Home grown holidays a real boost to Irish tourism – Harrington

Fine Gael Cork South West TD, Noel Harrington, has today (Thursday) welcomed CSO figures showing that the number of people holidaying at home in Ireland grew by 6.7% for the first half of 2014 compared to the corresponding timeframe last year.

“Irish tourism received a real boost this year, as the numbers of Irish people holidaying at home grew by 6.7% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2013.

“West Cork is a really popular destination for Irish people holidaying at home, so I am delighted to hear of this growth in the numbers of domestic holidays being taken by Irish people. I very much hope that the trend continues.

“Tourism is of crucial importance to the towns and villages of West Cork. It is interesting to note from the CSO figures that, not only have domestic holidays increased, but that the rate of expenditure on those holidays increased by 4.4%. This is symptomatic of a general upturn in the economy and I look forward to Cork benefitting from this as a great holiday destination.”