Irish tourism on record pace, including best ever July

Tourism to Ireland increased nearly 13 percent from January through July, compared to the same seven months in 2015, figures released 2 September show.

“Today’s figures indicate that this was the best ever month of July for Irish tourism, with more than 1 million arrivals recorded,” Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said in a release. The organization said it is preparing to launch an “extensive autumn campaign aimed at boosting late-season travel to Ireland.”

The announcement coincided with the release of travel data from the Republic’s Central Statistics Office, which combines the U.S. and Canada as areas of visitor residence. For May-July this year, 635,600 North Americans traveled to Ireland, compared to 561,200 the same three months of last year, and 488,100 the same period of 2014.

I very much enjoyed being part of this year’s total with my July visit.

A Dublin building bloom in July 2016. The city was very crowded with visitors, including myself.

A Dublin building blooms in July 2016. The city was crowded with visitors, including myself.