There is nothing quite like celebrating a national holiday on home turf, but as anyone in Ireland knows, St Patrick’s Day isn’t just for the Irish. Although St Patrick’s Day festivities are held around the world, it’s a dream for many to experience things the real way. Every year, thousands of tourists arrive to join in the celebrations, and this year is set to break all the records.
It may have started as a nod to its patron saint, but St Patrick’s Day is now seen as an opportunity to shine a light on Ireland in general, and is one of the most popular times of year to travel to the Emerald Isle. According to KAYAK.ie, searches for flights to Ireland in March 2017 spike just before St Patrick’s Day, with searches for Thursday 16th March 138% higher than for any other Thursday in March.
Ireland is set to be hit with a warm spell over the coming weekend – great news for the incoming visitors flying in for the festivities. And with more overseas visitors to Ireland expected for this year’s holiday than in any year before, the timing couldn’t be better. According to Tourism Ireland, numbers are set to beat the previous record in 2015 when Ireland welcomed around 112,000 overseas visitors to the festival. And this year, it appears to be the French showing the most interest in flying in for the celebrations.
| Nations most interested in visiting Ireland for St Patrick’s Day | |
| 1 | France |
| 2 | United Kingdom |
| 3 | Austria |
| 4 | Switzerland |
| 5 | Germany |
| 6 | Spain |
| 7 | Italy |
| 8 | Sweden |
| 9 | Portugal |
| 10 | Norway |
Spectators will throng the streets of cities and towns up and down the country for up to 60 St Patrick’s Day parades this year, the largest of which in Dublin, where crowds numbering over 500,000 are expected.
For those that can’t make it to the Emerald Isle to enjoy the festivities, a handful of places around the world are known for throwing a party good enough to rival Dublin itself. Montserrat, a tiny Caribbean island and the only other place in the world besides Ireland that honours St Patrick’s Day as an official public holiday, Chicago, famous for dyeing its downtown river green, New York, which holds the biggest St Patrick’s Day parade in the US and Boston – home to a massive percentage of citizens with Irish descent. Or closer to home, Cabo Roig in Spain throws the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in all of Spain, which typically attracts over 10,000 spectators.
For a weekend that’s sure to be packed with activities and could get a bit hectic, try out KAYAK Trips. With this tool, visitors can organise their itinerary and even share it with friends, so they can relax and enjoy the weekend knowing all their travel details are close at hand!
Data analysis is based on searches on KAYAK locales between 08.09.16-08.03.17, for return flights to Ireland between 15-19.03.17.
