More trips into and out of Ireland, CSO figures show

The were 1.796 million trips into Ireland from overseas in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 0.6%.

New figures from the CSO show the average tourist spent 6.2 nights here. This is a slight fall from 6.5 nights in the previous quarter.

Including travel expenses, visitors spent €939m on their trips to Ireland, an increase of 1.4%.

Meanwhile, in the first three months of this year, the number of trips made by Irish residents overseas increased by 6.2%, from 1.478 million trips in the first three months of 2016 to 1.569 million. The average stay decreased from 7.2 nights to six nights.

Total tourism and travel spending by Irish people overseas decreased by 1.3%, down from €971m in Quarter 1 2016 to €958m in Quarter 1 2017.

When all fares are included, total spending on overseas trips decreased by 0.7%, from €1.2bn to €1.17bn.