This is great news for the tourism industry...
Ireland has been named fifth on
Lonely Planet's list of countries you need to visit in 2015 and because that's one of the most highly respected travel guides in the world, we're all very proud of ourselves here this morning.
The influential guide has called us "the real deal" and even compared the Wild Atlantic Way to California’s Pacific Coast Highway and Australia’s Great Ocean Road, which loads of Irish people have experienced, so that's high praise indeed.
The guide goes on to say that "Ireland is stunningly scenic, its traditions – music, dance, whiskey and beer – firmly intact and the cosmopolitan, contemporary Irish are just as friendly and welcoming as their forebears were known to be." Yeah, that sounds like us.
The Lonely Planet guide is hugely influential so hopefully being included in this list will see a major boost to tourism around the country over the next 12 months and beyond.
Here the full list of Lonely Planet's Top 10 countries for 2015:
1. Singapore
2. Namibia
3. Lithuania
4. Nicaragua
5. Ireland
6. Republic of Congo
7. Serbia
8. The Philippines
9. St Lucia
10. Morocco
If you're looking for some travel inspiration, Lonely Planet have also listed their Top 10 cities for 2015:
1. Washington DC, USA
2. El Chaltén, Argentina
3. Milan, Italy
4. Zermatt, Switzerland
5. Valletta, Malta
6. Plovdiv, Bulgaria
7. Salisbury, UK
8. Vienna, Austria
9. Chennai, India
10. Toronto, Canada
