Our €1.36bn US shopping spree

IRISH bargain hunters last year flocked to North America in record numbers and spent a whopping €1.36 billion as the weak dollar made designer clothes, glitzy jewellery and hi-tech gadgets too cheap to resist.

Figures yesterday showed holiday-makers made a record 685,000 trips to the US and Canada in 2007, with spending rocketing by 28%, or €296 million, on 2006 figures.

The plummeting value of the dollar against the euro has made holidays to North America cheaper than ever, prompting bargain-hunters to flock to shops across the Atlantic.

Last year, Irish holiday-makers spent €7.34bn on overseas holidays, of which almost one-fifth was spent in the US and Canada alone.

Travel agent James Malone last night said weekend holiday-makers were now shunning London and Paris in favour of US cities.

“The dollar’s weak, and airlines are competing aggressively on price and are trying to bring people over,” said Mr Malone, of Rathgar Travel, Dublin.

“Tourists used to go to London or Paris for a weekend of shopping but now they can go to the States and do that. They’re much more adventurous.”

Last year, holiday-makers and other travellers spent €8.89bn on breaks at home and abroad last year — with €1bn alone spent on flights to overseas sunspots.

Spending on foreign holidays and travel came to €7.34bn, up 19.7% on the amount splashed out during 2006.

Holiday-makers last year spent €1.55bn on breaks at home, making Ireland’s domestic tourism market worth €6.46bn a year once spending by visitors from overseas was included.

The total spent at home and abroad by Irish residents was €8.89bn, a rise of €1.4bn or 18.5% on the amount spent in 2006 on holidays, leisure travel and other breaks.

Yesterday, the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) 2007 household travel survey showed holiday-makers and other travellers made 7,830,000 overseas trips last year, up 849,000 visits or 12.2%.

Britain remained the most popular destination but the country faces losing its crown to Spain as the top spot for Irish holiday-maker and traveller.

Last year, 1,736,000 trips were made across the Irish Sea compared to 1,713,000 to Spain, a gap of just 23,000.

But figures compiled by the CSO reveal Spain is already the most popular destination on the number of nights spent abroad.

Last year, holiday-makers snoozed their way through 15,390,000 nights in Spain compared to 7,118,000 in Britain, putting our neighbours second to the Spaniards in our affections.

The figures suggest trips over the Irish Sea are more frequent but shorter as the country is closer while visits to Spain are primarily for holidays.