Kerry had only twenty percent of its normal number of international visitors during 2021, due to the ongoing global pandemic.
That's according to the county's Tourism Officer John Griffin, who says however, that while the number of overseas visitors was down, this was somewhat offset by the increase in the number of Irish tourists who chose to holiday in Kerry.
In a normal year, pre-pandemic, around 1.3 million tourists normally visit Kerry - but this was down to between 200,000 and 300,000 last year.
The majority of those who visited from overseas were either American or German, and Mr Griffin says these two nationalities are likely to make up the majority of visitors next year.
Despite the challenged of Covid, he says those involved in the tourism and hospitality sectors can look towards the 2022 season with cautious optimism.
He also noted that lots of investment had been made in tourism in the county in the last year:
