Visitor numbers from North America started to decline in June 2008 and there has been little respite since, as the North American consumer curtailed expenditure on almost all but essential items.

All product areas were hard hit for Ireland, particularly the escorted tour market.

But as the global travel decline started in the US, there was a certain inevitability that recovery would also begin there. There has been much talk of green shoots appearing and ITIC spoke with Brian Stack, President of CIE Tours International, to see if this was true.

Click on the image below to hear what he had to say.

February 26th 2010