Commenting on new figures published by the CSO for overseas visitors to Ireland for January 2020, Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons said, "[These] figures from the CSO indicate that overseas arrivals increased slightly by 0.5% in January 2020, when compared to January of last year. However, it is early days yet – arrivals in the month of January represent around 6% of total annual arrivals.
"Arrivals from North America grew by 2.9% in January, an extra 3,100 US and Canadian visitors. Arrivals from both mainland Europe (+0.2%) and Britain (+0.1%) were flat on January last year, and arrivals from long-haul markets declined by 1%."
Challenges
Gibbons added, "Some of the challenges facing Irish tourism over the coming months include the outbreak of COVID-19 [coronavirus], the continued uncertainty around Brexit, as well as global economic unease. There's also been a deterioration in air access capacity, with a 4% decline this winter.
"Tourism Ireland continues to roll out an extensive first-half programme of promotions, which includes our 'Fill Your Heart With Ireland' campaign, to highlight the island of Ireland around the world. However, we will keep our programme under review. We are monitoring the outbreak of COVID-19 very closely and will respond, together with industry partners, to its impact on travel to the island of Ireland."
© 2020 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
