ABSTRACT
Dublin has an attractive setting on the wide Dublin Bay, backed by the Wicklow Mountains. The Dublin area contains over one-third of the Republic of Ireland’s 3.8 million population. Dublin has not only become a major tourist city on the world stage, but it is also the most important gateway to Ireland with a major airport and also sea access through the port of Dun Laoghaire. This is reflected in the statistics – the Dublin region has seen the highest growth of visitor numbers in Ireland, such that by 2002 Dublin received 3.3 million overseas visitors and almost a million domestic visits, with tourism supporting 25 000 full-time jobs.
