Ireland wins ‘Best Destination’ award in New York – for the 12th consecutive year

Ireland has won a major travel award in the United States – Best Destination in Europe – for the 12th year in a row, reaffirming Ireland’s appeal among American travellers. The award was presented to Tourism Ireland at the 23rd annual Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards in New York.

Ireland took the number one spot in the ‘best destination in Europe’ category – beating off tough competition from iconic destinations like France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Croatia. Travel Weekly is the leading weekly newspaper for American travel professionals and the winners of this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards were chosen in two rounds of voting by thousands of Travel Weekly's audience of travel professionals. 

Accepting the award in New York, Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said: “We are delighted that Ireland has been singled out once again for this prestigious award. 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 this award is really good news, as we prepare to kick off another extensive and targeted promotional drive to inspire American holidaymakers to visit the island of Ireland in 2026.” 

The United States is an extremely important market for tourism to the island of Ireland. In 2024, revenue from US visitors to the island of Ireland was almost €2 billion, driven by 1.3 million US visitors.

Alison Metcalfe continued: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our travel trade partners across the United States – who continue to play a hugely important role in helping us promote the island of Ireland. I would also like to acknowledge the hugely important contribution of our tourism partners from Ireland, who joined us on the ground in the US this year, helping to spread the word about why Ireland is such a great choice for a vacation. We look forward to working together again in 2026.”