The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kerry ranks fourth in overseas visitors list
OVER one million tourists from outside Ireland visited the Kingdom in 2015, helping to generate €234 million for the county’s coffers, that’s according to latest figures compiled by Fáilte Ireland.
The figures are based on a rolling three-year average from Fáilte Ireland’s ‘Survey of overseas travellers’ and they show Dublin as Ireland’s most-visited county in 2015. Kerry comes in fourth, behind Dublin, Cork and Galway as the most visited county with 1,026,000 visitors to be exact.
The visitors left behind revenue to the tune of €234 million - also ranked in fourth place behind the aforementioned counties.
However, figures do not take into account domestic visitors to the county which would, in all likelihood, see a boost in the overall figure for Kerry given the recent surge in visitors since the promotion of the Wild Atlantic Way, including spinoffs such as Top Gear and filming of Star Wars.
The figures are a positive reflection on Kerry as a tourist destination and the fact the county ranks fourth behind Dublin, Cork and Galway is no slight considering the air and sea access to Dublin and Cork, while Galway’s vibrant city life also gives it an advantage.
Meanwhile, latest CSO figures for the first eight months of 2016 show an increase of 12.3 per cent in overseas visits to Ireland compared to the same period in 2015, while the busy three-month period from June to August 2016, overseas trips to Ireland also increased by 10.8 per cent on the same period last year.