掲示板 Forums - Welcome

I'm a bit confused: what is the difference between ようこそ and いらっしゃいませ？

Is there even a difference? Sorry if that is a stupid question

No, it’s an excellent question. I’d like to know more about this myself.

The one thing I can tell you from experience without doing any further research is that ようこそ is used to greet travelers, while いらしゃいませ is used to greet customers.

The etymology is interesting. The root of いらしゃい is 入る “come in” and ようこそ is 良い “good.”