Ireland has earned two major accolades in US travel awards this year.

Last week, Ireland was named 'Best destination: Europe” at the Travel Weekly annual Readers Choice Awards in New York.

And in LA, Ireland was deemed ‘Best Tourism Destination’ for the third year in a row at the 2014 Global Traveler Tested Awards, which are voted by frequent travelers in the U.S.

Ireland remains one of the most popular destinations for American travelers. The country was listed among Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Countries to Visit for 2015, while Dublin has been the subject of three recent travel features in The New York Times.

“Travellers nowadays have tremendous choice, which makes it more important than ever for us to ensure the island of Ireland stands out from other destinations – so these awards are really good news, coming at the end of a record year for Irish tourism from the US,” said Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons.

Tourism Ireland expects to have welcomed 1.2 million US visitors to the country by the end of this year and hopes to attract a record 7.74 million visitors for 2015.