Tourism in Ireland
Ireland recorded a total of 10 million tourists in 2016, ranking 33rd in the world in absolute terms.That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Ireland, the result is much more comparable picture: With 2.1 tourists per resident, Ireland ranked 32nd in the world. On the British Isles, it ranked 1st.
Ireland generated around 11.43 billion US Dollar in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 3.4 percent of its the gross domestic product.
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Development of the tourism sector in Ireland from 1995 to 2016
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Ireland each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g. crew members of ships or flights are also not considered as tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all countries on the British Isles.
Revenues in tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 2.70 billion USD, or about 3.9 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 4.82 million tourists at that time and roughly 560 USD per person. Within 21 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased slightly. In the last year of the survey, the revenue now amounts to 11.43 billion USD, accounting for 3.7 percent of the gross national product. Each visitor now spends an average of 1,131 USD for his holiday in Ireland.Annual receipts as percentage of the gross national product:
All data for Ireland in detail
| Year | Number of tourists | Receipts | \% of GNP | Expences per person |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 4.82 m | 2.70 bn $ | 3.9 % | 560 $ |
| 1996 | 5.29 m | 3.02 bn $ | 4.0 % | 571 $ |
| 1997 | 5.59 m | 3.18 bn $ | 3.8 % | 569 $ |
| 1998 | 6.06 m | 3.30 bn $ | 3.7 % | 544 $ |
| 1999 | 6.40 m | 3.40 bn $ | 3.4 % | 531 $ |
| 2000 | 6.65 m | 3.52 bn $ | 3.5 % | 529 $ |
| 2001 | 6.35 m | 3.79 bn $ | 3.5 % | 596 $ |
| 2002 | 6.48 m | 4.23 bn $ | 3.3 % | 653 $ |
| 2003 | 6.76 m | 5.21 bn $ | 3.2 % | 770 $ |
| 2004 | 6.95 m | 6.08 bn $ | 3.1 % | 874 $ |
| 2005 | 7.33 m | 6.78 bn $ | 3.2 % | 925 $ |
| 2006 | 8.00 m | 7.66 bn $ | 3.3 % | 958 $ |
| 2007 | 8.33 m | 9.26 bn $ | 3.4 % | 1,112 $ |
| 2008 | 8.03 m | 9.97 bn $ | 3.6 % | 1,242 $ |
| 2009 | 7.19 m | 8.46 bn $ | 3.6 % | 1,177 $ |
| 2010 | 7.13 m | 8.19 bn $ | 3.7 % | 1,148 $ |
| 2011 | 7.63 m | 9.53 bn $ | 4.0 % | 1,248 $ |
| 2012 | 7.55 m | 9.06 bn $ | 4.0 % | 1,201 $ |
| 2013 | 8.26 m | 9.54 bn $ | 4.0 % | 1,155 $ |
| 2014 | 8.81 m | 11.09 bn $ | 4.3 % | 1,259 $ |
| 2015 | 9.53 m | 10.80 bn $ | 3.7 % | 1,134 $ |
| 2016 | 10.10 m | 11.43 bn $ | 3.7 % | 1,131 $ |
All data correspond to the information of the World Tourism Organization.