[caption id="attachment_68100" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption=" Joe Byrne."]
In a time when most business statistics tend to veer into negative territory the numbers indicating visitors to Ireland are nothing if not positive.
Figures released by the Irish government's Central Statistics Office show that Ireland welcomed more than one million visitors from North America over the 12 month period between October 2010 and the end of September this year.
The precise number of North American visitors during the period was 1.014 million. This represents an increase of 11.5 percent and, according to Tourism Ireland, suggests that Ireland has significantly increased its share of U.S. and Canadian travelers to Europe in the current year.
The million total comes after figures released recently in Belfast showed an increase of 22 percent in visitors from the U.S. and Canada to Northern Ireland for the six months from January to June this year. The increase in revenue as a result of this grew by an impressive 57 percent compared with last year.
"These results remind us yet again of the strong brand awareness we enjoy in the United States and Canada and of the great vacation experience Ireland offers; indeed, the welcome for American visitors has never been warmer and the value on offer is better than ever," Joe Byrne, Tourism Ireland's executive vice president for North America said.
"The figures also reflect the fact that our Irish tourism industry partners stayed the course and worked closely with Tourism Ireland promoting in North America during some difficult years for all destinations.
A special word of thanks is also due to our great friends and other supporters who have worked tirelessly to spread the good news about Irish tourism," Byrne added.
