Fáilte Ireland has confirmed that Dublin Zoo was the country's most visited attraction - both fee-paying and non fee-paying - in 2010, welcoming more than 960,000 people.

According to the tourism agency's latest figures, Dublin Zoo reported a 7 per cent growth in visitor numbers - compared with nearly 900,000 for the previous year.

Dublin's Guinness Storehouse welcomed 930,000 visitors in 2010 - down from more than 1 million in 2009, while more than 720,000 visited the National Aquatic Centre.

The capital's National Gallery of Ireland was revealed to be the top non fee-paying attraction, with nearly 737,000 visitors - down from more than 782,000 in 2009.

Fáilte Ireland said that, overall, the top 10 fee-paying and top 10 non fee-paying sites reported a decline of 2.6 per cent in the number of visitor numbers for 2010.

However, the agency also revealed that half of all Irish tourism operators believe that business performance is poised to improve this year, compared with 7 per cent in 2008.

It is one of the main findings from the Fáilte Ireland Tourism Barometer for January-May 2011. Around 75 per cent believe that performance will be up or the same as last year.

Fáilte Ireland CEO Shaun Quinn said: "This data reflects a growing confidence returning to the tourism sector."