Tour companies add Royal County to itineraries in huge boost to visitor numbers

High-profile tour companies such as Abbey Tours, Ovation, Brendan Tours and Odyssey International are now including Meath in their tour programmes, which should see a significant boost to visitor numbers in the county. Meath Tourism has welcomed recent figures released by Fáilte Ireland showing that overseas visitors to Ireland as a whole last year were up by almost 10 per cent to 6.5m compared to 2010. "Tourism is one of our most resilient industries and has faced down a number of challenges over the last number of years and this bounce in 2011 is very welcome," said Cllr John Farrelly, chairman of Meath Tourism. "We are immensely proud of the monumental effort that each and every one of our members makes on a daily basis to ensure that our county plays a part in this recovery by providing an unforgettable visitor experience," he added.