Over Half-A-Million Fewer Trips To Ireland This Year

In the year to August, there were 4,886,900 trips to Ireland which was 596,400 (10.9%) less than the same period in 2008.

Foreign trips by Irish residents also showed a similar decline, falling by 567,700 (10.3%) to 4,947,600 in the same period.

Irish residents took 748,600 foreign trips in August 2009, which was 11.5% less than that recorded in August 2008.

There were 823,100 overseas trips to Ireland in August 2009, down 13% from August 2008.

Visits from Great Britain fell by nearly a quarter to 369,700 while those from other European countries fell by just under 3% to 288,500.

Visits by residents of North America were up by 7.1% to 126,600.