Áine Ryan
aineryan@mayonews.ie
GROWTH in tourism figures from North America and Europe has confirmed the positive impact and potential of The Gathering 2013, according to Minister for State at the Department of Tourism, Michael Ring. An overall 4.4 per cent increase from all market areas, with a significant 12.2 per cent increase from North America, over the three-month period from November to January, means that the industry got off to a good start for 2013, Minister Ring said.
“These figures also confirm that visitor numbers from Britain provide a solid foundation for renewed growth in this market. The tourism agencies are already rolling out the recommendations of the Tourism Recovery Taskforce, which is designed to restore visitor numbers from Britain,” he said.
“With St Patrick’s week coming soon Fáilte Ireland and The Gathering Ireland team are working harder than ever with local partners to deliver our greatest ever national celebration,” he continued.
Supporting Mr Ring’s positive outlook, the Irish Hotels Federation Annual Report said that ‘Irish tourism has experienced some optimistic signals. However, it also notes that more ambitious targets needed to be used to harness Britain’s potential as visitor numbers were down by 100,000 in 2012.
The report revealed that room occupancy in the west was 63 per cent, up 6 per cent on 2011.
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