SEARCHES FOR KILKENNY hotels increased by a massive 529 per cent in June compared to the same time last year, according to the latest monthly Hotels.com hot list.

Kilkenny is “always a popular destination” according to Kate Hopcraft from Hotels.com, but the huge increase is likely a lasting effect of the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival which took place over the June bank holiday weekend and attracts thousands of visitors every year.

Other Irish locations also saw significant increases in interest in June. Searches for Ballina were up by 146 per cent and Slane saw a 122 per cent increase due to the Bon Jovi concert at Slane Castle.

But for the (usually) sun-starved Irish themselves, not surprisingly there were plenty of searches for exotic destinations and far away lands.

Searches for hotels in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were up by 237 per cent overall, while searches for Agadir, Morocco and Tokyo, Japan saw 91 per cent and 76 per cent increases respectively.

Searches for Dublin hotels rose throughout Europe with big increases from Finnish, Dutch and French holiday goers.

Read: Trips to Ireland increase – with American visitors leading the way>

Read: What tourists like most about Ireland>

Read: Guess where Ireland’s best kept village is…>

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