The CEO of Tourism Ireland, Alice Mansergh, has stated that industrial disputes involving pilot wages at Aer Lingus failed to produce any noticeable decrease in the number of visitors to the country. Following the resolution of the dispute on a Tuesday, after pilots accepted a 17.75% pay increase spread over four years, Mansergh revealed that despite the cancellation of 610 flights and consequent impact on approximately 86,000 passengers, the impact on tourism was negligible.
In fact, Mansergh reported a 5.6% growth in visitor-related revenue during the summer months, with the total tourism revenue for 2023 recorded at €6 billion. As of May, Ireland saw 622,300 tourists from overseas, marking an 8.5% boost compared to the same time last year. The Central Statistics Office reported that, of these visitors, 35% were from the UK, 25% from the US, and 7% from Germany.
Tourism Ireland has a strategy in place, working towards escalating the worth of tourism from abroad through a growth in revenue, by bringing in tourists who will contribute significantly to the economy. A part of the plan saw a joint venture with British broadcaster Dermot O’Leary, titled Dermot’s Taste of Ireland, in an effort to attract viewers in Britain and beyond to visit Ireland.
A significant aspect of Ireland’s tourist appeal are its whiskey distilleries, which recorded over 800,000 visitors in the year leading up to June 2024. To commemorate 700 years of Irish distilling tradition, Tourism Ireland is reaching out to online audiences in 14 markets. The Irish Whiskey Association has noted that the average spend of distillery visitors is on the rise. Interestingly, the organisation also highlighted that there has been an increasing balance in the gender of visitors, and a trend towards younger attendees. The main countries of origin of these visitors during this period were the US, UK, Germany, France and a considerable number of local patrons.
There’s been a significant surge in interest towards Irish whiskey distilleries, in 2024 alone, online searches for “Irish Whiskey Tours” spiked by over 20 percent. It’s noteworthy that this influx in curiosity mainly originates from prime markets including the United States, Germany, and Britain, as per information from Tourism Ireland.
A total of 28 Irish whiskey tourism experiences have banded together to initiate the island-wide IrishWhiskey360° trail. This project is backed by the Irish Whiskey Association.
Eoin Ó Catháin, the overseer of the Irish Whiskey Association, pointed out that the rising footfall at distilleries underscores the expansion of whiskey tourism. Furthermore, it illustrates the pivotal role that distilleries perform in bolstering local economies.
The latest Irish spirits market synopsis highlights that global Irish whiskey sales witnessed an 8.6 percent hike, escalating from 14 million cases in 2021, to 15.2 million cases the following year.