Visitors to the State fell 5.1 per cent in October compared to the same month in 2023, with completed trips reaching a total of 548,100, according to new inbound tourism figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
However, the visitors spent €534.3 million on their trips, excluding fares, which was 3.6 per cent higher than the sum recorded for October 2023.
The average cost of their trips, excluding fares, in October 2024 rose to €975, up from €893 a year ago.
The largest contingent of visitors, or some 32.6 per cent, came from Britain, followed by the US, which accounted for 21.7 per cent of visitors, and then Germany, which accounted for 8.1 per cent.
“The most important tourism market, in terms of revenue generated was North America, with visitors from the US and Canada accounting for 42.5 per cent of all visitor expenditure,” said Gregg Patrick, a statistician in the CSO’s tourism and travel division.
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This was followed by continental Europe (34.4 per cent), Britain (15.9 per cent) and the rest of the world (7.2 per cent).
The most frequent reason for travelling to Ireland was for holiday or leisure, with this cited by 44.2 per cent.
Visitors stayed a total of 3.9 million nights in the country, down 2.1 per cent when compared with October 2023. But the average length of stay for foreign resident overnight visitors was 7.1 nights, up from 6.9 nights in October 2023.
More of the visitors stayed in hotels (47.4 per cent) than in any other accommodation type.
The CSO’s inbound tourism data estimates the number of overseas foreign resident visits to Ireland and the value of these visits to Ireland’s tourism industry.
The research is based on the CSO passenger survey carried out at Irish airports and seaports. It does not capture data on residents of Northern Ireland visiting the State as a tourism destination.
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