Tourism Ireland Comment on CSO Figures for January-March 2012

Commenting on the CSO figures issued today for overseas visitors to Ireland
for the first quarter of 2012, Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism
Ireland, said:The results for the first quarter of 2012 are in line with
expectations; the global economic landscape of recent months has certainly
presented a challenging environment for travel and tourism and that is
reflected in the CSO figures which show a drop of -1% for that three-month
period. However, our tourism industry and travel trade partners are
generally more positive about the months ahead ¿ particularly for quarters
two and three with reports of enquiries and advance bookings being well
up on this time last year. We welcome the continued growth in visitor
numbers from Britain (+2%), our largest and most important tourism market.

Our extensive, first-half marketing campaign is in full swing across
all markets and we look forward to working closely with our tourism
partners to deliver growth in 2012. The first quarter typically accounts
for approximately 18% of overseas tourism arrivals; quarters two and three
account for about 61% of overseas tourism arrivals. Capacity of airline
seats to Ireland is scheduled to grow by +3% for the forthcoming summer
season.

Overseas tourism has a critical role to play in contributing to Ireland¿s
economic recovery. Overseas tourism business accounts for 59%
(approximately 3.4 billion) of all tourism revenue and has the capacity to
deliver even more for Ireland as part of an export-led economic
renewal. Tourism
is Ireland¿s largest indigenous industry, contributing almost 4% of GNP and
providing employment for over 200,000 people in every community throughout
the island.