January-September period in 2016.
According to the figures, Ireland saw a 12 per cent growth in overseas visitors for the first nine months of 2016 compared to the same period the previous year. It also revealed that from July to September 2016 there was an increase of 10.5 per cent in overseas visitors.
From January to September, the number of North American visitors rose by 15.4 per cent, UK visitors grew by 13.2 per cent and there was an increase in mainland European visitors by 10.6 per cent.
Discussing the success, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: "Today’s figures indicate that this was the best ever month of September for Irish tourism, with almost 900,000 arrivals recorded. It was also the best ever January to September period for overseas visitors to Ireland, with almost 7.5 million arrivals, representing an increase of 12 per cent– almost 800,000 additional overseas visitors when compared with the first nine months of 2015. It is clear that 2016 will be another record-breaking year for Irish tourism."
He added, "We are determined to ensure that growth continues. Upcoming promotions – including a significant presence at World Travel Market in London; a sales mission to Australia and New Zealand; and our ‘Jump into Ireland’ travel trade and media blitz to the west coast of the United States next month – will help to keep this momentum going and deliver further success in 2017."
