by Donald Wood
Last updated: 2:25 PM ET, Tue June 27, 2017
The tourism industry in Ireland is booming as the island nation experienced a surge in visitors during 2017, particularly in May.
According to the Irish Times, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Ireland released new figures that revealed 943,300 people visited the country during May.
The figures also showed that tourism numbers increased three percent for the five-month period between January and May, a jump of 107,800 visitors from the same period last year.
"I am pleased to see growth of more than three percent for the five-month period January-May," Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons said in a statement. "Particularly welcome is the continued strong performance from North America, with an increase of 23 percent. Tourism Ireland has prioritized North America for 2017, as a market which offers a strong return on investment, in terms of holiday visitors and expenditure."
Tourism Ireland reported that while the number of travelers arriving from key markets in North America, Australia and Europe was up, the number of visitors coming from Britain was down 6.8 percent-a drop partly blamed on the recent Brexit decision.
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"Competitiveness and the value for money message are more important than ever in Britain right now," Gibbons continued. "Tourism Ireland is placing a greater focus on our 'culturally curious' audience, who are less impacted by currency fluctuations. We continue to monitor developments around Brexit closely, to better understand and plan for its implications."
Ireland depends on the tourism industry, as it employs approximately 281,000 people in the Republic alone.
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