Number of foreign visitors up 8.5% on last year – figures

Some 622,300 foreign visitors arrived in to Ireland in May, the Central Statistics Office said Picture: Damien Storan/PA

There has been an increase in the number of foreign visitors to Ireland, with some 622,300 travellers arriving in May, an increase of 8.5% compared to last year, new figures indicate.

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the largest contingent of visitors came from Great Britain at 34.9%, followed by the United States (20.2%), and then Germany (7.4%).

The visitors stayed a total of 4,462,100 nights in the country, a drop of 0.3% compared to May 2023.

The results show that 622,300 foreign visitors departed Ireland on oversea routes in May 2024, an increase of 8.5% compared with May 2023

The visitors’ most frequent reason for travelling to Ireland was for holiday or leisure at 45.1%.

Visitors spent €810.6m in total on their trips, an increase of 29% when compared to May 2023.

Gregg Patrick, a statistician in the CSO tourism and travel division, said: “The results show that 622,300 foreign visitors departed Ireland on oversea routes in May 2024, an increase of 8.5% compared with May 2023.

“Some 34.9% of the visitors were from Great Britain, 20.2% were from the United States, and 7.4% were from Germany. Typically, their visit lasted 7.2 nights.

“Their most frequent reason for their journey (45.1%) was for holiday or leisure purposes.”

Around half of the visitors stayed in hotels, and the typical cost of their visit was €1,303, comprising €334 on fare, €51 on prepayments, €437 on accommodation, and €480 on day-to-day expenditure.

Their average cost 12 months previously was €1,096.

Of the 622,300 foreign visitors who left Ireland on overseas routes in May 2024, the highest proportion was from Great Britain, accounting for 217,200 of all visitors (34.9%).

The second highest proportion, at 20.1%, was from the United States, accounting for 125,400 visitors.

The third highest proportion (7.4%) came from Germany, comprising a further 46,300 visitors.

This visitor profile remains largely unchanged from May 2023, when 34.8% of the visitors were from Great Britain, 18.4% from the United States, and 7.7% from Germany.

Foreign visitors who left Ireland on overseas routes in May 2024 spent a total of 4,462,100 nights in the country.

Broken down by residency, other European visitors spent more nights in the country than any other residency group, accounting for 1,669,100 (37.4%) of the nights.

The next most important visitor group, in terms of nights spent, was the United States and Canada, making up 1,248,800 (28.0%) of the total nights.

Visitors from Great Britain were the third most significant, accounting for a further 1,041,300 (23.3%) of the nights.

Other visitors made up 502,800 (11.3%) of the nights.

Compared to May 2023, the total visitor nights in the country remained largely the same, decreasing by 0.3%.

In total, 2,057,800 passengers left Ireland on overseas routes in May 2024, an increase of 8.4% compared with May 2023.

The majority of departing passengers were Irish residents heading outbound for tourism or other purposes, at 61%.

A further 8.8% were same-day visitors, comprising Northern Ireland residents heading outbound using an airport or seaport in the Republic of Ireland (3.3%), foreign resident transfer passengers (4.6%), or other foreign resident same-day visitors (0.9%).

Some 30.2% of the departing passengers were foreign resident overnight visitors, constituting 622,300 visitors in total.