Tourism in Ireland
Ireland recorded a total of 11 million tourists in 2018, ranking 38th 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 2.2 tourists per resident, Ireland ranked 34th in the world. On the British Isles, it ranked 1st.
Ireland generated around 14.66 billion US Dollar in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 3.8 percent of its the gross domestic product.
Back to overview: Ireland
The most popular city in Ireland for international travelers is Dublin. In 2018 it reached the 50th place of the world's most popular cities with 5.21 million tourists.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2018 spent about 1,198 US Dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of Ireland spend only around 764 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
Development of the tourism sector in Ireland from 1995 to 2018
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 23 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased slightly. In the last year of the survey, the revenue now amounts to 14.66 billion USD, accounting for 3.8 percent of the gross national product. Each visitor now spends an average of 1,342 USD for his holiday in Ireland.
All data for Ireland in detail
| Year | Number of tourists | Receipts | % of GNP | Receipts per tourist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 % | 1,147 $ |
| 2011 | 7.63 m | 9.53 bn $ | 4.0 % | 1,249 $ |
| 2012 | 7.55 m | 9.06 bn $ | 4.0 % | 1,200 $ |
| 2013 | 8.26 m | 9.54 bn $ | 4.0 % | 1,154 $ |
| 2014 | 8.81 m | 11.10 bn $ | 4.3 % | 1,259 $ |
| 2015 | 9.53 m | 11.48 bn $ | 3.9 % | 1,205 $ |
| 2016 | 10.10 m | 11.43 bn $ | 3.8 % | 1,132 $ |
| 2017 | 10.34 m | 14.29 bn $ | 4.3 % | 1,383 $ |
| 2018 | 10.93 m | 14.66 bn $ | 3.8 % | 1,342 $ |
All data correspond to the information of the World Tourism Organization.
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