We wrote a blog about the increase in visitors to Northern Ireland from the Republic a few weeks ago. It is very heartening to see and the latest figures to come out are even better, as they suggest that the tourist numbers from the south have tripled during the last 10 years, which is quite extraordinary.
This analysis comes from economists at both Dublin University and Ulster University who have been scouring all the available official data as well as interviewing industry stakeholders. From this data they have gleaned that there were around 400,000 trips from the Republic to NI in 2013, compared to around 1.3 million trips last year!
A Fantastic Part Of The World
There are quite a few reasons it appears for this bump in tourist numbers from the Republic. One obvious reason is that the Troubles are behind us and this has encouraged people to visit this fantastic part of the world. Also the nightlife has really changed for the better which is encouraging younger people to come over and enjoy themselves.
Another reason is the number of cross-border events that have proliferated over the last few years, such as sporting occasions and concerts etc. These sort of events can bring in large numbers of visitors from the south and provide some much needed revenue to our hospitality sector. And of course it is not just people from the Republic that are coming over, the number of foreign tourists as well as tourists from the rest of the UK is increasing also. There is also the fact that Northern Ireland is exceptional value for money compared to many other tourist destinations.
Finally the pandemic also played a part as many holiday makers turned closer to home for their trips around this period and the rise in figures has fortunately been sustained ever since.
The ETA Permit Could Be A Potential Barrier To Travel
One sticking point for potential visitors from further afield is the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) permit, which non-British and non-Irish citizens, who do not require a visa, will generally need to enter the UK. For instance international tourists who arrive at Dublin and want to go on to Northern Ireland will require an ETA.
Talking about this, Anastasia Desmond , Senior Economist at Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre, is quoted in an article on the BBC News website, saying:
“It has been identified as a potential barrier to both regional and cross-border travel,” Ms Desmond said.
“Any sort of barrier has to have some sort of effect whether that be positive or negative, but in this instance we can’t see any positive impact likely to come out of this.
“We’ve come an awful long way considering that we’ve had an extended period of civil unrest and as a country we’ve got a real vibrant tourism industry in years after that that we’ll be looking to continue to grow.”
But the hospitality industry here in NI is definitely alive and kicking.
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