Visitor figures - Trouble brewing for tourism

In May of this year the number of Irish people taking trips abroad increased by 61,800, or 9.2%, over the same month in 2006, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office.

In the first five months of this year 15,400 more Irish residents went abroad than the number of visitors to this country. This poses a warning that should be recognised, and steps ought to be taken to rectify the situation.

The number of visitors to Ireland is still going up, but not nearly as fast as the number of Irish people going abroad for holidays. For a country that has prided itself as a tourist destination, this should portend trouble.