Tourism Ireland says it’s concerned after a drop in visitors from Britain and mainland Europe for the month of May.
The body released its mid-year report this morning, which showed overall growth in the first five months of the year.
Despite the number of people visiting Ireland going up from January to May this year, concerns have been raised after a drop of over 4% from both Britain and mainland Europe for the month of May.
It means both markets remain up slightly for the first half of the year, but by less than 1% in the case of Britain.
Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons says it’s hopeful of staying firm for the rest of the year:
"The number of British people travelling abroad is about 70m - that's unlikely to change during the course of this year," Mr Gibbons said.
If Ireland can hold its market share, that will have been a very good performance.
Tourism Minister Shane Ross said he doesn’t believe that recent changes in the VAT rate for the hospitality sector had an impact:
"The dip in sterling, which made it much more expensive for people from Britain to come here means there's less spending," the Minister said.
"There are more visitors from Britain coming still but also the uncertainties of Brexit would make it more likely this was to happen anyway."
Meanwhile, Tourism Ireland did see growth in other markets for the first five months of the year, including a 9% increase in visitors from North America.
