Ireland's tourism nosedives

The continuing slump in Ireland's tourism sector shows no sign of easing with data for June showing a further sharp decline in visitor numbers.

The latest travel figures, published by the Central Statistics Office yesterday, showed overseas visits to Ireland fell by 113,300 (15.1 per cent) in June compared with the same month last year.

There were 636,600 visits from abroad in June compared with 749,900 visits in June 2008. Trips to Ireland from Britain and mainland Europe, the State’s two main visitor markets, saw sharp declines.

Visitor numbers from Britain fell nearly 20 per cent (64,300) to 260,700 in June compared with the same month last year. Trips from Britain have now fallen by 291,700 in the first six months of the year.

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