Trips To Ireland Down 12% In November 2008

The number of overseas trips to Ireland fell by 12.3% to 499,100 in November 2008 compared to November 2007. All major visitor markets declined in this period.

Visits from Great Britain fell by just over 14% to 261,200; those from other European countries were down 8.3% to 170,100 while the number of visits originating in North America fell by just over 21% to 48,300.

Overseas trips taken by Irish residents fell very slightly to 505,200.

For 2008 until November, overseas trips to Ireland fell by 2.1% to 7,335,100, due principally to a fall of over 156,000 (4.2%) in the number of visits by residents of Great Britain.

Martin Cullen T.D., Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism said that despite a challenging global environment, Ireland's overseas visitor numbers overall have held up well. "The 7.3 million overseas visitors who came to Ireland between January and November last year made a vital contribution to employment, export earnings and tax receipts in our economy. While numbers have fallen slightly (2.1%) from the record numbers seen in 2007, our performance is still ahead of the levels achieved in 2006 and the preceding years."

The Minister added: "The change in monthly totals towards the second half of 2008 mirrors the experience of other countries across Europe. These trends are taking place in the context of exceptionally challenging conditions affecting nearly all of our overseas markets."

The Minister added: "The key tourism agencies - Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland - have initiated major business plans for 2009 designed to support the marketing of Irish tourism, to improve our product offerings and to help improve business capability. I have also recently established the Tourism Renewal Group.

"The work of this group will ensure that, in partnership with the sector, we can plan for current and future challenges and take the appropriate action to meet them, thereby ensuring that Irish tourism continues on a path of sustainable growth over the medium term."