Around half a million people will have attended major rock concerts in or near Dublin over the summer, bringing in tourist revenues of around €87 million.
Research by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce has shown that the capital's tourist industry is being kept afloat by concerts and major sporting fixtures such as the Special Olympics and the All-Ireland championship series.
The Special Olympics in June is estimated to have boosted the city's tourism revenues by around €30 million, while the performance of Ulster GAA teams in Croke Park has attracted large numbers of fans from Northern Ireland.
Concerts in the greater Dublin area have proved a very profitable draw with over 360,000 attending concerts by Westlife, Eminem, Paul McCartney and REM in recent months. Around half of those were visitors to Dublin from elsewhere in Ireland, with 15 per cent from Northern Ireland and six per cent from other countries. Concert-goers are also attributed with bringing around 70,000 guests and friends into the capital who would otherwise not have visited.
Robbie Williams is expected to attracted around 135,000 to the Phoenix Park this weekend, while huge crowds are also expected for other upcoming concerts by the Rolling Stones, Metallica and Massive Attack.
The Chamber estimates that pubs and restaurants will benefit by €34 million, while around &8364;15 million and airlines and ferry companies will see revenues of €4 million from concert-goers.
Numbers from the UK have held up well in the traditional vistor markets and while US tourist numbers are marginally up on last year they are still well below the peak levels of the 1990s. New direct air services from Philadelphia and the restoration of the Baltimore/Washington route have contributed to the figures.
The Chamber's policy director Mr Declan Martin said the lack of facilities capable of hosting large-scale international conferences meant that Dublin was still missing out on this lucrative market. He said the Special Olympics proved that Ireland could host major sporting events and this needed to be well-publicised abroad.