This article is from page 11 of the 2013-01-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
THE Cliffs of Moher recorded it third highest year for visitors ever in 2012 – and its highest since the recession started in 2007.
According to new figures released by the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience, 873,988 people visited the North Clare tourist attraction last year.
Significantly, the number of fully independent travellers (FIT), or people who did not come to the Cliffs as part of a package or bus holiday, was slightly up on the 2011 figures.
It had been anticipated that FIT figures would dip at the cliffs last year following disappointing numbers as a result of the London Olympics and the Euro 2012.
However, a strong rally in individual visitors in September and October helped boost FIT figures, along with a dramatic 30 per cent increase in the number of Chinese visitors coming to the site.
FIT numbers are especially important for the Clare tourism industry as they are much more likely to stay in Clare as part for their holiday, while other visitors usually travel to the Cliffs from Dublin, Galway or Kerry.
There was further good news in the coach visitors sector, with an increase of 17.7 per cent in the number of people visiting the Cliffs of Moher by bus as part of a package holiday.
According to Katherine Webster, Director of the Cliffs of Moher Experience, 2012 was the Cliffs’ third highest years for visitors ever, behind 2007 with 939,772 and 2006 and estimated 911,876 visitors.
“We are delighted with the 2012 visitor number performance at a time when the wider tourism sector across Ireland and the world has experienced considerable difficulties.
“This achievement is a tribute to the staff of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience and the agencies that have made considerable investments in developing the attraction during recent years,” she said.
“The challenge for us now is to explore new and innovative ways of attracting visitors to the Cliffs of Moher.
“Despite experiencing a second successive increase in visitors last year, we remain almost 7 per cent below the attraction’s peak year of 2007.”
Overall, the 2012 figure of 873,988 last year was almost 65,000 visitors over the 2011 numbers.