Tourism numbers set to grow for first time since 2007 – Humphreys

Fine Gael TD for Cavan-Monaghan Heather Humphreys has welcomed recent figures which show an increase in the number of people visiting Ireland.

Speaking on the matter, Deputy Humphreys said “I welcome the recent tourism figures released by the CSO which show that over 5 million visitors came to Ireland in the first nine months of this year. This represents an increase of 10% on the same period in 2010.

“I believe that the tourism sector can play a vital role in our recovery and the Government has targeted it as a key area for growth. Many of the measures contained in the Jobs Initiative announced some months ago were aimed at providing a boost to this important sector.

“It is particularly encouraging to see that the number of people arriving from Great Britain is up by 7.4%. As Minister Varadkar has previously stated, Britain remains our most important market in terms of visitor numbers and it is very positive to see increases in this area after a number of difficult years. The number of arrivals from mainland Europe and North America are also up significantly.

“Cavan-Monaghan is an area that is rich in heritage and culture and so the region is ideally placed to benefit from continued increases in visitor numbers. The challenge now is to build on these figures and in that respect I welcome the fact that Minister Varadkar will be launching Tourism Ireland’s 2012 Marketing Plans later this month,” concluded Deputy Humphreys.

Fine Gael TD for Cavan-Monaghan Heather Humphreys has welcomed recent figures which show an increase in the number of people visiting Ireland.

Speaking on the matter, Deputy Humphreys said “I welcome the recent tourism figures released by the CSO which show that over 5 million visitors came to Ireland in the first nine months of this year. This represents an increase of 10% on the same period in 2010.

“I believe that the tourism sector can play a vital role in our recovery and the Government has targeted it as a key area for growth. Many of the measures contained in the Jobs Initiative announced some months ago were aimed at providing a boost to this important sector.

“It is particularly encouraging to see that the number of people arriving from Great Britain is up by 7.4%. As Minister Varadkar has previously stated, Britain remains our most important market in terms of visitor numbers and it is very positive to see increases in this area after a number of difficult years. The number of arrivals from mainland Europe and North America are also up significantly.

“Cavan-Monaghan is an area that is rich in heritage and culture and so the region is ideally placed to benefit from continued increases in visitor numbers. The challenge now is to build on these figures and in that respect I welcome the fact that Minister Varadkar will be launching Tourism Ireland’s 2012 Marketing Plans later this month,” concluded Deputy Humphreys.