Dublin has been named the seventh best city in the world to visit in 2022 by Lonely Planet. The accolade will be unveiled today in the prestigious Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2022. The book documents the world’s hottest trends, destinations and experiences for the coming year.
Lonely Planet describes Dublin as “one of Europe’s most down-to-earth and friendly cities,” mentioning its “Georgian squares, traditional pubs and warm people” as highlights.
It goes on to say that “modern Dublin still has all the appeal of the city in Joyce’s day plus a host of compelling contemporary reasons to visit now”.
With 2022 marking 100 years since the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2022 will encourage visitors to follow in the footsteps of Leopold Bloom, with a stroll around the city to see its architectural and cultural delights.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, said: “It has been such a difficult period for our tourism industry and this is a timely reminder that Ireland and in particular Dublin remains a world class holiday destination. I would like to encourage all domestic and international tourists alike to visit Dublin and mark the centenary of the wonderful book Ulysses from one of our many literary icons James Joyce and follow in the footsteps of the uniquely Irish Leopold Bloom.”
Welcoming the news, Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “As we restart tourism from overseas, it is another well-deserved accolade which will help position us well for 2022 and create ‘stand-out’ against competitor destinations. I would like to thank Lonely Planet for the wonderful support they have shown the island of Ireland over the years.”
Tourism Restart
As tourism from overseas begins to make a return, Tourism Ireland will take every opportunity to maximise this accolade for Dublin and Ireland. Over the coming weeks and months, action will be taken to spread the good news, including the release of a new video highlighting the accolade and Dublin City. The video can be viewed here.
There will also be a page dedicated to this achievement on Tourism Ireland’s international website, following the recent launch of its new ‘Green Button’ global campaign. The campaign aims to to re-start tourism and encourage as many overseas visitors as possible to book Ireland for their next short break or holiday. Tourism Ireland will leverage the Lonely Plant accolade to complement that message and encourage people around the world to ‘press the Green Button and discover Dublin’.
The island of Ireland has been particularly successful in the Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel accolade over the years. The most recent accolades have included the Burren Ecotourism Network being named a ‘Best Community Tourism Project’ for 2021, Galway being declared the fourth best city in the world to visit in 2020 and Belfast and the Causeway Coast named the Number One Region in the world to visit in 2018.