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14/11/2011
Minister Welcomes Rise In Tourism
The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has welcomed the rise in tourist numbers for the first time in nearly five years.
Speaking about the growth in tourism on Monday, Leo Varadkar said the latest travel figures for July to September 2011 showed that over five million visitors came to Ireland in the first nine months of the year – an increase of 10% on the same period in 2010.
"From an early stage this Government targeted tourism as a key growth area for the economy. That’s why the Jobs Initiative had such a strong tourism element.
"These latest figures, which cover the period from when the Jobs Initiative took effect, indicate that the measures are helping to sustain the rebound earlier in the year, and we are going to see annual growth in visitor numbers for the first time since 2007," Minister Varadkar said.
For the first nine months of 2011 visitors from Great Britain were up by 7.4%; mainland European visitors were up by 12.3%; North American numbers were up by 10.6% and other long haul routes were up by 15%.
Meanwhile, trips by Irish holiday makers fell again this year, continuing their four year trend.
"It's particularly heartening to see continued strong performance from Great Britain after a number of difficult years. While our British arrivals were up 6.8% in the third quarter, overall UK trips to the EU were marginally down 1%," Mr Varadkar said.
He added: "Britain is still our most important market in terms of visitor numbers, and I am pleased to see that we are regaining market share.
"The challenge now is to maintain this growth. Last week I attended the World Travel Market in London and saw for myself the excellent work being done to promote Ireland as a holiday destination in Britain.
Minister of State for Tourism Michael Ring also said he was heartened to see that the trend for home holidays among Irish people continued during the year.
"I think many Irish people who holidayed at home this year will have been surprised and delighted by what they found, in terms of the value and range on offer. I hope they will be persuaded to explore Ireland again in the coming years."
(DW)
Speaking about the growth in tourism on Monday, Leo Varadkar said the latest travel figures for July to September 2011 showed that over five million visitors came to Ireland in the first nine months of the year – an increase of 10% on the same period in 2010.
"From an early stage this Government targeted tourism as a key growth area for the economy. That’s why the Jobs Initiative had such a strong tourism element.
"These latest figures, which cover the period from when the Jobs Initiative took effect, indicate that the measures are helping to sustain the rebound earlier in the year, and we are going to see annual growth in visitor numbers for the first time since 2007," Minister Varadkar said.
For the first nine months of 2011 visitors from Great Britain were up by 7.4%; mainland European visitors were up by 12.3%; North American numbers were up by 10.6% and other long haul routes were up by 15%.
Meanwhile, trips by Irish holiday makers fell again this year, continuing their four year trend.
"It's particularly heartening to see continued strong performance from Great Britain after a number of difficult years. While our British arrivals were up 6.8% in the third quarter, overall UK trips to the EU were marginally down 1%," Mr Varadkar said.
He added: "Britain is still our most important market in terms of visitor numbers, and I am pleased to see that we are regaining market share.
"The challenge now is to maintain this growth. Last week I attended the World Travel Market in London and saw for myself the excellent work being done to promote Ireland as a holiday destination in Britain.
Minister of State for Tourism Michael Ring also said he was heartened to see that the trend for home holidays among Irish people continued during the year.
"I think many Irish people who holidayed at home this year will have been surprised and delighted by what they found, in terms of the value and range on offer. I hope they will be persuaded to explore Ireland again in the coming years."
(DW)
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