A recent survey of tourism in Dublin has shown that almost 75 per cent of visitors had stayed fewer than four nights in the city. The Dublin Visitor Survey presented by the Dublin Institute of Technology and Dub lin Tourism yesterday found 22 per cent of visitors stayed between five and 14 nights with only 4.6 per cent staying longer.
More than 86 per cent of the 1,000 respondents thought Dublin was safe and a similar proportion found it easy to navigate. Visitors were surveyed from April 1999 to March 2000.
Almost one in three visitors believed prices were too high. Italians, Germans and French were particularly concerned with the cost. The authors of the report, Dr Sheila Flanagan and Mr Gerard Dunne of DIT's faculty of tourism and food, say this still means that the majority of visitors said Dublin provided good value for money.
Eighty-four per cent of visitors agreed the city had a "rich cultural life". However, almost one in four visitors said Dublin was a "dirty city". North American visitors were more tolerant of litter than mainland Europeans. Swiss, Austrians and Germans were particularly critical.
The city attracted 4.4 million visitors in 1999, a tourism revenue of £707.5 million. Projections for 2000 were a 7 per cent increase in visitors and a 9 per cent increase in revenue, said Mr Frank Magee, chief executive of Dublin Tourism. Preliminary figures indicate these projections will be exceeded, with visitor numbers increasing by 11 per cent.
Just under half of the interviewees were British; the US and Canada accounted for 21 per cent; mainland Europe for 26 per cent and "others" made up 6 per cent.
One in five visitors felt that Dublin was too crowded for sightseeing. "This is probably reflective of the increasingly large numbers of visitors to the city in recent years, particularly during the summer months."
A high proportion indicated they would return to Dublin, ranging from 93 per cent of German visitors to just over 77 per cent of US respondents.