Ireland is one of priciest countries on the planet
WE may be the land of the céad míle fáilte... but it’ll cost you to experience it.
Ireland has been ranked a miserable 122nd out of 141 countries across the globe when it comes to price ‘competitiveness’.
The top-ranked nation in cost-friendliness was Iran, according to the Swiss-based World Economic Forum’s tourism report.
Switzerland is ranked as the priciest place on earth to visit, followed by the UK and then France.
However, there is better news for visitors to our shores – Ireland is ranked 19th overall in the world as a tourist destination and 11th in Europe, the report shows.
Ireland went from 21st in 2011, to 19th in 2013, behind Belgium and ahead of Portugal.
The country retains its 19th spot in this year’s bi-annual report which positions the country ahead of Norway but behind Iceland.
The world’s top three destinations are all European, namely Spain, France and Germany. Tourist industry expert Eoghan Corry, of travelextra.ie, said: ‘On price competitiveness, no surprises that we are 122nd out of 141, but it is interesting that we are ahead of some of our northern European peers.
‘Usually the tourism authorities brush off the complaints about price as we are “not a cheap destination” but this shows even in our peer group we are not performing. The issues are air charges and airport tax as well as hotel prices – all of which score well, but we fall down on cost of living and fuel.’
Finland is one place above us, the ones behind us are the Seychelles, Canada, Myanmar, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Barbados, Netherlands, Senegal, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Israel, Norway, Aust r al i a, France, England and Switzerland. In the northern and eastern Europe category, Ireland is ranked third behind the UK and Iceland, but for safety and security we rank a creditable 15th in the world and come fourth globally for ‘the priority of the tourist industry’.
The report stated: ‘Although Europe’s outstanding cultural attractions and monuments are not evenly distributed across countries, this does not fully explain the large gaps between the top and bottom performers in terms of cultural resources.
‘While all European countries have a long history, some have made more progress than others in promoting cultural attractions to the level necessary to become a magnet for tourists.
‘Sports and entertainment events, as well as conferences, fairs and exhibitions, also play an important
‘We are not performing’
role.’ Spain heads the ranking for the first time, ousting Switzerland from top spot, and is one of 12 European countries in the global Top 20.
Switzerland’s currency soared in value by 30 per cent against the euro at the beginning of the year after it abandoned efforts to track the single currency – making it a far more expensive country to visit.