The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation has released its annual data for 2012 which shows that there was an increase in visitors to Ireland from North America and Europe, but a decrease in those visiting from Britain.

The Journal reports on the ITIC’s annual data which showed that tourism in Ireland was about on par with that of 2011. Overall, close to 6.5 million people visited Ireland.

The figure of 6.5 million visitors is smaller than that of during the boom. The biggest tourism months for Ireland - July and August - showed decreases of 7 percent and 1 percent respectively compared to 2011.

There were approximately 100,000 fewer British visitors to Ireland in 2012, a four percent drop from 2011. The ITIC points to a struggling economy in Britain to account for that decrease. Despite the decrease, Britain remains Ireland’s biggest draw of tourism with a reported 2.4 million visitors in 2012.

The ITIC says the data shows that Ireland performed “reasonably well” considering its own struggling economy and poor weather over the summer.

With The Gathering 2013 to begin in just a few days, there is a positive outlook for tourism in 2013, with hopes for an overall 5 percent increase for next year.