General Industry

Ring Raves At Impressive CSO Stats

By Publications Checkout
Ring Raves At Impressive CSO Stats

Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Minister Michael Ring, TD, has welcomed new CSO figures showing continued growth in overseas visits so far this year, with 2014 doing even better than last year which was the year of “The Gathering”.

“Today’s figures reflect an excellent performance for overseas visit numbers in the year to May 2014, with our best results for this period since 2008," said Ring. "Figures from Great Britain are particularly encouraging with an increase of 140,000 visitors over the same period compared to The Gathering year of 2013. Last year we recorded our highest ever number of visits from North America and we have managed a further 8% increase for the first five months on 2014. These numbers should receive a further boost later this Summer when Penn State will meet the University of Central Florida in the 'Croke Park Classic' American Football game attracting up to 15,000 additional American visitors.” “I’m really encouraged by the strong start to the year as we head into the crucial peak season. More than 20 new flights into Ireland have been launched since the Government reduced the Air Travel Tax to €0 from April, and this is already reflected in the increased number of overseas visitors.” The latest CSO figures on Overseas Travel show:· At almost 2.7 million visits, overall trips to Ireland were up 9.2% in the first five months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.· Visits from Mainland Europe grew by 4% for January to May 2014, to over 954,000 visits;· North America registered an increase of 8% for January – May 2014 (over 398,000 visits);· Visits from Great Britain were up by 13.1% for January – May 2014 (1.21 million visits).· Visits from the rest of the world, mostly long-haul and developing markets, totalled over 153,000 for the first five months of 2014 (+16.3%).

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