Overseas trips to Ireland were up by more than 123,000, or 9.1 per cent, in the period November 2014 to January 2015 when compared with the same period 12 months prior.
Tourism Ireland said the figures represented a very positive start to 2015 ahead of the rollout of an international marketing campaign.
The total number of trips to Ireland increased by 123,200 to 1,474,000 in the period, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
Trips by residents of Britain increased by 9.6 per cent to 694,500 while trips by residents of other European countries increased by 10.1 per cent to 476,000.
The north American market also grew significantly, with a 10 per cent increase in trips to 201,100 while trips to Ireland from “other areas” increased by 0.5 per cent to 102,500.
The total number of overseas trips made by Irish residents during the period November 2014 to January 2015 increased by 9.8 per cent to 1,315,000.
The total number of trips (Irish residents’ trips overseas plus trips to Ireland) in the period increased by 9.5 per cent to 2,789,100 when compared with the same period twelve months earlier.
Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said he was “really pleased to see growth from all of our market areas around the world – including Britain, North America and Mainland Europe, all up more than 10 per cent”.
He added: “Following last year’s success, we will be pulling out all the stops this year, to keep the momentum going and ensure that 2015 is the best year ever for Irish tourism when we aim to welcome 7.74 million visitors – surpassing the previous record year of 2007.”
