This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.
North America remains one of Ireland’s most valuable visitor markets, but the outlook is getting more complicated. At the Skift Transatlantic Summit, Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Alice Mansergh pointed to continued growth alongside signs of softening demand as travelers contend with higher costs and economic uncertainty.
So far in 2026, Ireland has welcomed 5% more visitors from North America, with spending up 10%. But Mansergh said the past few months have been softer, as travelers think more carefully about their finances and increasingly seek flexible or refundable bookings.
“For all of us, it becomes really important to be at the top of the travel wishlist,” she said.
That challenge is shaping Tourism Ireland’s marketing strategy. Its new “Ireland Goes Beyond” campaign highlights the scenery, culture, heritage, and local experiences that make Ireland worth choosing, even as travelers become more selective about where they spend.
Protecting Transatlantic Air Connectivity
Staying on travelers’ wish lists is only part of the challenge. Ireland also needs to maintain the air connections that bring those travelers to the destination. With jet fuel costs up sharply and fewer Europeans traveling to the U.S., Mansergh said airlines are looking more closely at which transatlantic routes remain profitable.
Tourism Ireland works with carriers to promote strategic routes and stimulate inbound demand. Mansergh summed up the immediate challenge simply: “fill the planes to keep the planes.”
Healthy two-way travel matters, she added, because weaker outbound traffic from Europe can put the same routes that bring North American visitors to Ireland under pressure. “When you lose the connectivity, that can be damaging,” she said.
Those pressures reinforce the importance of a diversified visitor base. North America generates just over a third of Ireland’s inbound overseas revenue, with Europe contributing roughly another third. Britain offers another opportunity, with visitors from Ireland’s nearest neighbor twice as likely to return.
“Now is not the time to be wholly dependent on just one market or another,” Mansergh said.
Competing for Visibility in AI Search
Beyond traditional marketing and airline partnerships, Tourism Ireland is also adapting to how travelers discover destinations. Its research found that the number of people naming AI as their primary source of travel inspiration has doubled in the past year.
The organization is responding by optimizing its digital content for generative AI. According to Mansergh, information provided by Tourism Ireland now contributes to answers for 19% of queries about the destination across tools including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
The goal is to influence which experiences AI recommends, particularly lesser-known attractions and local businesses that might otherwise be overlooked.
But visibility in AI search also depends on what travelers are seeing and saying about a destination across the web. “Choose what you want to be famous for,” Mansergh said.
Tourism Ireland has applied that thinking to Halloween, building awareness of the holiday’s roots in the ancient Irish festival of Samhain through its own content and platforms such as Reddit, YouTube, and Tripadvisor.
“You need a bit of a surround sound of people talking about the things you want them to be talking about,” she said.
Why Authentic Experiences Still Matter
Technology may be changing how travelers discover Ireland, but the experiences that attract them often have little to do with technology.
“For me, I always want AI to stand for, yes, artificial intelligence, but also authentic Ireland,” she said.
She pointed to sheepdog demonstrations, cider-making farms, and traditional currach-building as examples of experiences that bring travelers closer to local culture while spreading tourism to more regions.
“The more digital we are,” Mansergh said, “the more we crave those authentic touch and feel real moments.”
For 2027, Tourism Ireland plans to keep focusing on connectivity, year-round travel, and emerging opportunities such as “cool-cations.” Taken together, those priorities reflect Tourism Ireland’s approach to a more uncertain market: Protect the connections that bring visitors to Ireland, reach travelers through new channels, and give them compelling reasons to visit.
Discover how Tourism Ireland is inspiring travelers to explore more of the island of Ireland. Learn more about Tourism Ireland’s global marketing initiatives.
This sponsored content was created collaboratively by Tourism Ireland and Skift Studio.
