Cliffs visitor numbers climbing

Visitor numbers to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience were up 15.8% during 2015, it has been confirmed.

1,251,574 people visited the Clare County Council owned centre last year compared to 1,080,501 during 2014, meaning that the Cliffs of Moher broke the one million visitor figure for the just the second time ever last year.

It is the fifth successive increase in visitor numbers to the Cliffs of Moher with year-on-year increases of 12.5%, 10%, 8%, 10% and 12.3% being achieved during 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Fully Independent Travellers (FITs), mainly travelling by car, made up 49% of the total, representing a 14.6% increase compared to 2014   Groups travelling by coach made up 45.6% of the total and increased by 16.1% on the previous year.  Others including walkers, cyclists and those travelling by public transport made up 5.4% and increased by 16.5% compared to 2014.

“This is the highest number of visitors since records were first kept exceeding the previous high point of 2014, which was the first time visitor numbers exceeded the one million,” explained Katherine Webster, Director, Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience.

“Information on visitor demographics is still being analysed but indications are that the German and UK markets have grown most strongly of our top nationalities with the US and Irish markets growing at a slower pace than in the past. The other nationalities that have seen substantial increases in both volumes and market share are China, Canada, Switzerland and India. Closer to home the Northern Ireland market also has grown faster than in recent years,” added Ms. Webster.