In the percieved epic global mess that was perceived to be 2016, it’s nice to here some good news. Tourism to Ireland is up 11% on last year. 
Visits from Mainland Europe grew by 8.8% to 3,096,300 visits. 

North America a whopping increase of 18.3% to 1,699,100.

GB up by 11.1%  to 3,620,500 visits.

Rest of the world (mostly long-haul and developing markets) increased 1.9% to 503,700. 

Domestic tourism also rose by 3%. 

Well done to the many people on all sides of the table, agencies and teams involved in the various big projects in making that happen. There have been a number of particular keystone projects such as WAW and now Ancient East that have and continue to contribute to making this happen. Hopefully Ireland will reap the benefits of them for years to come!

(Source: CSO)