Galway City enjoying busiest tourist season for over a decade

Galway City Tribune – The city is set for its busiest tourist season since the heady days at the peak of the Celtic Tiger with visitor numbers expected to top the 2.5 million mark for 2018.

Hotels, restaurants, pubs and shops are reporting record levels of activity over the past six weeks, with Shop Street and Quay Street in particular, ‘clogging up’ at times with pedestrian traffic.

A combination of the festivals – film, arts and the races – as well as the glorious Summer weather that only came to an end yesterday, have contributed to a bonanza season for the local tourism industry.

Mayor of Galway, Niall McNelis – who is also the Labour Party Spokesperson on Tourism – told the Galway City Tribune that visitor numbers to the city this year now looked likely to hit the 2.5 million mark, the highest since the mid-2000s.

“The city is now considered a must-visit location for tourists coming to Ireland and now with the motorway link to Dublin we are also getting a lot day-trippers.

“There has also been an increase in the availability of long and short-term holiday accommodation with Airbnb also playing a role in people coming to the city,” said Mayor McNelis.

He added that one of the trends being noticed this Summer was the large number of US visitors to the city. “Americans regard Ireland as a safe destination and the Galway Bay brand is a big attraction to them,” said Mayor McNelis.

According to the Mayor, this year’s tourist season had kicked off in late February and had gone from strength to strength since then. “The images of the city that have gone around the world during our recent run of great weather, have been a major boost,” said Niall McNelis.
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