Because of weakness in the British market caused by Brexit uncertainty, Tourism Ireland plans to increase visitation to Ireland from the Middle East.
Although only about 5% of visitors to Ireland currently are coming from the Middle East, visit numbers are up by 52% over the past 5 years, in part as a result of the initiation in 2018 of visas on arrival for UAE citizens.
About two-thirds of visitors from the Middle East now are coming from the UAE, and one-third from Saudi Arabia, where Tourism Ireland has not yet begun a marketing push.
Three Gulf-region airlines - Emirates. Etihad and Qatar Airways - currently provide inbound capacity to Ireland of about 10,000 seats weekly.
