We’re getting more tourists — but they don’t stay long

More people are coming to Ireland this year, but the length of their stay has fallen — along with the amount of money they are spending here.

More than 1.3m people came here in the first quarter of the year, according to latest CSO figures — an increase of more than 7%.

However, the figures also reveal that the average duration of overseas trips to Ireland fell slightly and tourism and travel earnings from overseas travellers decreased by 0.9%, to €682m for the three months. Fewer Irish people travelled abroad in the period from January to March, down just under 5% on the same time in 2013.

CEO of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons said he was particularly pleased to see the number of holidaymakers from Britain up by more than 27%.

“While it is still very early days — the first quarter represents only 18% of total overseas business with Easter falling later this year than last — this is a strong start to the year,” said Mr Gibbons.