Trips to Ireland up 12.3% in second quarter

The total number of trips to Ireland from April to June this year increased by 12.3 percent, compared to the same period twelve months earlier, according to official figures on Monday.
The figures released from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that trips by residents of Great Britain increased by 15.2 percent to 837,700 while trips by residents of North America to Ireland increased by 12.8 percent to 395,600.
Trips by residents of European countries other than Great Britain increased by 9.3 percent to 770,600 while trips to Ireland from other areas increased by 11.4 percent to 122,600.
During the period, the total number of overseas trips made by Irish residents increased by 2.2 percent to 1,790,800.
The total number of trips to Ireland increased by 10.3 percent from January to June 2014 when compared with the same period in 2013.
Tourism is one of Ireland's most important economic sectors and has significant potential to play a further role in Ireland's economic renewal. In 2013, tourism was responsible for overseas earnings of 3.3 billion euros(4.43 billion U.S. dollars). (1 euro = 1.34 U.S.dollars)