Dublin, the jewel of the Emerald Isle

The fact that visitors continue to flock there does nothing but affirm the appeal of a destination that seems to run at a more relaxed pace than many of northern- European cities. Indeed the philosophical approach to life embodied in its famous repertoire of proverbs and sayings seems to have manifested itself into a city. This appeal, maintained despite the weather has allowed the city to continually grow as a very attracting place to visit.These developments, both in industry and in the planning of projects on a national level, show the conviction that the city has of its capacity and ability to develop and diversify. The myriad of projects and plans for the future is ambitious, but it is perhaps this that Dublin requires in order to put itself forward as a city that will attract an increase in business visitors, and maintain its command of the tourist market. Dublin is rising still. The Irish national character may well be one than leans toward self-irony, but regarding development, its capital is looking seriously to the future.In 2006 as in previous years, the number of visitors to Ireland continued to rise, with an increase of 10% to 7.4 million nationally, and a rise to 5.6 million to Dublin itself. The total expenditure of visitors was nearly 4.7 billion euros – up by 420 million on 2005. Whilst the numbers of visitors continue to arrive predominantly from Britain, the total number of visitors from mainland Europe grew by 18%, with newer tourist markets, particularly from “new Europe”. This impressive increase was in fact double the numbers anticipated by the World Tourism Organisation. The total foreign and domestic tourism revenue of 6.09 billion euros accounted for 3.8% of GNP. It is clear that these figures made a significant contribution to Dublin as a...