Almost 3m trips to Ireland in first four months 2019

The Central Statistics Office have said the total number of trips to Ireland has increased in the first four months of 2019.

From January to April 2019, there were 2,965,000 trips to Ireland, an increase of 5.1% when compared with the same period in 2018.

The CSO revealed that 1,148,100 residents of Great Britain made a trip to Ireland in that time period with a further 1,094,600 visitors coming from other European countries.

552,400 residents of the USA and Canada also arrived in Ireland in the first four months of the year.

The total number of trips to Ireland by overseas residents for the month of April 2019 also increased by 4.3% to 938,300 - an increase of 38,400 compared to twelve months earlier.

The CSO figures also reveal that trips overseas by Irish residents has also increased.

From January to April 2019 Irish residents' trips overseas increased by 9.5% - a jump to 2,472,200.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said the figures indicate "a solid performance from our source markets."

However, he added that "Britain remains our most challenging market for the upcoming peak season.

"While we welcome the fact that visitor numbers are up 2.4% for January to April, we know that currency fluctuations and the Brexit extension will continue to cause uncertainty for the summer season and may affect travel demand."