Over the past decade Dublin has been established as a major tourist destination in Europe and has the fastest rate of tourism growth in Ireland. The fact that the vast majority of overseas visitors enter Ireland via the east coast adds to the imbalance between the east and the rest of the country. Although overall tourist numbers have grown throughout the country, it has been at a much slower rate and very unevenly dispersed, both in terms of volume and value. Tourists mainly go to the long-established honey pots in the western coastal resorts, south Kerry and north west Donegal. One of the main reasons given by tourists for visiting Ireland is the desire for experiences likely to be found in rural parishes and townlands, yet very few visit areas outside the main tourist trail, even then they mostly pass through.