Tourism continues to contribute significantly to Ireland's economic recovery. CSO figures for 2015 show there were over 8.6 million overseas visits to Ireland, an increase of 13.7% on 2014. Spending in Ireland by overseas visitors, excluding air fares or ferry charges, for 2015 increased by 18.6% compared to 2014.
Tourism Ireland informs me that overseas promotion activity to support sustainable growth is weighted towards those segments that provide the best return on marketing investment. In this regard, the Ireland brand is underpinned by the tourism brand experiences that have been developed by Fáilte Ireland, such as the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's Ancient East and Dublin - A Breath of Fresh Air, which are all designed to appeal to the most promising consumer segments in overseas source markets. All of the sectors mentioned by the Deputy, namely, business, activity and cultural tourism, present significant opportunities for promotion and development and are captured within the brand experiences.
In this regard, business tourism was worth in excess of €669 million to the Irish economy in 2015 and has increased by 35% since 2011. It accounts for 16% of overseas tourism spend in Ireland. The Government is continuing to invest in the activity tourism sector, to which the Deputy also referred, and there is provision in the multi-year capital investment programme for further expansion. Finally, cultural tourism is an intrinsic element of all the experience brands but it forms a major part of the appeal of Ireland's Ancient East, which has a particularly rich and diverse range of cultural heritage, and which extends into the Deputy's constituency, where the experiences include many sites with which the Deputy is familiar.