- Over 1.3m overseas visitors have arrived in Ireland from January to March 2026.
- Visitors have spent €909m in the first quarter.
- Spend has risen 24pc compared with the same period in 2025.
- Increases have occurred across North America, Mainland Europe and Great Britain.
- Tourism Ireland has highlighted potential headwinds from geopolitical developments.
Tourism Ireland has noted headwinds including air space disruption, oil and gas supply issues and impacts on consumer confidence linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
For the first time in over a year, Tourism Ireland has commented on overseas tourism figures from the CSO. It said the figures for January to March 2026 showing an increase of 24pc on the same quarter in 2025 was appositive sign. Visitors have spent €909m, also up 24pc on the first quarter of 2025.
Visitor spend has increased by 26pc from North America, 24pc from Mainland Europe, 22pc from Great Britain and 22pc from the rest of the world. The three-month period has usually accounted for around 13pc of total annual overseas visitor spend.
The organisation has continued marketing campaigns with airlines and ferry companies and has prepared the new ‘Ireland Unrushed’ global campaign for launch across 15 markets. Overseas visitors have typically brought €6 bn to the island of Ireland each year.
Alice Mansergh shared “Tourism Ireland is working closely with air and sea carriers, tour operators, online travel platforms, our travel trade partners in overseas markets and industry partners at home, to generate demand, win visitors and keep our connections to the world strong. It is positive to see the growth in overseas tourism for the first quarter of 2026, with increases in visitors and visitor spend from Great Britain, North America, Mainland Europe and further afield.”
