Tourism in Ireland 2013 - A Gathering of Statistics
It might not have been a record year for overseas tourists but the industry recorded a major rebound with the number of foreign visitors up 6.4% to almost 6.7 million.
The Gathering initiative was widely deemed a major success with over 5,000 special events credited with attracting an extra 270,000 visitors from abroad and generating €170m in additional revenue.
But tourism in Ireland is not evenly distributed and tourism interests in some parts of the country are annoyed that regions are not equally promoted - a concern that has grown this year through the large-scale publicity surrounding the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way tourist route.
But tourism in Ireland is not evenly distributed and tourism interests in some parts of the country are annoyed that regions are not equally promoted - a concern that has grown this year through the large-scale publicity surrounding the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way tourist route.
This blog seeks to provide some insight to the performance of Ireland's tourism industry by the 26 counties individually and to identify any trends at that level.
First of all, the general picture for where foreign tourists holidays in Ireland last year confirms that a few counties dominate all the others in terms of visitor numbers.
First of all, the general picture for where foreign tourists holidays in Ireland last year confirms that a few counties dominate all the others in terms of visitor numbers.
The map above shows that Dublin, not surprisingly as the country's capital and main gateway, is the main tourist destination by some distance attracting almost 4 million overseas visitors in 2013. The other main popular tourist area is the western seaboard between Galway and Cork, while the Midlands region has relatively small numbers of visitors from abroad - just 22,000 in the case of Longford.
(It should be noted that the figures allow for the fact that foreign tourists visit more than one county.)
When looked at in a slightly different fashion - as the percentage of all foreign tourists to Ireland which each county attracts - the regional imbalance is again quite stark.
More than half of all counties are visited by less than 3% of all overseas visitors which are all located either in the Midlands or north-east. In contrast, Dublin is visited by 60% of all foreign tourists.
Cork, Galway and Kerry are the only other counties to achieve visitor levels above 10% of all tourists. Clare and Limerick are the only remaining ones to have visitor levels more than 5%.
(It should be noted that the figures allow for the fact that foreign tourists visit more than one county.)
When looked at in a slightly different fashion - as the percentage of all foreign tourists to Ireland which each county attracts - the regional imbalance is again quite stark.
More than half of all counties are visited by less than 3% of all overseas visitors which are all located either in the Midlands or north-east. In contrast, Dublin is visited by 60% of all foreign tourists.
Cork, Galway and Kerry are the only other counties to achieve visitor levels above 10% of all tourists. Clare and Limerick are the only remaining ones to have visitor levels more than 5%.
The next graph shows the change in overseas visitor numbers for all 26 counties last year compared to figures for 2012.
Somewhat surprisingly and contrary to expectation, it is the regions without a strong traditional tourism base that recorded the biggest growth in foreign tourist numbers in 2013.
More than half of all counties recorded a growth in overseas visitor numbers with Laois, Cavan, Leitrim and Monaghan having the highest increases.
While to some extent small increases/decreases will result in large percentage changes in counties with low overall visitor numbers, there is still a sense that the uniform nature of the increase in such regions last year suggests some type of pattern.
One likely explanation is the impact of The Gathering which aimed to entice people with family connections to Ireland back to their original homeplace of their relatives/ancestors.
The initiative is widely acknowledged as being a major success, not solely in terms of attracting extra visitors but also imbuing towns and villages with a new sense of community in many cases.
Foreign tourist numbers were static in four counties - Cork, Meath, Waterford and Wexford,
The figures for Cork are somewhat disappointing as it would be expected that the country's second favourite tourist destination would share some of the overall growth. However, the unchanged figures might indicate the impact of cutbacks on the number of routes directly serving Cork Airport.
Despite overall growth in tourism in 2013, six counties actually recorded less visitors than in 2012 with Roscommon, Offaly and Mayo seeing a particularly sharp decrease.
Is it possible that all those "boil water" notices in Roscommon are impacting negatively on the county's tourism sector?
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