More than one million people from the U.S. and Canada visited Ireland in 2012 – a 3 percent increase over the previous year, Ireland’s Central Statistics Office reports.
The exact number is 1.017 million, Tourism Ireland says, mostly vacationers and holiday makers. The number of vacationers, those influenced by the promotional campaigns of Tourism Ireland and its partners, increased by 7 percent 622,000.
Revenue from the U.S. and Canada also increased 9.3 percent to €742 million Euros.
Executive Vice President Tourism Ireland, US and Canada, Joe Byrne said: “The United States continues to be one of the strongest international markets for tourism to the island of Ireland and we are delighted with the figures for 2012. The extremely encouraging reports for 2013 so far, suggest that we could be in for another bumper year.”
Byrne continued: “Visitors to Ireland from the United States are unfailingly delighted with their experience and become wonderful ambassadors and help spread the good news. But we don’t take our success for granted – the tourism industry continues to come up with new ways to delight our American visitors. In 2013, Ireland has the added attraction of the Gathering – a year-long series of festivals and events celebrating the unique nature of what it means to be Irish .
Tourism Ireland’s North American also reports its review and 3-year plan entitled “Make Ireland Jump Out” has been released which sets a target of an increase in American visitors between 2013 and 2015 of +20 percent.
A critical factor which will underpin this growth is the significant increase in the number of airline seats between the U.S. and Ireland. Summer 2013 will see almost 25 percent more airline capacity on routes to Dublin, Shannon and Belfast than in 2012 – all 5 carriers operating direct services have increased capacity or added new routes.
Tourism Ireland says it will also target new segments during the plan including, ‘young independents’ ‘middle-aged explorers’ and ‘mature must seers and doers’. The company will also maintain a focus on key niche segments such as business tourism, golf and the Irish Diaspora (an estimated 40 million people around the US claim ancestral links with the island of Ireland).
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