Spain still sizzles as top hotspot for Irish holidaymakers

Spain, Portugal, and Italy remain the top hotspots for Irish holidaymakers — as travel agents expect a busy 2015 summer season.

The latest quarterly survey from the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) shows that Spain continues to lead the pack in terms of the most popular country visited by Irish tourists, followed by Portugal. More than 1.3m Irish people visited Spain last year.

An ITAA study earlier this year found 66% of travel agents reported that Spain was their most popular destination in 2014. More than 40% of travel agents said Spain was the “best value” destination of 2014 with 41% of the votes, followed by Portugal and Turkey (both 18%).