MORE OVERSEAS VISITORS are coming to Ireland and employment figures in the accommodation and food sector are up.

The latest CSO figures for overseas visits to Ireland show a 7.5 per cent increase from February to April compared to the same period last year.

That’s 1.6 million overseas visits to Ireland this year during the three month period to the end of April.

An extra 14,000 people are also employed in the accommodation and food sector compared to this time last year.

The Quarterly National Household Survey figures show that employment in the accommodation and food service activities sector was 136,400 for the first quarter of 2014 compared with 122,400 in 2013.

That’s a rise of 11.4 per cent.

Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar has welcomed the figures.

Our marketing of Ireland overseas for 2014 is progressing well and the recent very successful visit of the Giro D’Italia cycle race has provided us with a major publicity boost.

2013 vs 2014 

Comparing the three month period from February-April we can see:

• Overall trips to Ireland were up by 7.5 per cent
• Great Britain was up by 15.2 per cent
• Mainland Europe was up by 3.1 per cent (Germany up 16.9 per cent and Spain up 11.3 per cent)
• North America was down by 4.6 per cent
• Visits from the rest of the world increased by 7.0 per cent.

Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn said, “Today’s figures are proof of a continued robust growth in overseas visitors and that’s good news for tourism jobs and revenue.

The figures for Great Britain in particular show a remarkable jump in visitors this year and that’s proof that our new strategy to target particular segments of that market is starting to pay dividends.

“Another factor at play is the improving value for money on offer in Ireland which is now enticing more British visitors and this reinforces the need for the sector to preserve its current blend of quality and good value in order to encourage even more growth”.

Read: Varadkar ‘disappointed’ by Aer Lingus strike but says there are other airlines>

Read: Dublin almost made the ‘Top 5 Party Cities in the World’>

Read: We want to have more tourists than residents in Ireland next year>

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