Minister of State for Tourism & Sport, Michael Ring, has welcomed the first CSO tourism figures for 2012, which show that visits to Ireland increased again compared to the previous year for the period November 2011 - January 2012.
“I am very pleased to see that 2012 has started off on a positive note for tourism. This follows the encouraging performance in 2011, which saw the first return to growth in visitor numbers over the year since 2007,” Minister Ring said.
“It is particularly important that we sustain growth in visits from Great Britain, our largest market for inbound tourism. I believe the continued growth from Britain shows that the British tourist recognises that Ireland is accessible, different, and offers great value once again.
“As a local Minister in the west, I also hope that the region will be able to share some of the benefit from the gradual recovery taking place in Ireland’s tourism industry,” concluded Minister Ring.
