Staycations 2025: Home thoughts on great breaks
Staycations 2025: An aerial view of Portmagee, Co Kerry, just one of Ireland's many beautiful destinations awaiting your discovery.
This time of year always seems to put a spring in our staycation step. The month of March traditionally marks the unofficial launch of Ireland’s tourist season as businesses from B&Bs to food trucks, surfing shacks to Shannon cruisers open their doors, shutters and decks to a fresh surge of visitors from home and abroad.
For us travellers, meanwhile, it also yields the impetus for us to start planning, thinking or daydreaming of our next getaway. And, as we’ve all experienced with the renaissance of home holidaying in the pandemic era, Ireland’s depth of diverse destinations, and wealth of food and cultural experiences means a break here always delivers the adrenalin rush, flavour burst or switch off we need.
And despite market challenges, the outlook this year for staycations across the island of Ireland continues to look buoyant. Each year, Fáilte Ireland conducts a series of consumer testing to determine insights into our behaviours and attitudes for our staycation habits and according to their domestic tracker, it seems like there is a continued for grá for getaways at home. From weeklong road-trips along the Wild Atlantic Way, weekend city breaks from Derry to Waterford, and everything in between from food, music or yoga festivals to daycations to a local museum, market or mountain top…they’re always a new pocket of our island (and islands!) to uncover or rediscover.
In fact, “almost half of residents on the Island of Ireland (44%) are intending on taking a general leisure break in the Republic of Ireland in 2025”, Fáilte Ireland told us this week. Those Intentions are in line with last year which is considered “very encouraging” according to the tourism authority c. And this strong market growth which bolstered during the Covid era, sees consumers in the constant quest for discovering new areas of Ireland they haven’t experienced before. From Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands to an island escape, the county’s ever-dynamic tourism offering means there’s always a new region, hotel or hotspot to discover.
Another huge player according to Fáilte Ireland for this year is one which is perhaps mirrored by international travel patterns: summer concerts and events. A pretty lofty 28% of Irish residents attended a concert over the summer months along last year, with half of these concert goers staying in paid accommodation. That all meant a huge boost to the local economy and the role of concerts and big events is likely to have a similar impact on tourism this summer. And consumers can enjoy some big players to look forward to this year.
Charli XCX will be bringing her (second?) Brat summer to Malahide Castle in Dublin (and Belfast’s Ormeau Road) this June while the highly anticipated Oasis reunion is expected to result in a huge swell in visitors to the capital this summer with back to back shows at Croke Park this August. Add in smaller events in more intimate arenas across the country and entertainment will be a big ticket tourism event for the year ahead.
It’s a similar outlook in the six counties with Discover Northern Ireland also predicting events as a major tourism player for 2025 “Events are a key driver as a reason to visit and 2025 is set be a giant one for Northern Ireland,” Fiona Cunningham from Tourism NI tells me. “The 153rd Open Championship returns to Royal Portrush Golf Club from July 13th-20th and we’re getting ready to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors from all around the world.”
It should be a huge driver for the area; when The Open was last held at Royal Portrush in 2019, it became the biggest sporting event ever held in Northern Ireland and in 2025’s edition may well surpass that.
However, If you like to enjoy your walks while not holding (or watching) a five iron, the region has many epic outdoor options on offer too from the invigorating, cliff-kissing Gobbins attraction on the Causeway Coast to the St Patrick’s Way pilgrim walk in County Down and one of my own favourites, the stunning Slieve Gullion hike and forest drive in Co. Armagh. Add in those uniquely Ulster accommodation options, vibrant arts and Michelin star restaurants and it’s little wonder 21% of us in the ROI took a break up North last year.
Wherever you venture to this year; whether its a new county to add to your national Irish jigsaw, perhaps your first visit to the North of Ireland, or dare we say your first visit to Cork, you’re guaranteed to make some incredible memories and we hope this staycation guide will inspire you along your way.
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