Tourism in Ireland

Tourism in the Republic of Ireland is one of the biggest contributors to the Economy of the Republic of Ireland, with over 7.3 million people visiting the country in 2014, about 1.6 times Ireland's population. Each year about €5bn in revenue is made from economic activities directly related to tourists, accounting for about 4% of GNP and employing over 200,000 people. In 2011 alone, Ireland was voted 'Favourite holiday destination in the World' by readers of Frommer's Guide, Lonely Planet listed Ireland as the world's friendliest country and Cork City as one of the top ten cities in the world and the Irish tourist boards website, DiscoverIreland.com, was named the best tourist board website in the world. Most tourists visiting Ireland come from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and France.

Ireland's national flag carrier is Aer Lingus, which services Europe, North America and North Africa, but the vast majority of flights originating from continental Europe come from another Irish company, Ryanair, the biggest low cost airline in the world. These airlines, along with others, fly into all three of Ireland's international airports, Shannon Airport, Dublin Airport and Cork Airport. Dublin Airport is by far the busiest, accounting for over 80% of passenger entering and leaving Ireland in 2011. Along with these airports there are several other regional airports in the country including Ireland West Airport Knock and Kerry Airport, which both operate international flights to Europe.
For travellers from mainland Europe and the UK, another way to enter the country is by sea, with connections by ferry to Roscoff and Cherbourg in France, Liverpool in England and Pembroke, Fishguard and Holyhead in Wales and Douglas on the Isle of Man. These routes are operated by Irish Ferries, Stena Line, Celtic Link Ferries and P&O Ferries.
Motorways link Dublin with all the major cities in the country and there are plans to extend the motorway system in the future. In recent years the quality of Irish roads has improved dramatically with the advent of the Celtic Tiger and significant European Union funding, although outside the main routes, roads can be quite unpredictable in terms of quality and upkeep, especially in rural areas such as Co. Kerry and Co. Donegal.
The rail and light rail network in Ireland is not as extensive as it once was, but it is still possible to get from city to city using the rail system, although many rural stations have closed along these lines. At the moment there is only one light rail system in the country, the Luas in Dublin. This system opened in 2004 and due to the number of people availing of it (27.5million in 2010) it was stated as being "Dublin's best public transport success story" by Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar in 2011.

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