Ireland sees tourism rebound
Tourism Ireland is reporting a rebound in visitor numbers from Britain, but says there is still a long way to go to get back to 2007 peak figures.
In London this week as part of an historic visit by the Irish President, the chief executive of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons said recent growth has been "really encouraging".
According to the latest figures, tourism to Ireland grew by 11% for the December 2013 to February 2014 period, with Great Britain contributing to the largest share of growth.
During that period, 79,500 Brits visited the island of Ireland, a 14% increase.
The UK accounts for 45% of total visitors and 30% of tourism revenue for the destination, he said.
"We seen a rebound from the GB market in the past 18 months since we refocused our marketing efforts," said Gibbons.
"The mood is good and all our markets are coming back, although we’re not quite back to the peak in 2007. We need to grow another 20% to get back to that level."
He said Ireland had suffered from the sterling to euro exchange rate, which led to the perception that it was an expensive destination, but this was now changing with hotel rates and restaurant prices becoming more competitive.
A major campaign is underway to promote the Wild Atlantic Way on the western seaboard, following a £8.3 million investment into new road signage.
Tourism officials also hope to benefit from the success of the TV drama Game Of Thrones, which was shot in Ireland.
The season four premiere has just given US network HBO its top ratings since The Sopranos finale in 2007, with an average of 6.6 million tuning in.
In the UK, 1.2 million tuned in to watch on Sky Atlantic across two broadcasts.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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