Monday, September 9, 2024 The number of people visiting Ireland ‘s tourist attractions is still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels, figures from Ireland’s Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions (AVEA) show. Some 18.1m people went to an Irish visitor experience or attraction last year, which is up significantly from 2022 but 21% below the 22.
9m reported in 2019. However, inbound visitor numbers to Ireland last year were about 35% below 2019, showing the importance of the domestic visitor market. “There is no doubt that, while the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror, we are still in a period of transition,” said Catherine Flanagan, CEO of AVEA.
“2023 was considered the first ‘full’ year of tourism where aviation connectivity was restored to pre-pandemic levels; however, the ‘staycation’ market segment is still one that is of vital importance to Ireland’s visitor attractions.” The provisional data for the 2024 tourism season shows, however, that the number of international bed nights has fallen by 350,000 or 6% when compared with the previous year, while travel data shows a surge in Irish residents going to European hotspots. Visitor numbers from Ireland to Spain have increased 18% year-on-year.
“We are all aware that there has been a huge disruption to the tourism accommodation sector in recent years, with more uncertainty on the horizon as the legislation around short-term letting is framed,” said Flanagan. “Visitor attractions this year.