Downturn hits tourist numbers

The number of visitors travelling to Ireland fell by 3 per cent in the last three months of 2011 as turmoil in the global economy affected tourism, new figures show.

But although figures slumped in the final quarter of the year,

there were more visits made to Ireland last year than in 2010.

The Central Statistics Office said there were 44,600 fewer trips to the country made by overseas visitors in the quarter compared with a year earlier. In total, just under 1.37 million visits were made to the country over the period.

The decrease was driven in the final quarter by a 12.5 per cent decline in the number of visits from the US, which fell to 176,200. Visitors from Great Britain, meanwhile, fell by 0.4 per cent to 655,200, and trips made by people from other European countries were 2.6 per cent down to 464,700.

The tourist industry has been hard hit by the global downturn, with 2010 considered a disastrous season for many operators. The Government has attempted to stimulate the industry with a reduction in VAT on tourism-related activities introduced last July.

Tourism is Ireland’s largest indigenous industry, contributing almost 4 per cent of gross national product and employing more than 200,000 people. Overseas tourism business accounts for €3.4 billion, or 59 per cent, of all tourism revenue.

The figures also showed Irish residents made fewer trips overseas, falling 0.9 per cent to 1.31 million. That brought the total number of trips to 6.3 million for the year, down 4.2 per cent compare with 2010.

In total, some 6.5 million trips were made to Ireland last year, compared with 6 million in 2010.

Chief executive of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons welcomed the rise in total visitor numbers, describing it as an "encouraging basis" to build growth.

"We are very much aware that the economic landscape continues to present a challenging environment for travel, particularly in the first quarter of 2012; however, overall sentiment and anecdotal feedback from tour operators and travel trade contacts in key markets, as well as those working in the tourism industry around the island is cautiously optimistic for quarters two and three," he said.

"It is important to remember that people around the world still want to take holidays. People are continuing to travel but taking shorter trips, staying closer to home and being careful with their money, as value for money remains an important consideration when making holiday plans."

Tourism Ireland is making a push to attract more visitors from overseas to the country in an effort to boost the tourist industry. The organisation has unveiled its strategy to attract high-spending tourists from Brazil and Russia, which although small in volume would be considered high value.