Published on : Saturday, August 16, 2014
Tourism Ireland recently held a mid-year review of overseas tourism for the year. Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons announced that there has been a 10.3pc increase in the number of overseas visitors to Ireland in the first half of 2014.
He added that first half growth came from Ireland’s four key market areas around the world, namely Britain (13.6pc increase in the number of visitors), North America (10.6pc), mainland Europe (6pc) and other areas (13.6pc).
The tourism growth has been driven by a combination of global advertising being done through a strong online social media presence – the agency is the fourth most popular tourism board in the world on Facebook and the number two tourism board on Twitter; the introduction of a number of important new routes from Ireland’s main markets; positive publicity in international media worth around €260 in equivalent advertising; and a range of Government initiatives around VAT on tourism services, air travel tax and visas.
Lastly, Gibbons added, “2014 is also set to be another record year for tourism from North America, with growth of 10.6pc recorded for the first six months of this year. And it is very encouraging to see growth from other important tourism markets – including Germany (18pc), Spain (22pc), Italy (4pc) and our long-haul markets (13.6pc). This reflects the sentiment expressed by our industry partners, including carriers and tour operators overseas, as well as tourism enterprises here at home.”
Tags: Global Travel News, Tourism Ireland
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