THERE WERE nearly one million fewer overseas visitors to Ireland last year.
Figures published by the Central Statistics Office show a total of 6,927,500 overseas trips were made to Ireland last year, the lowest since 2005 and a drop of 911,500 (11.6 per cent) when compared to 2008.
Trips to Ireland from the UK fell by 615,400, a drop of 15.9 per cent. Visitor numbers from other European countries fell by 228,000 and from North America by 24,200.
The figures show trips to Ireland by overseas residents for the month of December were down 6 per cent to 473,600.
Irish residents made 10 per cent fewer overseas visits in 2009 when compared with the previous year: 7,049,300 trips compared with 7,877,400.
Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said last year “was one of the toughest years for tourism”. Tourism Ireland aims to grow visitor numbers by 3 per cent this year through a range of campaigns particularly in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day.
Mr Gibbons said the Discover Ireland website received a record 13 million hits last year.
Fine Gael’s Olivia Mitchell said last year was “catastrophic” for Irish tourism and blamed Government policy as “a major cause of the collapse” in Irish tourism.
She said Minister for Tourism Martin Cullen should abolish airport departure tax.
