Guinness Storehouse still top attraction
The 2015 figures represent an 18% increase on the 2014 visitor numbers which sees the Home of Guinness retaining its position as Ireland’s top international visitor attraction.
Mirroring current trends in Irish tourism, visitors from the UK and the US made up half of all visitors to the Storehouse followed by visitors from mainland Europe and Ireland.
93% of all visitors to the attraction in 2015 were from overseas. Just over a quarter of all visitors (27%) were from the UK (a 98% growth in the past year). This was followed by the US (22%), Ireland (7%), France (6%) and Germany (6%). China (up 38% year-on-year) and the Netherlands (up 34% year-on-year) represented the other biggest growth markets compared to 2014.
Celebrating the record-breaking visitor numbers, Managing Director of the Guinness Storehouse Paul Carty commented, “We celebrated 15 years of welcoming visitors to the Home of Guinness just last month and in September were named ‘Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction’ at the World Travel Awards, winning more votes than the likes of the Eiffel Tower and the Colosseum. Today is a very proud day for the Guinness Storehouse team and for tourism in Ireland.
“Over the coming year we’ll be announcing new innovations and developments that will further enhance our offering.”
Alex Connolly, Head of Communications and Spokesperson for Fáilte Ireland, added, “The Guinness Storehouse has marked its 15th year with another impressive performance and it’s particularly remarkable that such a relatively recent tourism attraction has now established itself as an iconic ‘must-see’ destination in the city. Visitors come to Dublin looking for authentic, memorable and hands-on experiences and in that respect the Storehouse always delivers. The performance in 2015 took place during a record year for tourism and as the recent rebranding of Dublin begins to impact I would expect visitor numbers to continue to rise in the years ahead.”
The Guinness Storehouse also holds the top spot in Ireland on the digital map as a record number of people checked-in on their Facebook profiles in 2015.
