Seasonality in Irish Tourism, 1973–1995

The improved performance of Irish tourism and its contribution to employment growth since 1987 can be attributed in part to a more focused concentration of government efforts, improved access transport policies, liberalization of air fares, more favourable external demand factors, and increased European input through structural funds and the resulting emphasis on tourism investment. A total of 5.540 million visitors visited Ireland during 1998 and published figures show that 5.007 million visited in 1997. Consequently, the numbers have increased by 11% over the period. This improved performance since the late 1980s, however, has failed to address adequately a long-term structural problem of Irish tourism, seasonality. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed analysis of seasonality in Irish tourism and in doing so to identify some salient policy issues that need to be addressed as a matter of priority. The first section provides a definition of seasonality in the Irish context, and outlines the nature of Ireland's main source markets. The next section discusses the seasonal distribution of overseas visitors to Ireland (1973 and 1995 — the analysis begins in 1973 because that is the first year for which comparable data are available). A brief discussion pertaining to the seasonal profile of the domestic market and regional distribution is also included in the analysis. The paper concludes with an outline of policy initiatives and implications of the trends for seasonality in Irish tourism.