Irish residents took over 4.6m outbound trips in third quarter

The CSO also found that Irish residents spent a total of 12.6m nights on domestic trips between July and September

Holiday trips accounted for the largest share of domestic nights at 60%, followed by visits to friends or relatives at 29%

The number of outbound trips taken by Irish residents increased notably between July and September, growing to 4.6m in the three month period. 

New figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) found that the average length of an outbound stay decreased to 6.3 nights between July and September, down from 6.8 nights in the same period last year.

The CSO also found that Irish residents spent a total of 12.6m nights on domestic trips in the three months, representing a 10% decline compared with the number of nights spent in the same period in 2024. 

The most popular domestic region for overnight trips by Irish residents in the three months was the Southern region, which comprises counties Clare, Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Cork, and Kerry. 

Trips to this region accounted for nearly half of all trips recorded in the period, the CSO found. 

Meanwhile, the he Eastern and Midland region, comprising Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Meath, Louth, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, and Laois, had the least number of overnight domestic trips.

"Holiday trips accounted for the largest share of domestic nights at 60%, followed by visits to friends or relatives at 29%," said CSO statistician Aaron Costello, adding that business travel represented 3% of all overnight stays.

"Irish residents spent a total of 29.1m nights on outbound trips," Mr Costello continued.

"The distribution of these nights was led by holiday purposes, accounting for 75% of the total. Visits to friends or relatives represented 18% of the nights, while business-related travel made up 3%.