Mainland Europe

About Mainland Europe

2019 was a record year for overseas visitors from Mainland Europe to the island of Ireland. Mainland Europe is now the largest single source of holidaymakers and revenue for the island of Ireland. In 2019, Mainland Europe delivered one-third of all overseas tourism revenue and one-third of all overseas visitors.

Tourism Ireland promotes the island of Ireland in nine Mainland European markets – Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Nordic region, Austria and Switzerland. In 2019, we welcomed almost 3.8 million visitors from Mainland Europe to the island of Ireland (+3% on 2018), who spent €1.95/£1.69 billion during their time here (0%).  In 2019, there were 3.6 million visitors from Mainland Europe to the Republic of Ireland (+3% change on 2018), who spent €1.85 billion (0%). There were 338,000 visitors from Mainland Europe to Northern Ireland (+2% on 2018), who spent £84 million (+2%).