Ireland's diaspora are being called home in 2013 to reconnect with its roots and follow the example of US president "Barack O'Bama" - as the Irish sometimes call him - who visited the country last year to trace his ancestral heritage.
An Irish government initiative dubbed The Gathering is now encouraging the 70 million people around the world of Irish descent to visit the country in 2013.
Dublin airport expects to receive an additional 325,000 visitors during the year, says the airport authority's director of strategy, Vincent Harrison. "We want to tell the airlines people are coming and to build up capacity and get it into their planning," he says.
With a large number of its diaspora in the USA, Harrison says that the country's airlines in particular should be looking to increase capacity and frequencies to Dublin.
He says that the city is an especially appealing tourist destination because of the excellent value offered by hotels, whose rates have decreased significantly as a result of the effects of the economic recession.
Harrison sees The Gathering as a warm-up for 2016, when he expects large numbers of visitors to arrive in the city to celebrate the 100th anniversary since the proclamation of the Irish Republic in Dublin.
Source: Flight Daily News
