Senior figures in the tourism industry believe that the recovery in 2022 could bring back 60 per cent of the number of international visitors that came in 2019, the last full pre-pandemic season for the sector when more than 9.7 million international visitors arrived.
The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (Itic), the umbrella lobby group for the sector, estimates that international arrivals for February were more than 40 per cent down on the number for 2019, based on figures provided to it by carriers, sea ports and airports. It warned, however, that official State data on the tourism sector is currently limited and it raised concerns about the potential impact of this on policymaking.
Data
The Central Statistics Office (CSO), which normally collates accurate data on visitor numbers gleaned from in-person surveys carried out at…