Over 900,000 Fewer Trips Made To Ireland In 2009

There were 911,500 (11.6%) fewer overseas trips to Ireland in 2009 compared to 2008. In all, 6,927,500 overseas trips were made to Ireland in 2009, the lowest since 2005.

The decline in the visitors market from Great Britain accounted for most of the fall in numbers, where trips to Ireland fell by 615,400 (15.9%).

Meanwhile, trips to Ireland by overseas residents for December 2009 were down 6% to 473,600 from December 2008.

Visitors from Great Britain were down by 12.6% to 232,600 while trips to Ireland by residents of other European countries and North America remained relatively steady at 159,100 and 54,600 respectively.

Irish residents made 417,300 overseas trips in December 2009, which was 15% fewer than 12 months earlier. In 2009, Irish residents made 7,049,300 such trips, down 10.5% from 2008.