Irish tourism figures rebound ahead of Middle East conflict

Foreign visitors to Ireland rose by 33% in February, CSO figures show

Mon, 30 Mar, 2026 - 12:24

Emer Walsh

The number of foreign visitors to Ireland saw a significant rebound last month, with almost 405,000 people in total visiting the country in February.

New figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Monday show a 33% rise in the number of foreign visitors coming to Ireland last month compared to the same period in 2025.

While the figures show a significant rebound on an annual basis, it still represents a 7% fall in people visiting the State when compared with February 2024.

The CSO said foreign visitors stayed a total of 2.4m nights in the country, which was up by 31% on the same month last year. However, it remained down by 12% compared to February 2024.

The data also shows that visitors from Great Britain accounted for the largest share at 43%, followed by Continental Europe at 40%, North America at 12%, and the rest of the world at 4%.

Rising air fares

The rebound comes amid another turbulent time for inbound tourism, with ongoing geopolitical conflict adding to further uncertainty for potential visitors. Last week saw head of Ryanair Michael O'Leary warn that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East will lead to higher air fares as flight cancellations drive up costs and aviation fuel prices, with some carriers even flagging risks to jet fuel supplies.

The Middle East conflict, now well into its third week, has thrown aviation into turmoil, with flights cancelled or rerouted thousands of miles and most airspace over the Gulf still closed amid fears of missile and drone attacks.

In addition, it is estimated that around €450m of Ireland's tourism revenue comes from the Middle East or via the Middle East, leaving the sector exposed if conflict persists in the region.

Dublin Airport also continues to deal with capacity constraints, with the CEO of Airlines for America warning that Ireland could face “repercussions” from the Trump administration over the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.

Some 36% of the visitors indicated that the main purpose of their trip was to visit family and friends, followed by 35% who said it was for a holiday, with 18% of inbound visitors citing business reasons. The CSO said the average length of stay for foreign visitors last month was 5.8 nights, down from 5.9 nights in February 2025.

Expenditure by foreign visitors in February 2026 was estimated at €250m, the CSO found, which was up by 28% compared with the same month in 2025. However, it remained down on the same period in 2024, falling by 12% from a previous €284m.

CSO Statistician Edward Duffy said visitors from Continental Europe accounted for 39% of total expenditure, followed by Great Britain at 31%, North America at 23%, and visitors from the rest of the world at 7%. Meanwhile, some 1,385,000 passengers departed Ireland on overseas routes in February, a 7% increase compared with the same month 2025. The majority of departing passengers (62%) were Irish residents heading outbound for tourism or other purposes, the CSO found.

A further 9% were same day visitors, comprising Northern Ireland residents heading outbound via an airport or seaport in Ireland, foreign resident transfer passengers, or other foreign resident same day visitors. Some 29% of the departing passengers were foreign resident overnight visitors, constituting 404,700 visitors in total.