July proved a very mixed month in terms of inbound tourism for Ireland, with latest monthly figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showing a 1% drop – to 646,400 – in foreign tourist visitor numbers and a 4% drop in tourist spend, to €624m.
The one bright spot was a notable 13% rise in the number of tourists visiting these shores from North America, with a mix from the US and Canada.
Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), said: “Irish tourism and hospitality businesses continue to have a mixed season. July is a key month for Irish tourism and while it is positive that the North American market performed strongly, other markets are softer. We need to spread demand across other source markets and gain more traction in European markets.
“Cost of business pressures and capacity constraints continue to hamper the industry and we hope that these are addressed on Budget Day. With unprecedented macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty now is the time to support a key home-grown indigenous industry such as tourism”.
ITIC has also welcomed the fact that CSO monthly numbers are now more aligned with industry data.
