Ireland » Tourism

Ireland's coastline holds a notable variety of scenery and conditions from long gently sloping beaches, rocky sea cliffs and headlands to raised bogs. There are outstanding mountains, attractive villages and towns, prehistoric and religious sites and a laid back approach to life that is without equal. The shape and reasonably small size of Ireland means that nowhere is very far from the sea, but beware, many of Irelands roads are narrow and the through routes are heavily used.

Resorts and beaches in Ireland are uncrowded, and a network of more than 50 tourist information offices offering help, advice, accommodation and suggestions on all aspects of travel underpins the tourism infrastructure. Most tourist offices are open Mon-Fri 0900-1800, closing on Saturday at 1300, but times vary, with offices at seaports and airports generally open longer during the summer months.

The unique attraction of Ireland as a tourist destination has been the level and depth of contact with the Irish people in a relaxed and clean environment characterized by unhurried pace of life and beautiful landscapes. More recently visitors have also traveled to Ireland to avail of the wide range of sporting and recreational facilities and events, e.g. golf, angling, walking, cycling, equestrian, cultural and heritage and have some of the highest standards of accommodation, food and hospitality, often in a pre-dominantly rural setting. Meanwhile, Dublin has established itself as a vibrant destination in its own right, competing with Europe's renowned capital cities, in particular for short-break business.

As the tourism sector in Ireland matures, in a complex environment of rapid economic and social change, the challenge facing the Department is to have in place an appropriate institutional architecture and suite of policies to facilitate the continued development by the industry of a sustainable and spatially balanced tourism sector, embracing the all-island opportunities offered by the Good Friday agreement, against the framework of the National Development Plan.