Ireland's inbound visitors' numbers up 11 pct in first six months

The number of overseas visitors to Ireland reached 3,876,200 for the first six months this year, up 11.7 percent on the same period last year, according to official figures on Thursday.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that inbound visitors came primarily from Mainland Europe, North America and Britain.

The CSO said visits from Mainland Europe grew by 13 percent for this period, adding that North America registered an increase of 14.7 percent while visits from Britain were up by 9.4 percent.

Visits from the rest of the world, mostly long-haul and developing markets, were up by 12.1 percent, it said.

Paschal Donohoe, minister for transport, tourism and sport, welcomed the continued growth in overseas visitor numbers for the first six months, saying Thursday's figures are the best on record for this period.

"We now have official figures for overseas visits to Ireland for the first half of 2015, which show that Irish tourism is having another excellent year," he said.

"This is excellent news for everybody involved in Irish tourism and reflects the hard work carried out by the government and all those involved in the tourism industry," he added.

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 2014, tourism was responsible for a 12 percent increase in earnings and a 9 percent increase in overseas visitor numbers.

For 2015, Ireland is projecting an increase of 6 percent in overseas tourists. Enditem