Dublin, Mar 29 (IANS): Ireland has recorded a rapid recovery in the number of foreign travellers in February, following the country's lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

A total of 787,300 foreign travellers arrived in February, up over 34 per cent and 1,300 percent respectively when compared with January 2022 and February 2021, Xinhua news agency quoted Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) as saying on Monday.

Nevertheless, the February 2022 figure is still 35.2 per cent lower than that recorded in the pre-pandemic February 2020 when more than 1.21 million overseas passengers arrived in Ireland, it said.

In January 2022, there were 584,100 foreign arrivals in Ireland while in February 2021 there were only 54,800, said the CSO.

Ireland reported its first Covid-19 case at the end of February 2020 and its tourism sector suffered greatly as more and more travel restrictions were imposed across the world, resulting in a sharp drop in the number of foreign travellers.

Tourism is a pillar industry of Ireland.

In 2019, nearly 9.7 million people visited Ireland from overseas, bringing in over $5.6 billion for its hospitality sector, according to Tourism Ireland.

Earlier this month, the Irish government removed all the Covid restrictions regarding travel.